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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 5: The Cause of All Causes
2.5.92.5.11

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.5.10

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 2.5.9inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitLord Brahmā → Nārada Muni

नानृतं तव तच्चापि यथा मां प्रब्रवीषि भो: ।

अविज्ञाय परं मत्त एतावत्त्वं यतो हि मे ॥ १० ॥

nānṛtaṁ tava tac cāpi

yathā māṁ prabravīṣi bhoḥ

avijñāya paraṁ matta

etāvat tvaṁ yato hi me

Translation

Whatever you have spoken about me is not false because unless and until one is aware of the Personality of Godhead, who is the ultimate truth beyond me, one is sure to be illusioned by observing my powerful activities.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is Supreme Beyond All Living Beings

  1. 1

    Without knowing the Personality of Godhead beyond Brahmā, one may mistake Brahmā's powerful activities for supreme power. Even Brahmā can never be equal to the Lord.

  2. 2

    The frog in the well illustrates the limits of trying to measure the Lord's inconceivable potency by one's own small experience. Material power or moral excellence alone does not make someone God.

  3. 3

    Nārada's apparent bewilderment serves, by the Lord's will, to teach others the truth. The great authorities accept Kṛṣṇa as the Personality of Godhead, whose identity always remains distinct from ordinary living beings.

Key points from the purport
  • To be a good king is not necessarily the qualification for being Lord Rāma, but to be a great personality like Kṛṣṇa is the qualification for being the Personality of Godhead.
  • The great authorities have estimated Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira to be a pious man, but they have accepted Lord Rāma or Kṛṣṇa as the Personality of Godhead.
  • The Lord is always the Lord, and a common living being can never be equal to Him.

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

Connected verses· 1

The purport of SB 2.5.10 quotesBG 8.17

As we get information from the most authentic book of knowledge, the Bhagavad-gītā (8.17), Brahmājī’s one day and night is calculated to be some hundreds of thousands of years on our planet.

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

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 5: The Cause of All Causes

Nārada questions Brahmā, who explains his dependence on the Supreme Lord and describes creation.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.5
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nanot
  2. anṛtamfalse
  3. tavaof yours
  4. tatthat
  5. caalso
  6. apias you have stated
  7. yathāin the matter of
  8. māmof myself
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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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 2.5

    In this verse: “illusioned”, “material”

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Do I ever confuse impressive power or admirable character with the identity of the Supreme Lord?

Practice

Pause today to reflect on this teaching: Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and even Brahmā is not His equal.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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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 2.5's connections

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Is Supreme Beyond All Living 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.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 2.5.10? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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