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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 7: Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions
2.7.402.7.42

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.7.41

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

नान्तं विदाम्यहममी मुनयोऽग्रजास्ते

मायाबलस्य पुरुषस्य कुतोऽवरा ये ।

गायन् गुणान् दशशतानन आदिदेव:

शेषोऽधुनापि समवस्यति नास्य पारम् ॥ ४१ ॥

nāntaṁ vidāmy aham amī munayo ’gra-jās te

māyā-balasya puruṣasya kuto ’varā ye

gāyan guṇān daśa-śatānana ādi-devaḥ

śeṣo ’dhunāpi samavasyati nāsya pāram

Translation

Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Śeṣa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord’s Potencies Have No Limit

  1. 1

    The omnipotent Personality of Godhead has three primary potencies: internal, external and marginal.

  2. 2

    These three energies have unlimited expansions. No one can calculate their full extent.

  3. 3

    Even Śeṣa, the Lord’s own incarnation, has not reached their limit, though He continuously describes them with one thousand faces.

Key points from the purport
  • The omnipotent Personality of Godhead has three primary potencies, namely the internal, external and marginal potencies, with unlimited expansions of these three energies.
  • As such, the expansions of His potencies can never be calculated by anyone because even the Personality of God Himself, as the incarnation of Śeṣa, cannot estimate the potencies, although He has been describing them continuously with His one thousand faces.

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

Quoted in the purport ofCC Madhya 21.13

This verse, spoken to Nārada Muni by Lord Brahmā, is also from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.7.41).

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 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
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nanever
  2. antamend
  3. vidāmido I know
  4. ahammyself
  5. amīand all those
  6. munayaḥgreat sages
  7. agra-jāḥborn prior to you
  8. teyou
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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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 2.7

    In this verse: “knowledge”

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

Can you appreciate the Lord’s greatness without expecting to understand it completely?

Practice

Spend one minute reflecting on the Lord’s unlimited potencies and your limited understanding.

5

The story around it

The stories this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Lord’s Potencies Have No LimitThis 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 2.7.41? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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