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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
2.9.32.9.5

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.9.4

Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protection
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 2.9.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

आत्मतत्त्वविशुद्ध्यर्थं यदाह भगवानृतम् ।

ब्रह्मणे दर्शयन् रूपमव्यलीकव्रताद‍ृत: ॥ ४ ॥

ātma-tattva-viśuddhy-arthaṁ

yad āha bhagavān ṛtam

brahmaṇe darśayan rūpam

avyalīka-vratādṛtaḥ

Translation

O King, the Personality of Godhead, being very much pleased with Lord Brahmā because of his nondeceptive penance in bhakti-yoga, presented His eternal and transcendental form before Brahmā. And that is the objective goal for purifying the conditioned soul.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Bhakti-yoga Reveals the Lord’s Eternal Form

  1. 1

    Bhakti-yoga removes two misconceptions: identifying the soul with the material body and placing the Supreme Lord on an equal level with the living entity. Like sunlight, it allows both the Lord and the self to be properly understood.

  2. 2

    Pleased with Brahmā’s nondeceptive practice of bhakti-yoga, the Lord revealed His transcendental form. That form is sac-cid-ānanda—eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss—not a material form.

  3. 3

    Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam teaches the science of both the Lord and the living entity. Regular reading or hearing of it is itself bhakti-yoga and can lead to the highest perfection.

Key points from the purport
  • Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī therefore says that for purification of both wrong conceptions, the Lord presented His eternal form before Brahmājī, being fully satisfied by Brahmā’s nondeceptive vow of discharging bhakti-yoga.
  • The conditioned soul, however, can regain his form of eternal knowledge and bliss simply by seeing the Lord by means of bhakti-yoga.
  • Thus the topic of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the science of both the Lord and the living entity.

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. ātma-tattvathe science of God or that of the living entity
  2. viśuddhipurification
  3. arthamgoal
  4. yatthat which
  5. āhasaid
  6. bhagavānthe Personality of Godhead
  7. ṛtamin reality
  8. brahmaṇeunto Lord Brahmā
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Poṣaṇa · Protection by the Lord

    How does the Lord care for His devotees? · Subject 4 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

    In this verse: “bhakti-yoga”

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 2.9

    In this verse: “king”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 2.9

    In this verse: “purifying”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I approaching devotional service with a sincere desire to know and serve the Lord?

Practice

Read this verse aloud today, then spend a moment reflecting on the Lord’s eternal form of knowledge and bliss.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

6 lectures given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Show 4 more lectures on it
Live this todayBhakti-yoga Reveals the Lord’s Eternal FormThis 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 2.9.4? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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