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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
6.16.356.16.37

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.16.36

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

परमाणुपरममहतो-

स्त्वमाद्यन्तान्तरवर्ती त्रयविधुर: ।

आदावन्तेऽपि च सत्त्वानां

यद् ध्रुवं तदेवान्तरालेऽपि ॥ ३६ ॥

paramāṇu-parama-mahatos

tvam ādy-antāntara-vartī traya-vidhuraḥ

ādāv ante ’pi ca sattvānāṁ

yad dhruvaṁ tad evāntarāle ’pi

Translation

You exist in the beginning, middle and end of everything, from the most minute particle of the cosmic manifestation — the atom — to the gigantic universes and total material energy. Nonetheless, You are eternal, having no beginning, end or middle. You are perceived to exist in these three phases, and thus You are permanent. When the cosmic manifestation does not exist, You exist as the original potency.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is the Permanent Cause of Everything

  1. 1

    Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the cause of everything but has no cause Himself. He exists eternally, beyond the workings of cause and effect.

  2. 2

    The Lord is present within both the universe and the atom; without His presence, nothing could exist. Material ingredients themselves arise from His energy.

  3. 3

    The permanent reality is Kṛṣṇa, not the cosmic manifestation. His eternal, blissful, all-knowing forms are manifest to pure devotees, though even great Vedic scholars cannot understand them through scholarship alone.

Key points from the purport
  • The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no cause, for He is the cause of everything.
  • The citric acid is not the cause of the tree; rather, the tree is the cause of the acid.
  • Everything is caused or manifested by the energy of the Supreme Lord, and when everything is annihilated or dissolved, the original potency enters the body of the Supreme Lord.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. parama-aṇuof the atomic particle
  2. parama-mahatoḥand of the biggest (the result of the combination of atoms)
  3. tvamYou
  4. ādi-antain both the beginning and the end
  5. antaraand in the middle
  6. vartīexisting
  7. traya-vidhuraḥalthough without beginning, end or middle
  8. ādauin the beginning
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “material”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

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

    In this verse: “understand”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 6.16

    In this verse: “devotees”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does remembering Kṛṣṇa as the permanent reality change your view of temporary things?

Practice

Look at a tree or some water and spend a moment remembering Kṛṣṇa as the original cause of its existence.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Is the Permanent Cause of EverythingThis 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 6.16.36? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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