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

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Canto 6 · Prescribed Duties for Mankind · 19 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 6 · Chapter 16: King Citraketu Meets the Supreme Lord
6.16.176.16.20

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Texts 6.16.18-19

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 6.16.12inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitAṅgirā and Nārada Muni → King Citraketu

ॐ नमस्तुभ्यं भगवते वासुदेवाय धीमहि ।

प्रद्युम्नायानिरुद्धाय नम: सङ्कर्षणाय च ॥ १८ ॥

नमो विज्ञानमात्राय परमानन्दमूर्तये ।

आत्मारामाय शान्ताय निवृत्तद्वैतद‍ृष्टये ॥ १९ ॥

oṁ namas tubhyaṁ bhagavate

vāsudevāya dhīmahi

pradyumnāyāniruddhāya

namaḥ saṅkarṣaṇāya ca

namo vijñāna-mātrāya

paramānanda-mūrtaye

ātmārāmāya śāntāya

nivṛtta-dvaita-dṛṣṭaye

Translation

[Nārada gave Citraketu the following mantra.] O Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, who are addressed by the oṁkāra [praṇava], I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. O Lord Vāsudeva, I meditate upon You. O Lord Pradyumna, Lord Aniruddha and Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, I offer You my respectful obeisances. O reservoir of spiritual potency, O supreme bliss, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, who are self-sufficient and most peaceful. O ultimate truth, one without a second, You are realized as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān and are therefore the reservoir of all knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa’s Spiritual Form Is Knowledge and Bliss

  1. 1

    Oṁkāra is a symbolic representation of the Supreme Lord in sound. His many forms are nondifferent and infallible; they do not fall into material illusion.

  2. 2

    Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has no difference between His body and His soul. His form is full of knowledge and transcendental bliss, unlike a conditioned soul’s material body.

  3. 3

    The Lord is self-sufficient and free from anxiety; He needs no external source of enjoyment. A devotee is satisfied simply in serving the fully blissful Lord.

Key points from the purport
  • Therefore His body is different from the material body possessed by the conditioned soul.
  • However, because the body of the Supreme Lord is full of knowledge, it needs no covering.
  • Here we receive material bodies because of a lack of knowledge, but because Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, is full of knowledge, there is no difference between His body and His soul.

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 6.16.18-19 quotesBG 2.14

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14): “O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons.

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

Parental grief → Detachment and surrender. A flashback discloses the devotional history behind Vṛtrāsura.

Chapters 14–17 of Canto 6: Citraketu's grief, realization and curse. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 16: King Citraketu Meets the Supreme Lord

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

When Citraketu was appeased, the great sage Nārada gave him a mantra, and by chanting this mantra Citraketu found shelter at the lotus feet of Saṅkarṣaṇa. The living entity is eternal.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.16
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. omO my Lord
  2. namaḥobeisances
  3. tubhyamunto You
  4. bhagavatethe Supreme Personality of Godhead
  5. vāsudevāyaKṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva
  6. dhīmahilet me meditate upon
  7. pradyumnāyaunto Pradyumna
  8. aniruddhāyaunto Aniruddha
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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 6.16

    In this verse: “illusion”, “material”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.16

    In this verse: “knowledge”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 6.16

    In this verse: “free from”

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How might remembering the Lord’s self-sufficiency help me seek satisfaction in His service?

Practice

Slowly offer the prayer “Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya,” remembering that the Lord’s form is full of knowledge and bliss.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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Connected stories

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

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 6.16's connections

Live this todayKṛṣṇa’s Spiritual Form Is Knowledge and BlissThis 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 6.16.18-19? Get an answer from the verses themselves.