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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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Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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
3.9.353.9.37

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.9.36

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Supreme Personality of Godheadsince 3.9.29inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

ज्ञातोऽहं भवता त्वद्य दुर्विज्ञेयोऽपि देहिनाम् ।

यन्मां त्वं मन्यसेऽयुक्तं भूतेन्द्रियगुणात्मभि: ॥ ३६ ॥

jñāto ’haṁ bhavatā tv adya

durvijñeyo ’pi dehinām

yan māṁ tvaṁ manyase ’yuktaṁ

bhūtendriya-guṇātmabhiḥ

Translation

Although I am not easily knowable by the conditioned soul, you have known Me today because you know that My personality is not constituted of anything material, and specifically not of the five gross and three subtle elements.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord’s Form Is Spiritual

  1. 1

    Understanding spiritual existence does not require denying the material manifestation. Spiritual form is not material form.

  2. 2

    Brahmā understood the Lord’s eternal form as free from material composition, and the Lord approved his understanding.

  3. 3

    Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is not materially composed even when He appears like a man. There is no difference between His body and His self.

Key points from the purport
  • To think that because material existence is realized in forms therefore spiritual existence must be formless is only a negative material conception of spirit.
  • The real spiritual conception is that spiritual form is not material form.
  • That is the way of conceiving the spiritual form of the Lord.

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

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. jñātaḥknown
  2. ahamMyself
  3. bhavatāby you
  4. tubut
  5. adyatoday
  6. duḥdifficult
  7. vijñeyaḥto be known
  8. apiin spite of
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Āśraya · The summum bonum

    Who is the shelter of everything? · Subject 10 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: “understanding”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 3.9

    In this verse: “free from”

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

Do I sometimes assume that a spiritual form must either be material or have no form at all?

Practice

Reread the translation and reflect for one minute on the Lord’s form being entirely spiritual.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Lord’s Form Is SpiritualThis 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 3.9.36? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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