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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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
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 31: Lord Kapila’s Instructions on the Movements of the Living Entities

3.30.34 3.31.2

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.31.1

Ūti· What drives us to act

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The Personality of Godheadsince 3.31.1inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Kapila → Devahūti

श्रीभगवानुवाच

कर्मणा दैवनेत्रेण जन्तुर्देहोपपत्तये ।

स्त्रिया: प्रविष्ट उदरं पुंसो रेत:कणाश्रय: ॥ १ ॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa

jantur dehopapattaye

striyāḥ praviṣṭa udaraṁ

puṁso retaḥ-kaṇāśrayaḥ

Translation

The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Body Comes Under the Lord’s Supervision

1
The soul receives a particular body according to the results of his work, under the supervision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
2
Material nature supplies the body under the direction of the Supersoul. The Supreme Lord is always present with the individual soul.
3
The soul takes shelter in a particle of semen and enters the mother’s womb; then the body develops. The purport emphasizes that material combination alone does not create the living entity.

Key points from the purport

In order to give a particular type of human form to a person who has already suffered hellish life, the soul is transferred to the semen of a man who is just suitable to become his father.
During sexual intercourse, the soul is transferred through the semen of the father into the mother’s womb in order to produce a particular type of body.
He directs material nature to supply a particular type of body to the individual soul according to the result of his work, and the material nature supplies it.

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· 2

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.24.73

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.31.1), daiva-netreṇa: bodies are awarded under the supervision of superior powers.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.28.28

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.31.1), karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa.

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

Chapter 31: Lord Kapila’s Instructions on the Movements of the Living Entities

Kapila describes life in the womb, prayer, birth, forgetfulness, and continued bondage through material activities.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.31

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

śrī-bhagavān uvācathe Supreme Personality of Godhead said
karmaṇāby the result of work
daiva-netreṇaunder the supervision of the Lord
jantuḥthe living entity
dehaa body
upapattayefor obtaining
striyāḥof a woman
praviṣṭaḥenters

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

Ūti · The creative impetus
Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10
Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender
Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 3.31
In this verse: “shelter”
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 3.31
In this verse: “material”
Vātsalya · Parental affection
Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 3.31
In this verse: “mother’s”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does remembering the Lord’s supervision change how I view my body and actions?

Practice

Pause before one action today and reflect that your work has consequences under the Lord’s supervision.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

Quoted in 149 lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 149 lectures

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayThe Body Comes Under the Lord’s SupervisionThis 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 3.31.1? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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