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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 27: Understanding Material Nature
3.27.163.27.18

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.27.17

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Devahūtisince 3.27.17inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Kapila → Devahūti

देवहूतिरुवाच

पुरुषं प्रकृतिर्ब्रह्मन्न विमुञ्चति कर्हिचित् ।

अन्योन्यापाश्रयत्वाच्च नित्यत्वादनयो: प्रभो ॥ १७ ॥

devahūtir uvāca

puruṣaṁ prakṛtir brahman

na vimuñcati karhicit

anyonyāpāśrayatvāc ca

nityatvād anayoḥ prabho

Translation

Śrī Devahūti inquired: My dear brāhmaṇa, does material nature ever give release to the spirit soul? Since one is attracted to the other eternally, how is their separation possible?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

How Can Soul and Matter Separate?

  1. 1

    Devahūti asks how material nature can release the spirit soul when their attraction seems enduring. Merely understanding that soul and matter differ does not accomplish their separation.

  2. 2

    The spirit soul is the Supreme Lord’s marginal potency, and matter is His external potency. These two eternal potencies have somehow become combined.

  3. 3

    We perceive life while soul and body are combined, but separation makes their existence difficult to perceive. The purport describes the voidist claim that consciousness comes from matter as the concern behind this inquiry, not as its conclusion.

Key points from the purport
  • Although one may understand that spirit soul and matter are different, their actual separation is not possible, either by philosophical speculation or by proper understanding.
  • The two eternal potencies have somehow or other been combined, and since it is so difficult to separate one from the other, how is it possible for the individual soul to become liberated?
  • By practical experience one can see that when the soul is separated from the body, the body has no real existence, and when the body is separated from the soul one cannot perceive the existence of the soul.

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. devahūtiḥ uvācaDevahūti said
  2. puruṣamthe spirit soul
  3. prakṛtiḥmaterial nature
  4. brahmanO brāhmaṇa
  5. nanot
  6. vimuñcatidoes release
  7. karhicitat any time
  8. anyonyato one another
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: “inquired”, “spirit soul”, “inquiry”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 3.27

    In this verse: “material”

  • Viraha · Longing in separation

    Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 3.27

    In this verse: “separation”

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

Can I distinguish knowing that soul and matter differ from actually becoming free of material bondage?

Practice

Write down one sincere question you have about the soul’s release from material nature.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayHow Can Soul and Matter Separate?This 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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