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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 ›
Canto 5 · Chapter 18: The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambūdvīpa
5.18.305.18.32

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.18.31

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 5.18.29inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

यद्रूपमेतन्निजमाययार्पित-

मर्थस्वरूपं बहुरूपरूपितम् ।

सङ्ख्या न यस्यास्त्ययथोपलम्भनात्-

तस्मै नमस्तेऽव्यपदेशरूपिणे ॥ ३१ ॥

yad-rūpam etan nija-māyayārpitam

artha-svarūpaṁ bahu-rūpa-rūpitam

saṅkhyā na yasyāsty ayathopalambhanāt

tasmai namas te ’vyapadeśa-rūpiṇe

Translation

My dear Lord, this visible cosmic manifestation is a demonstration of Your own creative energy. Since the countless varieties of forms within this cosmic manifestation are simply a display of Your external energy, this virāṭ-rūpa [universal body] is not Your real form. Except for a devotee in transcendental consciousness, no one can perceive Your actual form. Therefore I 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.

Devotion Reveals the Lord’s Actual Form

  1. 1

    The visible universe displays the Lord’s external energy. The universal body is not His actual personal form.

  2. 2

    As heat and light expand from fire, the Lord’s energies expand from Him. The entire creation rests on Kṛṣṇa’s energy, but that expansion is not His personal form.

  3. 3

    This inconceivable expansion of His energy is called acintya-śakti. No one can understand the Lord’s real form without becoming His devotee.

Key points from the purport
  • Māyāvādī philosophers think the universal form of the Lord to be real and His personal form illusory.
  • Only the fire has form, and therefore it is the real form of the heat and light.
  • Therefore no one can understand the real form of the Lord without becoming His devotee.

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 5.18.31 quotesBG 9.4

As Kṛṣṇa states in Bhagavad-gītā (9.4), mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā: “By Me, in My unmanifested form. this entire universe is pervaded.”

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:

In the hearts of nondevotees, however, there cannot be any good qualities, for such people are simply enchanted by the external, illusory energy of the Lord. Following in the footsteps of devotees, one should know that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the only worshipable Deity.
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. yatof whom
  2. rūpamthe form
  3. etatthis
  4. nija-māyayā arpitammanifested by Your personal potency
  5. artha-svarūpamthis entire visible cosmic manifestation
  6. bahu-rūpa-rūpitammanifested in various forms
  7. saṅkhyāthe measurement
  8. nanot
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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

    In this verse: “devotee”

  • 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.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I seeking to know the Lord through devotion, rather than speculation alone?

Practice

Offer a short prayer expressing your wish to understand the Lord through devotional service.

Live this todayDevotion Reveals the Lord’s Actual FormThis 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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