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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 6: Puruṣa-sūkta Confirmed
2.6.392.6.42

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Texts 2.6.40-41

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

विशुद्धं केवलं ज्ञानं प्रत्यक् सम्यगवस्थितम् ।

सत्यं पूर्णमनाद्यन्तं निर्गुणं नित्यमद्वयम् ॥ ४० ॥

ऋषे विदन्ति मुनय: प्रशान्तात्मेन्द्रियाशया: ।

यदा तदेवासत्तर्कैस्तिरोधीयेत विप्लुतम् ॥ ४१ ॥

viśuddhaṁ kevalaṁ jñānaṁ

pratyak samyag avasthitam

satyaṁ pūrṇam anādy-antaṁ

nirguṇaṁ nityam advayam

ṛṣe vidanti munayaḥ

praśāntātmendriyāśayāḥ

yadā tad evāsat-tarkais

tirodhīyeta viplutam

Translation

The Personality of Godhead is pure, being free from all contaminations of material tinges. He is the Absolute Truth and the embodiment of full and perfect knowledge. He is all-pervading, without beginning or end, and without rival. O Nārada, O great sage, the great thinkers can know Him when completely freed from all material hankerings and when sheltered under undisturbed conditions of the senses. Otherwise, by untenable arguments, all is distorted, and the Lord disappears from our sight.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Knowing the Pure Lord Through Devotional Service

  1. 1

    The Lord is eternally full of perfect knowledge and free from material contamination. Unlike the individual living entities, He never becomes subject to ignorance.

  2. 2

    The Lord is infinite, while the living entities are infinitesimal and depend upon Him. He possesses all opulences, and no one can equal Him.

  3. 3

    The Lord can be seen only when the senses are purified by devotional service. Unalloyed devotees seek only to be His obedient servants; demands for sense satisfaction and dry speculative arguments obstruct understanding.

Key points from the purport
  • In the Vedas it is said, śuddham apāpa-viddham: the individual ātmā becomes polluted by sin, but the Lord is never contaminated by sins.
  • Similarly, the Lord is never contaminated by sins; on the contrary, the sinful living entities become sterilized by contact with the Lord.
  • The Lord is within everything, and He is all-covering also, without being disturbed by the activities of the individual souls.

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· 2

The purport of SB 2.6.40-41 quotesSB 1.7.10

We have already discussed the statement itthaṁ-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ.

The purport of SB 2.6.40-41 quotesBG 7.28

The dry speculators, however, because of their following the principles of austerity and penance, can have knowledge of the impersonal features of the Lord to some extent, but there is no chance of their understanding His ultimate form as Govinda because only the amalātmanas, or the completely sinless persons, can accept pure devotional service to the Lord, as confirmed in…

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. viśuddhamwithout any material tinge
  2. kevalampure and perfect
  3. jñānamknowledge
  4. pratyakall-pervading
  5. samyakin fullness
  6. avasthitamsituated
  7. satyamtruth
  8. pūrṇamabsolute
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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 2.6

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “absolute truth”, “understanding”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 2.6

    In this verse: “contaminations”, “purified”, “contamination”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 2.6

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “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

What desire for personal reward distracts me from simply serving the Lord?

Practice

Read the translation slowly today, with the intention of serving the Lord rather than gaining something for yourself.

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.

The purport quotesSB 1.7.10

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 2.6's connections

Live this todayKnowing the Pure Lord Through Devotional ServiceThis 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 2.6.40-41? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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