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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 3 · The Status Quo · 33 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 3 · Chapter 13: The Appearance of Lord Varāha
3.13.413.13.43

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.13.42

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 3.13.16inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

संस्थापयैनां जगतां सतस्थुषां

लोकाय पत्नीमसि मातरं पिता ।

विधेम चास्यै नमसा सह त्वया

यस्यां स्वतेजोऽग्निमिवारणावधा: ॥ ४२ ॥

saṁsthāpayaināṁ jagatāṁ sa-tasthuṣāṁ

lokāya patnīm asi mātaraṁ pitā

vidhema cāsyai namasā saha tvayā

yasyāṁ sva-tejo ’gnim ivāraṇāv adhāḥ

Translation

O Lord, for the residential purposes of all inhabitants, both moving and nonmoving, this earth is Your wife, and You are the supreme father. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You, along with mother earth, in whom You have invested Your own potency, just as an expert sacrificer puts fire in the araṇi wood.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Honor Mother Earth and the Supreme Father

  1. 1

    The potency that sustains the planets is invested by the Lord. By His arrangement, the earth becomes habitable for moving and nonmoving creatures.

  2. 2

    Material nature cannot produce living creatures without contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme father.

  3. 3

    Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam teaches us to offer obeisances to mother earth along with the Supreme Lord. He supplies all energies for the sustenance and maintenance of living beings.

Key points from the purport
  • The conditioned souls, who are residents of the material world, are put in the womb of mother earth in the same way the seed of a child is put by the father in the womb of the mother.
  • This conception of the Lord and the earth as father and mother is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (14.4).
  • Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam teaches us to offer obeisances unto the mother along with the Father, the Supreme Lord, because it is the Father only who impregnates the mother with all energies for the sustenance and maintenance of all living beings, both moving and nonmoving.

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 3.13.42 quotesBG 14.4

This conception of the Lord and the earth as father and mother is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (14.4).

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

Threat and anger → Rescue and wonder. Divine protection appears amid cosmic confrontation.

Chapters 13–19 of Canto 3: Varāha, Jaya and Vijaya, Hiraṇyākṣa. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 13: The Appearance of Lord Varāha

Lord Varāha appears from Brahmā’s nose, lifts the submerged earth, and receives the sages’ prayers.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.13
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saṁsthāpaya enāmraise this earth
  2. jagatāmboth the moving and
  3. sa-tasthuṣāmnonmoving
  4. lokāyafor their residence
  5. patnīmwife
  6. asiYou are
  7. mātaramthe mother
  8. pitāthe father
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Āśraya · The summum bonum

    Who is the shelter of everything? · Subject 10 of 10

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 3.13

    In this verse: “mother”, “father”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 3.13

    In this verse: “material”

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

When I appreciate mother earth, do I also remember the Supreme Father who sustains her?

Practice

Offer respectful obeisances to the Supreme Lord along with mother earth, remembering His sustaining potency.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayHonor Mother Earth and the Supreme FatherThis 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 3.13.42? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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