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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 2 · The Cosmic Manifestation · 10 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.
Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›
Canto 2 · Chapter 4: The Process of Creation
2.4.232.4.25

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.4.24

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 2.4.12inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

नमस्तस्मै भगवते वासुदेवाय वेधसे ।

पपुर्ज्ञानमयं सौम्या यन्मुखाम्बुरुहासवम् ॥ २४ ॥

namas tasmai bhagavate

vāsudevāya vedhase

papur jñānam ayaṁ saumyā

yan-mukhāmburuhāsavam

Translation

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the incarnation of Vāsudeva who compiled the Vedic scriptures. The pure devotees drink up the nectarean transcendental knowledge dropping from the lotuslike mouth of the Lord.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Recover Our Eternal Relationship Through Vedic Knowledge

  1. 1

    Respectful obeisances are offered to Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the incarnation of Vāsudeva who compiled the Vedic scriptures. These scriptures revive the conditioned souls’ lost memory of their eternal relationship with the Lord.

  2. 2

    Lord Kṛṣṇa’s music, dance and decorations are transcendental, not mundane. Understanding their spiritual nature requires gradual development of transcendental knowledge.

  3. 3

    One should receive this nectarean knowledge from Vyāsadeva or Śukadeva. Pure devotees relish both profound philosophical teachings and the Lord’s rāsa dance, without making a mundane distinction between them.

Key points from the purport
  • In pursuance of the specific utterance vedhase, or “the compiler of the system of transcendental knowledge,” Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has commented that the respectful obeisances are offered to Śrīla Vyāsadeva, who is the incarnation of Vāsudeva.
  • Śrīla Vyāsadeva, who is the incarnation of the Lord, thus compiled the Vedic literatures to revive the lost memory of the conditioned souls about their eternal relation with the Lord.
  • One should therefore try to understand the Vedic scriptures, or the nectar transferred by the Lord to His consorts in the conjugal humor, from the lotuslike mouth of Vyāsadeva or Śukadeva.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

How it feels

Uncertainty → Awe. The scale of reality widens dramatically.

Chapters 4–7 of Canto 2: The creation, cosmic Person and incarnations. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 4: The Process of Creation

Parīkṣit fixes his mind on Kṛṣṇa and asks about creation; Śukadeva offers prayers before answering.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.4
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. namaḥmy obeisances
  2. tasmaiunto Him
  3. bhagavateunto the Personality of Godhead
  4. vāsudevāyaunto Vāsudeva or His incarnations
  5. vedhasethe compiler of the Vedic literatures
  6. papuḥdrunk
  7. jñānamknowledge
  8. ayamthis Vedic knowledge
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 2.4

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “philosophical”, “understanding”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 2.4

    In this verse: “devotees”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I studying to revive my relationship with the Lord, rather than merely to collect information?

Practice

Offer respectful obeisances to Śrīla Vyāsadeva, then reread one sentence of this purport with your eternal relationship with the Lord in mind.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 2.4's connections

Live this todayRecover Our Eternal Relationship Through Vedic KnowledgeThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 2.4.24? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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