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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

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
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

6.16.34 6.16.36

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.16.35

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Citraketusince 6.16.34inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

तव विभव: खलु भगवन्

जगदुदयस्थितिलयादीनि ।

विश्वसृजस्तेꣷशांशा

स्तत्र मृषा स्पर्धन्ति पृथगभिमत्या ॥ ३५ ॥

tava vibhavaḥ khalu bhagavan

jagad-udaya-sthiti-layādīni

viśva-sṛjas te ’ṁśāṁśās

tatra mṛṣā spardhanti pṛthag abhimatyā

Translation

My dear Lord, this cosmic manifestation and its creation, maintenance and annihilation are all but Your opulences. Since Lord Brahmā and the other creators are nothing but small portions of a portion of You, their partial power to create does not make them God [īśvara]. Their consciousness of themselves as separate Lords is therefore merely false prestige. It is not valid.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Give the Supreme Lord the Creative Credit

1
Living entities, from Lord Brahmā to the small ant, have a minute creative quality because they are parts of the Supreme Lord. Their limited power does not make them independent Lords.
2
The Lord supplies both creative intelligence and the ingredients used to make things. As the Supersoul within the heart, He is the source of remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.
3
Creation, maintenance and annihilation are the Supreme Lord’s opulences. A surrendered devotee recognizes Him as the original creator rather than claiming independent credit.

Key points from the purport

The ingredients for these cars are supplied, of course, by the Supreme Lord, and the intelligence for the so-called creation is also supplied by the Lord.
Therefore the so-called creator is not to be credited with the act of creation; the only credit goes to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
It is rightly stated herein that the credit for all the opulences of creation, maintenance and annihilation belongs to the Supreme Lord, not to the living entities.

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· 2

The purport of SB 6.16.35 quotesBG 15.7

In Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) the Lord says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: “The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts.”

The purport of SB 6.16.35 quotesBG 15.15

The first consideration is the intelligence of the scientist; one must be elevated by the dictation of the Supreme Lord, who says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: “From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.”

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

Chapter 16: King Citraketu Meets the Supreme Lord

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Therefore Nārada Muni advised Citraketu not to lament for his so-called dead son. After hearing instructions from their dead child, Citraketu and his wife could understand that all relationships in this material world are causes of misery.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 6.16

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

tavaYour
vibhavaḥopulences
khaluindeed
bhagavanO Supreme Personality of Godhead
jagatof the cosmic manifestation
udayathe creation
sthitimaintenance
laya-ādīnidissolution and so on

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
Jñāna · Spiritual insight
Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.16
In this verse: “knowledge”
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 6.16
In this verse: “devotee”
Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender
Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 6.16
In this verse: “surrendered”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Where might you be taking independent credit for abilities or resources supplied by the Lord?

Practice

Before using one skill today, pause and thank the Lord for both the intelligence and materials it requires.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayGive the Supreme Lord the Creative CreditThis 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 6.16.35? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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