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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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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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 9: Answers by Citing the Lord’s Version

2.9.26 2.9.28

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.9.27

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 2.9.25inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitThe Supreme Lord → Lord Brahmā

यथात्ममायायोगेन नानाशक्त्युपबृंहितम् ।

विलुम्पन् विसृजन् गृह्णन् बिभ्रदात्मानमात्मना ॥ २७ ॥

yathātma-māyā-yogena

nānā-śakty-upabṛṁhitam

vilumpan visṛjan gṛhṇan

bibhrad ātmānam ātmanā

Translation

And [please inform me] how You, by Your own Self, manifest different energies for annihilation, generation, acceptance and maintenance by combination and permutation.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord Manifests His Different Energies

1
The whole manifestation is a diffusion of the Lord’s internal, external and marginal energies, just as sunlight manifests the sun’s energy.
2
These energies are simultaneously one with and different from the Lord. Sunshine and the sun illustrate this relationship.
3
The energies act in different combinations under the Lord’s direction. Although everything comes from Him, He remains different from these manifested activities.

Key points from the purport

The whole manifestation is the Lord Himself by diffusion of His different energies only, namely the internal, external and marginal, just as the sunlight is the manifestation of the energy of the sun planet.
The energies are acting by combination and permutation by the indication of the Lord, and the acting agents, like Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, are also different incarnations of the Lord.
In other words, there is nothing but the Lord, and still the Lord is different from all such manifestive activities.

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

Inquiry → Conviction. Divine knowledge resolves fundamental cosmic uncertainty.

Chapters 8–10 of Canto 2: Parīkṣit questions; Brahmā receives revelation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc