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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 26: Fundamental Principles of Material Nature
3.26.43.26.6

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.26.5

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Kapilasince 3.26.1inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Kapila → Devahūti

गुणैर्विचित्रा: सृजतीं सरूपा: प्रकृतिं प्रजा: ।

विलोक्य मुमुहे सद्य: स इह ज्ञानगूहया ॥ ५ ॥

guṇair vicitrāḥ sṛjatīṁ

sa-rūpāḥ prakṛtiṁ prajāḥ

vilokya mumuhe sadyaḥ

sa iha jñāna-gūhayā

Translation

Divided into varieties by her threefold modes, material nature creates the forms of the living entities, and the living entities, seeing this, are illusioned by the knowledge-covering feature of the illusory energy.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Material Modes Cover Our Spiritual Identity

  1. 1

    Material nature creates different bodily forms through goodness, passion and ignorance. Its knowledge-covering power affects conditioned souls, never the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

  2. 2

    Living entities are spiritual, but under the material modes they forget their spiritual identity. Thinking that the material body is the self is called moha, or bewilderment.

  3. 3

    The Lord wants to rectify the conditioned souls’ desire to enjoy and lord it over material energy. He alone is the supreme enjoyer, and although He is the father of all living entities, He remains aloof from the three modes.

Key points from the purport
  • In other words, the energy emanating from the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot act on Him; it acts on the conditioned souls, who are covered by the material energy.
  • Therefore, the conditioned souls get bodies created by the material energy, whereas the father of the living entities is aloof from the three modes.
  • These modes of material nature belong to the material energy, and therefore the living entities under these different modes of material nature have different kinds of material bodies.

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 3.26.5 quotesBG 7.12

In Bhagavad-gītā (7.12) it is very nicely explained that although the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance are born of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is not subject to them.

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

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. guṇaiḥby the threefold modes
  2. vicitrāḥvariegated
  3. sṛjatīmcreating
  4. sa-rūpāḥwith forms
  5. prakṛtimmaterial nature
  6. prajāḥliving entities
  7. vilokyahaving seen
  8. mumuhewas illusioned
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “illusioned”, “material”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

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

    In this verse: “knowledge-covering”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 3.26

    In this verse: “father”

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 do I think of my material body as the whole of who I am?

Practice

Notice one body-based description you use for yourself today, and pause to remember that you are a spirit soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord.

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 todayMaterial Modes Cover Our Spiritual IdentityThis 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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