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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.5.14

Who is speaking and story frame

द्रव्यं कर्म च कालश्च स्वभावो जीव एव च ।

वासुदेवात्परो ब्रह्मन्न च चान्योऽर्थोऽस्ति तत्त्वत: ॥ १४ ॥

dravyaṁ karma ca kālaś ca

svabhāvo jīva eva ca

vāsudevāt paro brahman

na cānyo ’rtho ’sti tattvataḥ

Translation

The five elementary ingredients of creation, the interaction thereof set up by eternal time, and the intuition or nature of the individual living beings are all differentiated parts and parcels of the Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, and in truth there is no other value in them.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Nothing Exists Independently of Vāsudeva

  1. 1

    The material ingredients, their interactions and the living beings all come from Lord Kṛṣṇa’s energies. None is independent of Vāsudeva, the Personality of Godhead.

  2. 2

    The living entity is the Lord’s marginal potency, with freedom to remain in the material or spiritual world. Spiritual existence is the normal condition, free from delusion.

  3. 3

    The world and the Lord’s bodily effulgence are His impersonal features. He eternally exists in His transcendental form, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, distinct from material ingredients.

Key points from the purport
  • This phenomenal world is impersonally the representation of Vāsudeva because the ingredients of its creation, their interaction and the enjoyer of the resultant action, the living being, are all produced by the external and internal energies of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
  • The living entity who enjoys the interaction of the above gross and subtle ingredients, as set up by eternal time, is an offshoot of internal potency, with freedom to remain either in the material world or in the spiritual world.
  • But in all circumstances, neither the material ingredients nor the spiritual parts and parcels are independent of the Personality of Godhead Vāsudeva, for all things, whether products of the external, internal or marginal potencies of the Lord, are simply displays of the same effulgence of the Lord, just as light, heat and smoke are displays of fire.

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 2.5.14 quotesBG 7.4

This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.4-5).

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. dravyamthe ingredients (earth, water, fire, air and sky)
  2. karmathe interaction
  3. caand
  4. kālaḥeternal time
  5. caalso
  6. sva-bhāvaḥintuition or nature
  7. jīvaḥthe living being
  8. evacertainly
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “material”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 2.5

    In this verse: “free from”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How might remembering my dependence on Vāsudeva change the way I see the world?

Practice

Look at one material object and reflect that neither its ingredients nor you exist independently of Vāsudeva.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayNothing Exists Independently of VāsudevaThis 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 2.5.14? Get an answer from the verses themselves.