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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
4.11.244.11.26

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.11.25

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

स एव विश्वं सृजति स एवावति हन्ति च ।

अथापि ह्यनहङ्कारान्नाज्यते गुणकर्मभि: ॥ २५ ॥

sa eva viśvaṁ sṛjati

sa evāvati hanti ca

athāpi hy anahaṅkārān

nājyate guṇa-karmabhiḥ

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates this material world, maintains it, and annihilates it in due course of time, but because He is transcendental to such activities, He is never affected by ego in such action or by the modes of material nature.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa’s Body Is Always Transcendental

  1. 1

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates, maintains and annihilates the material world without becoming affected by His actions. He is never contaminated by the material modes of nature.

  2. 2

    The conditioned soul falsely identifies with the body received through karma. For Kṛṣṇa, however, there is no distinction between body and soul.

  3. 3

    Kṛṣṇa’s body is never material; it is eternal and spiritual. To regard Him as an ordinary human being is to misunderstand His transcendental nature.

Key points from the purport
  • But for the Supreme Personality of Godhead there is no such distinction between the body and the soul.
  • The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has no material body, and because He has no material body, He is not affected by any work He executes.
  • The real situation, however, is that the body of the conditioned soul, even if he has a large accumulation of material goodness, is material, whereas Kṛṣṇa’s body is never material; it is transcendental.

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. evacertainly
  3. viśvamthe universe
  4. sṛjaticreates
  5. saḥHe
  6. evacertainly
  7. avatimaintains
  8. hantiannihilates
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 4.11

    In this verse: “material”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 4.11

    In this verse: “contaminated”

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 understand Kṛṣṇa as transcendental, or do I imagine Him limited like a conditioned soul?

Practice

Read the translation again and reflect for one minute on how Kṛṣṇa acts without material entanglement.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa’s Body Is Always TranscendentalThis 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 4.11.25? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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