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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

How to study this verse, in six steps

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
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 7: Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions

2.7.18 2.7.20

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.7.19

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 2.7.1inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitLord Brahmā → Nārada Muni

तुभ्यं च नारद भृशं भगवान् विवृद्ध-

भावेन साधुपरितुष्ट उवाच योगम् ।

ज्ञानं च भागवतमात्मसतत्त्वदीपं

यद्वासुदेवशरणा विदुरञ्जसैव ॥ १९ ॥

tubhyaṁ ca nārada bhṛśaṁ bhagavān vivṛddha-

bhāvena sādhu parituṣṭa uvāca yogam

jñānaṁ ca bhāgavatam ātma-satattva-dīpaṁ

yad vāsudeva-śaraṇā vidur añjasaiva

Translation

O Nārada, you were taught about the science of God and His transcendental loving service by the Personality of Godhead in His incarnation of Haṁsāvatāra. He was very much pleased with you, due to your intense proportion of devotional service. He also explained unto you, lucidly, the full science of devotional service, which is especially understandable by persons who are souls surrendered unto Lord Vāsudeva, the Personality of Godhead.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotional Understanding Grows Through Willing Cooperation

1
Pleased by Nārada’s intense devotion, Haṁsāvatāra explained the science of God and His loving service. This knowledge becomes revealed to souls surrendered unto Vāsudeva.
2
The preliminary qualification for devotional service is to become a willing cooperator with the Lord’s devotees. Such cooperation gradually brings purification, firm faith, and a taste for devotional service.
3
Living entities naturally have an affinity for loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam acts like a lamp of transcendental knowledge, removing the covering of material association.

Key points from the purport

The devotee and devotional service are two correlative terms.
So the preliminary qualification for entering into the devotional service of the Lord is that one become a willing cooperator, and as such, one should voluntarily cooperate with persons who are already engaged in the transcendental devotional service of the Lord.
These two sections of transcendental knowledge in devotional service become revealed to a person who is a soul surrendered unto Vāsudeva; as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.19), such a great soul, fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of Vāsudeva, is very, very rare.

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 2.7.19 quotesBG 7.19

These two sections of transcendental knowledge in devotional service become revealed to a person who is a soul surrendered unto Vāsudeva; as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.19), such a great soul, fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of Vāsudeva, is very, very rare.

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

Chapter 7: Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions

Brahmā recounts the Lord’s incarnations and explains that unalloyed surrender enables one to understand Him.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.7

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

tubhyamunto you
caalso
nāradaO Nārada
bhṛśamvery nicely
bhagavānthe Personality of Godhead
vivṛddhadeveloped
bhāvenaby transcendental love
sādhuyour goodness

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

Īśānukathā · The science of God
Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 2.7
In this verse: “devotional service”, “devotees”
Jñāna · Spiritual insight
Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 2.7
In this verse: “understandable”, “knowledge”
Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender
Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 2.7
In this verse: “surrendered”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How willing am I to learn devotional service by cooperating with those already practicing it?

Practice

Offer one small act of help to someone engaged in the Lord’s devotional service.

The story around it

The stories this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayDevotional Understanding Grows Through Willing CooperationThis 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 2.7.19? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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