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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 27: Understanding Material Nature
3.27.153.27.17

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.27.16

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Kapilasince 3.27.1inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Kapila → Devahūti

एवं प्रत्यवमृश्यासावात्मानं प्रतिपद्यते ।

साहङ्कारस्य द्रव्यस्य योऽवस्थानमनुग्रह: ॥ १६ ॥

evaṁ pratyavamṛśyāsāv

ātmānaṁ pratipadyate

sāhaṅkārasya dravyasya

yo ’vasthānam anugrahaḥ

Translation

When, by mature understanding, one can realize his individuality, then the situation he accepts under false ego becomes manifest to him.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Liberation Preserves Our Individuality

  1. 1

    Individuality continues in both material and spiritual existence. Even someone who thinks that knower, knowledge and knowable have merged remains an individual perceiving that knowledge.

  2. 2

    False ego makes us see things differently from what they actually are. When false ego is purified, we see things in their right perspective; this is liberation.

  3. 3

    Everything belongs to the Supreme Lord and exists on His energy. Thinking “I am the enjoyer” or “I am the Lord” keeps us conditioned.

Key points from the purport
  • The Māyāvādī philosophers’ position is that at the ultimate issue the individual is lost, everything becomes one, and there is no distinction between the knower, the knowable and knowledge.
  • In the material identity, the false ego acts, and because of false identification, one takes things to be different from what they actually are.
  • Because everything is produced of His energy and exists on His energy, the energy is not different from Him — but still the Lord declares, “I am not there.”

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 27: Understanding Material Nature

Kapila explains how hearing, chanting, knowledge, and devotional service free the soul from material nature.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.27
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. evamthus
  2. pratyavamṛśyaafter understanding
  3. asauthat person
  4. ātmānamhis self
  5. pratipadyaterealizes
  6. sa-ahaṅkārasyaaccepted under false ego
  7. dravyasyaof the situation
  8. yaḥwho
  9. avasthānamresting place
  10. anugrahaḥthe manifester
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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 3.27

    In this verse: “understanding”, “knowledge”

  • Dainya · Humility

    Ego yields to insight, service and surrender. · Theme in SB 3.27

    In this verse: “false ego”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 3.27

    In this verse: “purified”

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

What do I treat as belonging to me rather than to the Supreme Lord?

Practice

Choose one possession and pause to remember that it belongs to the Supreme Lord, not ultimately to you.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayLiberation Preserves Our IndividualityThis 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 3.27.16? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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