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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 · Texts 2.6.43-45

Who is speaking and story frame

अहं भवो यज्ञ इमे प्रजेशा

दक्षादयो ये भवदादयश्च ।

स्वर्लोकपाला: खगलोकपाला

नृलोकपालास्तललोकपाला: ॥ ४३ ॥

गन्धर्वविद्याधरचारणेशा

ये यक्षरक्षोरगनागनाथा: ।

ये वा ऋषीणामृषभा: पितृणां

दैत्येन्द्रसिद्धेश्वरदानवेन्द्रा: ।

अन्ये च ये प्रेतपिशाचभूत-

कूष्माण्डयादोमृगपक्ष्यधीशा: ॥ ४४ ॥

यत्किंच लोके भगवन्महस्व-

दोज:सहस्वद् बलवत् क्षमावत् ।

श्रीह्रीविभूत्यात्मवदद्भुतार्णं

तत्त्वं परं रूपवदस्वरूपम् ॥ ४५ ॥

ahaṁ bhavo yajña ime prajeśā

dakṣādayo ye bhavad-ādayaś ca

svarloka-pālāḥ khagaloka-pālā

nṛloka-pālās talaloka-pālāḥ

gandharva-vidyādhara-cāraṇeśā

ye yakṣa-rakṣoraga-nāga-nāthāḥ

ye vā ṛṣīṇām ṛṣabhāḥ pitṝṇāṁ

daityendra-siddheśvara-dānavendrāḥ

anye ca ye preta-piśāca-bhūta-

kūṣmāṇḍa-yādo-mṛga-pakṣy-adhīśāḥ

yat kiñca loke bhagavan mahasvad

ojaḥ-sahasvad balavat kṣamāvat

śrī-hrī-vibhūty-ātmavad adbhutārṇaṁ

tattvaṁ paraṁ rūpavad asva-rūpam

Translation

I myself [Brahmā], Lord Śiva, Lord Viṣṇu, great generators of living beings like Dakṣa and Prajāpati, yourselves [Nārada and the Kumāras], heavenly demigods like Indra and Candra, the leaders of the Bhūrloka planets, the leaders of the earthly planets, the leaders of the lower planets, the leaders of the Gandharva planets, the leaders of the Vidyādhara planets, the leaders of the Cāraṇaloka planets, the leaders of the Yakṣas, Rakṣas and Uragas, the great sages, the great demons, the great atheists and the great spacemen, as well as the dead bodies, evil spirits, satans, jinn, kūṣmāṇḍas, great aquatics, great beasts and great birds, etc. — in other words, anything and everything which is exceptionally possessed of power, opulence, mental and perceptual dexterity, strength, forgiveness, beauty, modesty, opulence, and breeding, whether in form or formless — may appear to be the specific truth and the form of the Lord, but actually they are not so. They are only a fragment of the transcendental potency of the Lord.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Recognize the Lord Beyond His Powers

  1. 1

    Extraordinary power, beauty, strength and intelligence display only fragments of the Supreme Lord’s potencies. A powerful manifestation should not be mistaken for the Supreme Lord Himself.

  2. 2

    Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Almighty Lord from whom these powers come. Worshiping Him includes worshiping all those mentioned, because He includes everyone.

  3. 3

    The Lord is not formless, nor is His transcendental form one of the material forms within our experience. When He descends, we should not mistake Him for an ordinary being.

Key points from the purport
  • In other ways some are worshipers of race, nationality, birds, beasts, evil spirits, satans, etc. The general worship of Śanideva, the lord of distressful condition, and Sītalādevī, the goddess of smallpox, is also common to the mass of people, and there are many foolish men who worship the mass of people or the poor class of men.
  • When the Lord is described as formless in the Vedic literatures, it is to be understood that all these forms mentioned above, within the experience of universal knowledge, are different exhibitions of the Lord’s transcendental potencies only, and none of them factually represents the transcendental form of the Lord.
  • But when the Lord actually descends to the earth or anywhere within the universe, the less intelligent class of men also mistake Him to be one of them, and thus they imagine the Transcendence to be formless or impersonal.

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 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. ahammyself (Brahmājī)
  2. bhavaḥLord Śiva
  3. yajñaḥLord Viṣṇu
  4. imeall these
  5. prajā-īśāḥthe father of the living beings
  6. dakṣa-ādayaḥDakṣa, Marīci, Manu, etc.
  7. yethose
  8. bhavatyourself
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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

    In this verse: “worshiping”

  • 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

When something powerful or beautiful impresses me, do I remember the Lord from whom its power comes?

Practice

Notice one example of beauty or strength today, and remember it as a fragment of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s potency rather than something independent of Him.

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.

Live this todayRecognize the Lord Beyond His PowersThis 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 2.6.43-45? Get an answer from the verses themselves.