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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.
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Canto 5 · Chapter 23: The Śiśumāra Planetary Systems
5.23.35.23.5

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.23.4

Sthāna· The universe in order
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 5.23.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

केचनैतज्ज्योतिरनीकं शिशुमारसंस्थानेन भगवतो वासुदेवस्य योगधारणायामनुवर्णयन्ति ॥ ४ ॥

kecanaitaj jyotir-anīkaṁ śiśumāra-saṁsthānena bhagavato vāsudevasya yoga-dhāraṇāyām anuvarṇayanti.

Translation

This great machine, consisting of the stars and planets, resembles the form of a śiśumāra [dolphin] in the water. It is sometimes considered an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva. Great yogīs meditate upon Vāsudeva in this form because it is actually visible.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Meditating on the Lord’s Gigantic Form

  1. 1

    The great arrangement of stars and planets resembles a śiśumāra, or dolphin, in water. It is sometimes considered an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva.

  2. 2

    Yogīs whose minds cannot accommodate the Lord’s form prefer to visualize something very great. They contemplate the śiśumāra as though it were swimming in the sky.

  3. 3

    Their meditation is upon the virāṭ-rūpa, the gigantic form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The visible planetary arrangement helps them focus upon Vāsudeva.

Key points from the purport
  • Transcendentalists such as yogīs whose minds cannot accommodate the form of the Lord prefer to visualize something very great, such as the virāṭ-puruṣa.
  • Therefore some yogīs contemplate this imaginary śiśumāra to be swimming in the sky the way a dolphin swims in water.
  • They meditate upon it as the virāṭ-rūpa, the gigantic form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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

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 23: The Śiśumāra Planetary Systems

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Those who worship the virāṭ-puruṣa, the universal form of the Lord, conceive of this entire rotating system of planets as an animal known as śiśumāra. This imaginary śiśumāra is another form of the Lord.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.23
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. kecanasome yogīs or learned scholars of astronomy
  2. etatthis
  3. jyotiḥ-anīkamgreat wheel of planets and stars
  4. śiśumāra-saṁsthānenaimagine this wheel to be a śiśumāra (dolphin)
  5. bhagavataḥof the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  6. vāsudevasyaLord Vāsudeva (the son of Vasudeva), Kṛṣṇa
  7. yoga-dhāraṇāyāmin absorption in worship
  8. anuvarṇayantidescribe
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Sthāna · Planetary systems

    How is the universe arranged, and what is our right place in it? · Subject 3 of 10

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 can contemplating the vast planetary arrangement help me direct my attention toward the Lord?

Practice

Spend a minute contemplating the stars and planets described here as the Lord’s gigantic form.

Live this todayMeditating on the Lord’s Gigantic 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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