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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 9: Answers by Citing the Lord’s Version
2.9.372.9.39

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.9.38

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 2.9.38inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

श्रीशुक उवाच

सम्प्रदिश्यैवमजनो जनानां परमेष्ठिनम् ।

पश्यतस्तस्य तद् रूपमात्मनो न्यरुणद्धरि: ॥ ३८ ॥

śrī-śuka uvāca

sampradiśyaivam ajano

janānāṁ parameṣṭhinam

paśyatas tasya tad rūpam

ātmano nyaruṇad dhariḥ

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said to Mahārāja Parīkṣit: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, after being seen in His transcendental form, instructing Brahmājī, the leader of the living entities, disappeared.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Supreme Person Reveals Devotional Knowledge

  1. 1

    Hari showed His transcendental form to Brahmā while instructing him, and then disappeared. Among all individual living persons, He is the Supreme Person.

  2. 2

    Everything in the spiritual world is full of knowledge. Its land, water, trees, animals and inhabitants are individual and personal.

  3. 3

    The Lord taught Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to Brahmā so that knowledge of bhakti-yoga could be spread throughout the universe. Through the disciplic succession, we receive this science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Key points from the purport
  • In this verse it is clearly mentioned that the Lord is ajanaḥ, or the Supreme Person, and that He was showing His transcendental form (ātmano rūpam) to Brahmājī while instructing him in the summarization of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in four verses.
  • Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives us this information as the supreme Vedic literature, and it was personally instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to Brahmājī so that the leader of the living entities might broadcast the message to all in the universe in order to teach the supreme knowledge of bhakti-yoga.
  • Through Śukadeva Gosvāmī’s grace and by the mercy of Mahārāja Parīkṣit we are all given Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam perpetually to learn the science of the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa.

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

Further reading

Chapter 9: Answers by Citing the Lord’s Version

The Lord receives Brahmā, explains His eternal existence, and instructs him to remain fixed and free from pride.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.9
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śrī-śukaḥ uvācaŚrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
  2. sampradiśyafully instructing Brahmājī
  3. evamthus
  4. ajanaḥthe Supreme Lord
  5. janānāmof the living entities
  6. parameṣṭhinamunto the supreme leader, Brahmā
  7. paśyataḥwhile he was seeing
  8. tasyaHis
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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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 2.9

    In this verse: “bhakti-yoga”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 2.9

    In this verse: “knowledge”

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does knowing that the Supreme Lord is a person shape my desire to serve Him?

Practice

Spend a few quiet minutes rereading this translation, attending to the Lord’s personal form and instruction.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Supreme Person Reveals Devotional KnowledgeThis 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 2.9.38? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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