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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
2.4.62.4.8

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.4.7

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:King Parīkṣitsince 2.4.5inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

यथा गोपायति विभुर्यथा संयच्छते पुन: ।

यां यां शक्तिमुपाश्रित्य पुरुशक्ति: पर: पुमान् ।

आत्मानं क्रीडयन् क्रीडन् करोति विकरोति च ॥ ७ ॥

yathā gopāyati vibhur

yathā saṁyacchate punaḥ

yāṁ yāṁ śaktim upāśritya

puru-śaktiḥ paraḥ pumān

ātmānaṁ krīḍayan krīḍan

karoti vikaroti ca

Translation

Kindly describe how the Supreme Lord, who is all-powerful, engages His different energies and different expansions in maintaining and again winding up the phenomenal world in the sporting spirit of a player.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The One Lord Maintains All Beings

  1. 1

    The Supreme Lord maintains all living beings, both conditioned and liberated. He does this through His expansions and His internal, external and marginal energies.

  2. 2

    Living beings are His marginal energy. Some, such as Brahmā and Marīci, are entrusted with work in creation and receive inspiration from the Lord.

  3. 3

    The one Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in many forms yet remains distinct from them all. By His inconceivable potencies, everything is simultaneously one with and different from Him.

Key points from the purport
  • So all living entities, both in the conditioned state and in the liberated state, are maintained by the Almighty Supreme Lord.
  • Such maintenance is effected by the Lord through His different expansions of Self and three principal energies, namely the internal, external and marginal energies.
  • The unconditioned marginal potency acts in the spiritual kingdom, and the Lord, by His different plenary expansions, maintains them in different transcendental relations displayed in the spiritual sky.

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. yathāas
  2. gopāyatimaintains
  3. vibhuḥthe great
  4. yathāas
  5. saṁyacchatewinds up
  6. punaḥagain
  7. yām yāmas
  8. śaktimenergies
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Āśraya · The summum bonum

    Who is the shelter of everything? · Subject 10 of 10

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 2.4

    In this verse: “kindly”

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

How does knowing that the Lord maintains all beings change your sense of dependence on Him?

Practice

Pause today to acknowledge the Supreme Lord as your maintainer and thank Him for His care.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe One Lord Maintains All BeingsThis 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.

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