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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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Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 15: Description of the Kingdom of God
3.15.153.15.17

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.15.16

Sthāna· The universe in order
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 3.15.12inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Brahmā → the demigods

यत्र नै:श्रेयसं नाम वनं कामदुघैर्द्रुमै: ।

सर्वर्तुश्रीभिर्विभ्राजत्कैवल्यमिव मूर्तिमत् ॥ १६ ॥

yatra naiḥśreyasaṁ nāma

vanaṁ kāma-dughair drumaiḥ

sarvartu-śrībhir vibhrājat

kaivalyam iva mūrtimat

Translation

In those Vaikuṇṭha planets there are many forests which are very auspicious. In those forests the trees are desire trees, and in all seasons they are filled with flowers and fruits because everything in the Vaikuṇṭha planets is spiritual and personal.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Spiritual Life Has Form and Variety

  1. 1

    Vaikuṇṭha’s auspicious forests contain desire trees filled with flowers and fruits in every season.

  2. 2

    The land, trees, flowers, animals and residents are all spiritual and personal. Although their forms differ, their spiritual nature does not.

  3. 3

    Everything in Vaikuṇṭha has a particular spiritual form. This description refutes the idea that spiritual existence must be formless.

Key points from the purport
  • In the Vaikuṇṭha planets the land, the trees, the fruits and flowers and the cows — everything — is completely spiritual and personal.
  • Formlessness, as conceived by the impersonalists, is refuted in this verse; in the Vaikuṇṭha planets, although everything is spiritual, everything has a particular form.
  • The trees and the men have form, and because all of them, although differently formed, are spiritual, there is no difference between them.

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

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 15: Description of the Kingdom of God

Brahmā describes Vaikuṇṭha, where the Kumāras curse two doorkeepers and then behold the Lord.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.15
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yatrain the Vaikuṇṭha planets
  2. naiḥśreyasamauspicious
  3. nāmanamed
  4. vanamforests
  5. kāma-dughaiḥyielding desire
  6. drumaiḥwith trees
  7. sarvaall
  8. ṛtuseasons
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Sthāna · Planetary systems

    How is the universe arranged, and what is our right place in it? · Subject 3 of 10

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

How does this description broaden my understanding of spiritual existence?

Practice

Write down three things this verse describes as having spiritual form.

5

The story around it

The stories this chapter belongs to.

Live this todaySpiritual Life Has Form and VarietyThis 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 3.15.16? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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