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

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Canto 5 · The Creative Impetus · 26 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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.18.23

Who is speaking and story frame

स त्वं ममाप्यच्युत शीर्ष्णि वन्दितं

कराम्बुजं यत्त्वदधायि सात्वताम् ।

बिभर्षि मां लक्ष्म वरेण्य मायया

क ईश्वरस्येहितमूहितुं विभुरिति ॥ २३ ॥

sa tvaṁ mamāpy acyuta śīrṣṇi vanditaṁ

karāmbujaṁ yat tvad-adhāyi sātvatām

bibharṣi māṁ lakṣma vareṇya māyayā

ka īśvarasyehitam ūhituṁ vibhur iti

Translation

O infallible one, Your lotus palm is the source of all benediction. Therefore Your pure devotees worship it, and You very mercifully place Your hand on their heads. I wish that You may also place Your hand on My head, for although You already bear my insignia of golden streaks on Your chest, I regard this honor as merely a kind of false prestige for me. You show Your real mercy to Your devotees, not to me. Of course, You are the supreme absolute controller, and no one can understand Your motives.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Pure Love Receives Kṛṣṇa’s Special Mercy

  1. 1

    Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, declares that His devotees are dearer to Him than even the goddess of fortune or His own Self.

  2. 2

    The gopīs received causeless mercy that even Lakṣmīdevī could not attain through severe austerities. In Goloka Vṛndāvana, no one has any desire other than to love Kṛṣṇa.

  3. 3

    To attain Kṛṣṇa’s shelter, one must follow in the footsteps of the residents of Vṛndāvana. The purport concludes that one must take to the service of these unalloyed devotees.

Key points from the purport
  • Rather, it was in great fun that the goddess of fortune wanted to associate with Lord Kṛṣṇa.
  • However, the inhabitants of that planet do not know that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
  • Therefore if one wants to be delivered by Kṛṣṇa directly, he must take to the service of the residents of Vṛndāvana, who are unalloyed devotees 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· 4

The purport of SB 5.18.23 quotesSB 11.14.15

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.15) it is stated: Here Kṛṣṇa plainly says that His devotees are more dear to Him than Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa (the original cause of creation), the goddess of fortune or even His own Self.

The purport of SB 5.18.23 quotesSB 10.9.20

Elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.9.20) Śukadeva Gosvāmī says: The Supreme Lord, who can award liberation to anyone, showed more mercy toward the gopīs than to Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva or even the goddess of fortune, who is His own wife and is associated with His body.

The purport of SB 5.18.23 quotesSB 10.47.60

The Supreme Lord, who can award liberation to anyone, showed more mercy toward the gopīs than to Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva or even the goddess of fortune, who is His own wife and is associated with His body.

The purport of SB 5.18.23 quotesCC Madhya 9.111

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu discusses this point with Vyeṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 9.111-131): “The Lord inquired from Vyeṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, ‘Your worshipable goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, always remains on the chest of Nārāyaṇa, and she is certainly the most chaste woman in the creation.

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

Smallness → Awe and reverence. A vast cosmos changes the reader's perspective.

Chapters 15–25 of Canto 5: The cosmic regions and divine worship. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 18: The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambūdvīpa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The conditioned living entity has the defect of being always fearful, but simply by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can rid himself of this defect of material life. Therefore the Lord alone can be addressed as master.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.18
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saḥthat
  2. tvamYou
  3. mamaof me
  4. apialso
  5. acyutaO infallible one
  6. śīrṣṇion the head
  7. vanditamworshiped
  8. kara-ambujamYour lotus hand
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Poṣaṇa · Protection by the Lord

    How does the Lord care for His devotees? · Subject 4 of 10

  • Kṛpā · Divine mercy

    Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 5.18

    In this verse: “mercy”, “mercifully”, “causeless”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 5.18

    In this verse: “devotees”, “worship”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 5.18

    In this verse: “understand”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can I place loving devotion above the desire for spiritual honor?

Practice

Read the purport’s description of the residents of Vṛndāvana again, and pray for the desire to follow their pure devotion.

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Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Live this todayPure Love Receives Kṛṣṇa’s Special MercyThis 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 5.18.23? Get an answer from the verses themselves.