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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 4 · The Creation of the Fourth Order · 31 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 4 · Chapter 11: Svāyambhuva Manu Advises Dhruva Mahārāja to Stop Fighting
4.11.184.11.20

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.11.19

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Manusince 4.11.16inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

सोऽनन्तोऽन्तकर: कालोऽनादिरादिकृदव्यय: ।

जनं जनेन जनयन्मारयन्मृत्युनान्तकम् ॥ १९ ॥

so ’nanto ’nta-karaḥ kālo

’nādir ādi-kṛd avyayaḥ

janaṁ janena janayan

mārayan mṛtyunāntakam

Translation

My dear Dhruva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is ever existing, but in the form of time He is the killer of everything. He has no beginning, although He is the beginning of everything, nor is He ever exhaustible, although everything is exhausted in due course of time. The living entities are created through the agency of the father and killed through the agency of death, but He is perpetually free of birth and death.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Supreme Lord Remains Undiminished

  1. 1

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead has neither beginning nor end. In the form of time He takes everything away, yet He remains free from birth and death.

  2. 2

    Creation, maintenance and annihilation occur repeatedly without diminishing the Lord’s power. Like a touchstone producing jewels, He remains unchanged by what comes from Him.

  3. 3

    Devotees direct their interest toward the original creator, maintainer and annihilator rather than the world’s fleeting history. This is the purpose of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Key points from the purport
  • The supreme authority and inconceivable power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be minutely studied from this verse.
  • Similarly, creation occurs many times, everything is maintained, and, after a time, everything is annihilated — but the original creator, the Supreme Lord, remains untouched and undiminished in power.
  • In the recent history of warfare the Supreme Personality of Godhead created a Hitler and, before that, a Napoleon Bonaparte, and they each killed many living entities in war.

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

Rejection → Transformed aspiration. A child's wounded pride is purified by divine encounter.

Chapters 8–12 of Canto 4: Dhruva seeks and encounters the Lord. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 11: Svāyambhuva Manu Advises Dhruva Mahārāja to Stop Fighting

Svāyambhuva Manu urges Dhruva to stop killing innocent Yakṣas and turn his attention to the Supreme Lord.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.11
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saḥHe
  2. anantaḥinfinite
  3. anta-karaḥannihilator
  4. kālaḥtime
  5. anādiḥwithout beginning
  6. ādi-kṛtbeginning of everything
  7. avyayaḥwithout decrease
  8. janamliving entities
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

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 4.11

    In this verse: “death”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 4.11

    In this verse: “father”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 4.11

    In this verse: “devotees”

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 much of my attention goes to fleeting events, and how much to the eternal Supreme Lord?

Practice

Set aside a few minutes today to reread this verse and reflect on the Lord’s enduring, undiminished power.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Supreme Lord Remains UndiminishedThis 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.

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