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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.28.36

Who is speaking and story frame

सोऽप्येतया चरमया मनसो निवृत्त्या

तस्मिन्महिम्न्यवसित: सुखदु:खबाह्ये ।

हेतुत्वमप्यसति कर्तरि दु:खयोर्यत्

स्वात्मन्विधत्त उपलब्धपरात्मकाष्ठ: ॥ ३६ ॥

so ’py etayā caramayā manaso nivṛttyā

tasmin mahimny avasitaḥ sukha-duḥkha-bāhye

hetutvam apy asati kartari duḥkhayor yat

svātman vidhatta upalabdha-parātma-kāṣṭhaḥ

Translation

Thus situated in the highest transcendental stage, the mind ceases from all material reaction and becomes situated in its own glory, transcendental to all material conceptions of happiness and distress. At that time the yogī realizes the truth of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He discovers that pleasure and pain as well as their interactions, which he attributed to his own self, are actually due to the false ego, which is a product of ignorance.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Our Eternal Relationship Is Loving Service

  1. 1

    Ignorance means forgetting our relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thinking ourselves independent. Our eternal relationship with Him is one of loving service.

  2. 2

    False ego makes us attribute material pleasure and pain to our true self. The desire to control material nature keeps us subject to these experiences.

  3. 3

    Perfection comes when our desires agree with the Lord’s desires and we find happiness in His happiness. This realization preserves our individuality rather than erasing it.

Key points from the purport
  • When the devotee’s mind is purified and he understands that his mind has to be dovetailed with the desires of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he has attained the perfectional, transcendental stage, which is beyond the perception of material distress and happiness.
  • The desire to lord it over material nature is the cause of ignorance, and when that desire is completely extinguished and the desires are dovetailed with those of the Supreme Lord, one has reached the perfectional stage.
  • In the liberated stage, oneness with the Supreme Lord means that one has no realization other than happiness.

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 28: Kapila’s Instructions on the Execution of Devotional Service

Kapila teaches disciplined yoga and devoted meditation upon the Lord’s eternal form.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.28
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saḥthe yogī
  2. apimoreover
  3. etayāby this
  4. caramayāultimate
  5. manasaḥof the mind
  6. nivṛttyāby cessation of material reaction
  7. tasminin his
  8. mahimniultimate glory
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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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 3.28

    In this verse: “material”

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 3.28

    In this verse: “distress”

  • Dainya · Humility

    Ego yields to insight, service and surrender. · Theme in SB 3.28

    In this verse: “false ego”

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

Where am I seeking independent enjoyment rather than happiness in the Lord’s happiness?

Practice

Pause before one choice today and ask, “Am I seeking only my own enjoyment, or cultivating a desire to serve the Lord?”

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayOur Eternal Relationship Is Loving ServiceThis 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 3.28.36? Get an answer from the verses themselves.