1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

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

Or browse by canto and chapter
Canto

Canto 3 · The Status Quo · 33 chapters

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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.24.39

Who is speaking and story frame

मामात्मानं स्वयंज्योति: सर्वभूतगुहाशयम् ।

आत्मन्येवात्मना वीक्ष्य विशोकोऽभयमृच्छसि ॥ ३९ ॥

mām ātmānaṁ svayaṁ-jyotiḥ

sarva-bhūta-guhāśayam

ātmany evātmanā vīkṣya

viśoko ’bhayam ṛcchasi

Translation

In your own heart, through your intellect, you will always see Me, the supreme self-effulgent soul dwelling within the hearts of all living entities. Thus you will achieve the state of eternal life, free from all lamentation and fear.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Seeing the Lord Removes Fear

  1. 1

    The Personality of Godhead is the ultimate feature of the Absolute Truth. His forms as Kṛṣṇa, Rāma and Kapila are eternal and spiritual, not material.

  2. 2

    One who sees the Supreme Person also realizes Paramātmā and Brahman. Just as seeing the sun includes seeing its sunshine, seeing the Lord includes experiencing His effulgence.

  3. 3

    Through devotional service to the Personality of Godhead, one can attain eternal life without lamentation or fear.

Key points from the purport
  • If one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He appears in different incarnations and understand that He has not assumed a material body but is present in His own eternal, spiritual form, then one can understand the nature of the Personality of Godhead.
  • Since the sunshine is the luster of the sun planet, by seeing the sun one automatically sees the sunshine; similarly, by seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead one simultaneously sees and experiences the Paramātmā feature as well as the impersonal Brahman feature of the Supreme.
  • The Bhāgavatam has already enunciated that the Absolute Truth is present in three features — in the beginning as the impersonal Brahman, in the next stage as the Paramātmā in everyone’s heart, and, at last, as the ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth, Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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

Longing and service → Preparedness. Family devotion turns toward higher spiritual fulfillment.

Chapters 20–24 of Canto 3: Kardama, Devahūti, family and renunciation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 24: The Renunciation of Kardama Muni

Kapila appears as Devahūti’s son, the daughters marry, and Kardama renounces family life with the Lord’s permission.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.24
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. māmMe
  2. ātmānamthe Supreme Soul, or Paramātmā
  3. svayam-jyotiḥself-effulgent
  4. sarva-bhūtaof all beings
  5. guhāin the hearts
  6. āśayamdwelling
  7. ātmaniin your own heart
  8. evaindeed
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Mukti · Liberation

    What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 3.24

    In this verse: “free from”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 3.24

    In this verse: “fear”

  • Viraha · Longing in separation

    Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 3.24

    In this verse: “lamentation”

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 understanding the Lord as a person deepen my desire to serve Him?

Practice

Spend one quiet minute remembering that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose form is eternal and spiritual.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todaySeeing the Lord Removes FearThis 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 3.24.39? Get an answer from the verses themselves.