1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

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

Or browse by canto and chapter
Canto

Canto 2 · The Cosmic Manifestation · 10 chapters

12345678910

Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 6: Puruṣa-sūkta Confirmed
2.6.352.6.37

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.6.36

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 2.6.1inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitLord Brahmā → Nārada Muni

नतोऽस्म्यहं तच्चरणं समीयुषां

भवच्छिदं स्वस्त्ययनं सुमङ्गलम् ।

यो ह्यात्ममायाविभवं स्म पर्यगाद्

यथा नभ: स्वान्तमथापरे कुत: ॥ ३६ ॥

nato ’smy ahaṁ tac-caraṇaṁ samīyuṣāṁ

bhavac-chidaṁ svasty-ayanaṁ sumaṅgalam

yo hy ātma-māyā-vibhavaṁ sma paryagād

yathā nabhaḥ svāntam athāpare kutaḥ

Translation

Therefore it is best for me to surrender unto His feet, which alone can deliver one from the miseries of repeated birth and death. Such surrender is all-auspicious and allows one to perceive all happiness. Even the sky cannot estimate the limits of its own expansion. So what can others do when the Lord Himself is unable to estimate His own limits?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Surrender Opens the Way to Unlimited Happiness

  1. 1

    Lord Brahmā advises us to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord rather than try to measure His immeasurable potencies. Such surrender delivers one from repeated birth and death and brings an all-auspicious spiritual existence.

  2. 2

    The living entity is not independent: one must surrender either unto the Lord or unto material nature. Surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa brings happiness and liberation, while surrender to material nature brings suffering.

  3. 3

    Spiritual happiness is an ocean that continually increases. The Lord’s measuring it never ends because that happiness keeps increasing, not because He is imperfect.

Key points from the purport
  • He must surrender, either unto the Lord or unto material nature.
  • Therefore material nature is also controlled by the Lord, as He has claimed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.10).
  • By surrendering unto the Lord, one is happy and liberated, but by surrendering unto material nature the living entity suffers.

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· 3

The purport of SB 2.6.36 quotesBG 7.14

Material nature is also not independent of the Lord, since the Lord Himself has claimed material nature as mama māyā, or “My energy”, and as me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā, or “My separated energy in eight divisions”.

The purport of SB 2.6.36 quotesBG 7.4

Material nature is also not independent of the Lord, since the Lord Himself has claimed material nature as mama māyā, or “My energy”, and as me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā, or “My separated energy in eight divisions”.

The purport of SB 2.6.36 quotesBG 9.10

Therefore material nature is also controlled by the Lord, as He has claimed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.10).

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 6: Puruṣa-sūkta Confirmed

Brahmā describes the universal form, his sacrifice, and the Lord’s control over creation, maintenance, and destruction.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.6
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nataḥlet me offer my obeisances
  2. asmiam
  3. ahamI
  4. tatthe Lord’s
  5. caraṇamfeet
  6. samīyuṣāmof the surrendered soul
  7. bhavat-chidamthat which stops repetition of birth and death
  8. svasti-ayanamperception of all happiness
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

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 2.6

    In this verse: “death”

  • Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender

    Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 2.6

    In this verse: “surrender”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 2.6

    In this verse: “material”

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

Where am I seeking lasting happiness through increasing material needs rather than surrendering to the Lord?

Practice

Offer a brief prayer to Lord Kṛṣṇa today, asking for help to surrender unto His lotus feet.

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 2.6's connections

Live this todaySurrender Opens the Way to Unlimited HappinessThis 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 2.6.36? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
Next in Learn · 5 of 11 · 2 minAsk the BhāgavatamBring your own question. Get an answer drawn only from the Bhāgavatam's translations, with every verse shown.Back · LearnCantos & stories