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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 9: Brahmā’s Prayers for Creative Energy
3.9.93.9.11

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.9.10

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 3.9.1inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

अह्न्यापृतार्तकरणा निशि नि:शयाना ।

नानामनोरथधिया क्षणभग्ननिद्रा: ।

दैवाहतार्थरचना ऋषयोऽपि देव

युष्मत्प्रसङ्गविमुखा इह संसरन्ति ॥ १० ॥

ahny āpṛtārta-karaṇā niśi niḥśayānā

nānā-manoratha-dhiyā kṣaṇa-bhagna-nidrāḥ

daivāhatārtha-racanā ṛṣayo ’pi deva

yuṣmat-prasaṅga-vimukhā iha saṁsaranti

Translation

Such nondevotees engage their senses in very troublesome and extensive work, and they suffer insomnia at night because their intelligence constantly breaks their sleep with various mental speculations. They are frustrated in all their various plans by supernatural power. Even great sages, if they are against Your transcendental topics, must rotate in this material world.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotional Service Is Essential to Genuine Religion

  1. 1

    Without a taste for devotional service, people remain absorbed in troublesome material work and restless plans. Even great thinkers must undergo the reactions of their work through repeated birth and death.

  2. 2

    The Supreme Lord is the leader of all living entities; no one is equal to or greater than Him. Genuine religion and philosophy must lead to devotional service to Him.

  3. 3

    Even sages who neglect devotional service remain subject to material existence. Those who reach the impersonal brahmajyoti without taking shelter in devotional service fall again into the material world.

Key points from the purport
  • This verse particularly mentions that even sages who are averse to the principles of devotional service to the Lord are also condemned to undergo the terms of material existence.
  • Therefore, no one can manufacture any system of religion without the principle of devotional service to the Lord.
  • Therefore, one who is not situated in the principles of devotional service to the Lord should not pose himself as a religious leader of the innocent public.

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

The purport of SB 3.9.10 quotesSB 10.2.32

“Persons who are falsely under the impression of being liberated, without devotional service to the Lord, may reach the goal of the brahmajyoti, but because of their impure consciousness and for want of shelter in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, such so-called liberated persons again fall down into material existence.”

The purport of SB 3.9.10 quotesSB 6.3.19

Twelve personalities — Brahmā, Nārada, Lord Śiva, Kumāra, Kapila, Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Bhīṣma, Bali, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Yamarāja — are agents of the Lord authorized to speak and propagate the principles of religion.”

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

Mystery → Cosmic wonder. The origin of the world is revealed through inquiry and divine grace.

Chapters 5–12 of Canto 3: Creation and Brahmā's bewilderment. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 9: Brahmā’s Prayers for Creative Energy

Brahmā prays for mercy and creative power, and the Lord instructs and blesses him.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.9
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. ahniduring the daytime
  2. āpṛtaengaged
  3. ārtadistressing engagement
  4. karaṇāḥsenses
  5. niśiat night
  6. niḥśayānāḥinsomnia
  7. nānāvarious
  8. manorathamental speculations
3

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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 3.9

    In this verse: “material”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 3.9

    In this verse: “philosophy”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 3.9

    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

Are my daily plans helping me develop a taste for devotional service, or leaving no room for it?

Practice

Set aside five minutes from your usual planning today to read about the Lord with the intention of serving Him.

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.

The purport quotesSB 10.2.32SB 6.3.19

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 3.9's connections

Live this todayDevotional Service Is Essential to Genuine ReligionThis 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 3.9.10? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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