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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.
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Canto 3 · Chapter 26: Fundamental Principles of Material Nature
3.26.143.26.16

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.26.15

Sarga· Creation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Supreme Personality of Godheadsince 3.26.10inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Kapila → Devahūti

एतावानेव सङ्ख्यातो ब्रह्मण: सगुणस्य ह ।

सन्निवेशो मया प्रोक्तो य: काल: पञ्चविंशक: ॥ १५ ॥

etāvān eva saṅkhyāto

brahmaṇaḥ sa-guṇasya ha

sanniveśo mayā prokto

yaḥ kālaḥ pañca-viṁśakaḥ

Translation

All these are considered the qualified Brahman. The mixing element, which is known as time, is counted as the twenty-fifth element.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Time Completes the Twenty-Five Material Elements

  1. 1

    Everything we see is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Absolute Truth, Brahman. There is no existence beyond Brahman.

  2. 2

    The material expansion associated with goodness, passion and ignorance is called saguṇa Brahman. Its twenty-five elements include time, the mixing element, with past, present and future.

  3. 3

    In nirguṇa Brahman, or the spiritual world, the three material modes are absent. There, simple unalloyed goodness prevails.

Key points from the purport
  • When Brahman is mixed with the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance, there results the material expansion, which is sometimes called saguṇa Brahman and which consists of these twenty-five elements.
  • In the nirguṇa Brahman, where there is no material contamination, or in the spiritual world, the three modes — goodness, passion and ignorance — are not present.
  • Saguṇa Brahman is described by the Sāṅkhya system of philosophy as consisting of twenty-five elements, including the time factor (past, present and future).

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

Entanglement → Insight and liberation. Inquiry matures into instruction in devotion and spiritual nature.

Chapters 25–33 of Canto 3: Kapila instructs Devahūti. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 26: Fundamental Principles of Material Nature

Kapila explains material nature, consciousness, time, the elements, and the manifestation of the universal form.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.26
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. etāvānso much
  2. evajust
  3. saṅkhyātaḥenumerated
  4. brahmaṇaḥof Brahman
  5. sa-guṇasyawith material qualities
  6. haindeed
  7. sanniveśaḥarrangement
  8. mayāby Me
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Sarga · The creation of the universe

    Where does the universe come from? · Subject 1 of 10

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 3.26

    In this verse: “absolute truth”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 3.26

    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

How does recognizing everything as the Supreme Absolute Truth’s energy change the way I see my surroundings?

Practice

Look at one object today and reflect that it is an expansion of the Supreme Absolute Truth’s energy, not something independently existing.

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.

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayTime Completes the Twenty-Five Material ElementsThis 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.

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