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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
3.28.53.28.7

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.28.6

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

स्वधिष्ण्यानामेकदेशे मनसा प्राणधारणम् ।

वैकुण्ठलीलाभिध्यानं समाधानं तथात्मन: ॥ ६ ॥

sva-dhiṣṇyānām eka-deśe

manasā prāṇa-dhāraṇam

vaikuṇṭha-līlābhidhyānaṁ

samādhānaṁ tathātmanaḥ

Translation

Fixing the vital air and the mind in one of the six circles of vital air circulation within the body, thus concentrating one’s mind on the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is called samādhi, or samādhāna, of the mind.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Absorption in the Lord Is Samādhi

  1. 1

    The yogī fixes the mind and vital air within one of the six circles of vital air circulation. The purpose is to think of the Supreme Lord’s transcendental pastimes.

  2. 2

    The object of concentration is the Lord’s personal activities, not the impersonal or void. Hearing and chanting about His pastimes bring this concentration through devotional service.

  3. 3

    One can become absorbed in a narration of the Lord’s pastimes found in Vedic literature. Samādhi is not an artificial bodily state, but absorption in thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Key points from the purport
  • One has to fix his mind and the circulation of the vital air and thus think of the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord.
  • Unless the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, has transcendental activities, where is the scope for thinking of these pastimes?
  • Samādhi is not an artificial bodily state; it is the state achieved when the mind is virtually absorbed in thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. sva-dhiṣṇyānāmwithin the vital air circles
  2. eka-deśein one spot
  3. manasāwith the mind
  4. prāṇathe vital air
  5. dhāraṇamfixing
  6. vaikuṇṭha-līlāon the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  7. abhidhyānamconcentration
  8. samādhānamsamādhi
  9. tathāthus
  10. ātmanaḥof the mind
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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

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 3.28

    In this verse: “chanting”, “hearing”, “narration”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 3.28

    In this verse: “devotional service”

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 attentively do I hear about the Lord’s pastimes?

Practice

Spend a few minutes hearing or reading one narration of the Lord’s pastimes, then quietly recall what you heard.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 3.28's connections

Live this todayAbsorption in the Lord Is SamādhiThis 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 3.28.6? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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