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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
6.16.18-196.16.21

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.16.20

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
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

आत्मानन्दानुभूत्यैव न्यस्तशक्त्यूर्मये नम: ।

हृषीकेशाय महते नमस्तेऽनन्तमूर्तये ॥ २० ॥

ātmānandānubhūtyaiva

nyasta-śakty-ūrmaye namaḥ

hṛṣīkeśāya mahate

namas te ’nanta-mūrtaye

Translation

Perceiving Your personal bliss, You are always transcendental to the waves of material nature. Therefore, my Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. You are the supreme controller of the senses, and Your expansions of form are unlimited. You are the greatest, and therefore 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.

The Lord Is Beyond Material Disturbance

  1. 1

    The Supreme Lord’s body is spiritual, and He derives bliss from Himself. The conditioned soul, having a material body, experiences bodily and mental troubles.

  2. 2

    The Lord is the supreme master of the senses and is free from material dualities. The conditioned soul is controlled by the senses and disturbed by attachment and detachment.

  3. 3

    The Lord’s bodily expansions are unlimited and have no beginning or end. Unlike the conditioned soul, He remains transcendental to all material actions and reactions.

Key points from the purport
  • The form of the Lord and the form of the conditioned soul are different because the Lord is always blissful whereas the conditioned soul is always under the threefold miseries of the material world.
  • The Lord is the supreme master of all the senses, whereas the conditioned soul is controlled by the senses.
  • The living entity is conditioned by the waves of material nature, but the Supreme Lord is transcendental to all actions and reactions.

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

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:

Thereafter, Nārada Muni chanted prayers to Nārāyaṇa, who exists as catur-vyūha, and instructed Citraketu about the Supreme Lord, who creates, maintains and annihilates everything and who is the master of the material nature. After instructing King Citraketu in this way, he returned to Brahmaloka.
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. ātma-ānandaof Your personal bliss
  2. anubhūtyāby perception
  3. evacertainly
  4. nyastagiven up
  5. śakti-ūrmayethe waves of material nature
  6. namaḥrespectful obeisances
  7. hṛṣīkeśāyaunto the supreme controller of the senses
  8. mahateunto the Supreme
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.16

    In this verse: “material”, “attachment”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

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

    In this verse: “detachment”, “free from”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does recognizing the Lord as master of the senses change my view of my own limitations?

Practice

When a sense demand distracts you today, pause and offer respectful obeisances to the Lord as the supreme controller of the senses.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Lord Is Beyond Material DisturbanceThis 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 6.16.20? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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