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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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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 4 · Chapter 24: Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Śiva
4.24.384.24.40

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.24.39

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.24.32inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Śiva → the Pracetās

सर्वसत्त्वात्मदेहाय विशेषाय

स्थवीयसे ।

नमस्त्रैलोक्यपालाय सह ओजोबलाय च ॥ ३९ ॥

sarva-sattvātma-dehāya

viśeṣāya sthavīyase

namas trailokya-pālāya

saha ojo-balāya ca

Translation

My dear Lord, You are the gigantic universal form which contains all the individual bodies of the living entities. You are the maintainer of the three worlds, and as such You maintain the mind, senses, body, and air of life within them. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Serve the Lord With Your Whole Being

  1. 1

    The Lord’s universal body contains all the individual bodies of living entities. Lord Śiva offers obeisances so that everyone’s body may fully engage in devotional service.

  2. 2

    All the senses should be engaged in serving the Lord. The nose can smell flowers offered to His lotus feet, and the hands can clean His temple.

  3. 3

    The Lord maintains every living entity and can enable service with full bodily and mental strength. We should serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead with life, wealth, intelligence and words, depending on His sanction.

Key points from the purport
  • As the individual body of the living entity is composed of millions of cells, germs and microbes, the universal body of the Supreme Lord similarly contains all the individual bodies of the living entities.
  • Lord Śiva is offering his obeisances to the universal body, which includes all other bodies, so that everyone’s body may fully engage in devotional service.
  • Lord Śiva is offering his prayers in so many different ways in order to show living entities how to engage in the devotional service 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.

Connected verses· 1

The purport of SB 4.24.39 quotesSB 10.22.35

As stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.22.35): Even though one may desire to engage in the service of the Lord, without sanction one cannot do so.

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

Worldly absorption → Sobering awareness. The mind's identification with material life becomes visible.

Chapters 24–29 of Canto 4: Śiva's song and the allegory of Purañjana. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 24: Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Śiva

Lord Śiva mercifully teaches the Pracetās prayers glorifying the Supreme Lord.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.24
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. sarvaall
  2. sattvaexistence
  3. ātmasoul
  4. dehāyaunto the body
  5. viśeṣāyadiversity
  6. sthavīyaseunto the material world
  7. namaḥoffering obeisances
  8. trai-lokyathree planetary systems
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 4.24

    In this verse: “wealth”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 4.24

    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

Which ability or resource could I use more fully in the Lord’s service?

Practice

Offer a brief prayer asking the Lord to engage your body, intelligence and words in His service today.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayServe the Lord With Your Whole BeingThis 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 4.24.39? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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