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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 28: Kapila’s Instructions on the Execution of Devotional Service
3.28.393.28.41

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.28.40

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Personality of Godheadsince 3.28.1inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Kapila → Devahūti

यथोल्मुकाद्विस्फुलिङ्गाद्धूमाद्वापि स्वसम्भवात् ।

अप्यात्मत्वेनाभिमताद्यथाग्नि: पृथगुल्मुकात् ॥ ४० ॥

yatholmukād visphuliṅgād

dhūmād vāpi sva-sambhavāt

apy ātmatvenābhimatād

yathāgniḥ pṛthag ulmukāt

Translation

The blazing fire is different from the flames, from the sparks and from the smoke, although all are intimately connected because they are born from the same blazing wood.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Closely Connected, Yet Still Different

  1. 1

    Blazing firewood, sparks, smoke and flame are intimately connected. Yet they remain different from one another.

  2. 2

    Accepting smoke as fire shows a lack of understanding. Their close connection does not make them identical.

  3. 3

    The heat and light of fire are distinguishable from it, although they cannot be separated from the fire.

Key points from the purport
  • Although the blazing firewood, the sparks, the smoke and the flame cannot stay apart because each of them is part and parcel of the fire, still they are different from one another.
  • A less intelligent person accepts the smoke as fire, although fire and smoke are completely different.
  • The heat and light of the fire are separate, although one cannot differentiate fire from heat and light.

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· 3

Quoted in the purport ofSB 2.10.45

yathāgniḥ pṛthag ulmukāt. The original fire, its flame, its sparks and its smoke are all one, for fire is still fire yet is different from the flame, flame is different from sparks, and sparks are different from the smoke.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.28.63

In the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.28.40), it is said: There is flame, the sparks and the smoke.

Quoted in the purport ofCC Ādi 5.61

This is more clearly explained by Śrī Kapiladeva, an incarnation of Godhead, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.28.40):

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 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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yathāas
  2. ulmukātfrom the flames
  3. visphuliṅgātfrom the sparks
  4. dhūmātfrom the smoke
  5. vāor
  6. apieven
  7. sva-sambhavātproduced from itself
  8. apialthough
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 3.28

    In this verse: “understanding”

  • Viraha · Longing in separation

    Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 3.28

    In this verse: “separated”

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 the example of fire and smoke help me understand connection without sameness?

Practice

Write down “fire, flame, sparks, smoke” and name one difference between two of them.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayClosely Connected, Yet Still DifferentThis 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 3.28.40? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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