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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 17: Mother Pārvatī Curses Citraketu
6.17.206.17.22

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.17.21

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Citraketusince 6.17.17inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

एक: सृजति भूतानि भगवानात्ममायया ।

एषां बन्धं च मोक्षं च सुखं दु:खं च निष्कल: ॥ २१ ॥

ekaḥ sṛjati bhūtāni

bhagavān ātma-māyayā

eṣāṁ bandhaṁ ca mokṣaṁ ca

sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ ca niṣkalaḥ

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one. Unaffected by the conditions of the material world, He creates all the conditioned souls by His own personal potency. Because of being contaminated by the material energy, the living entity is put into ignorance and thus into different conditions of bondage. Sometimes, by knowledge, the living entity is given liberation. In sattva-guṇa and rajo-guṇa, he is subjected to happiness and distress.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord Remains Beyond Material Modes

  1. 1

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead acts through His own energies without anyone’s help. He remains unaffected by material conditions.

  2. 2

    Under His supervision, the external energy creates the material world. Through sattva-guṇa He maintains it, through rajo-guṇa He creates it, and through tamo-guṇa He annihilates it.

  3. 3

    Conditioned souls experience different states according to their association with the modes. Goodness brings happiness, passion brings distress, and ignorance obscures the understanding of right and wrong.

Key points from the purport
  • The Lord has His own energies (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate), and one of them, namely the external energy, creates the material world and the varieties of happiness and distress for the conditioned souls under the supervision of the Lord.
  • The material world consists of three modes of material nature — sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa.
  • By sattva-guṇa the Lord maintains the material world, by rajo-guṇa He creates it, and by tamo-guṇa He annihilates it.

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 17: Mother Pārvatī Curses Citraketu

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

A devotee is neutral in all conditions of life, whether in the heavenly planets or hellish planets, whether liberated from the material world or conditioned by it, and whether blessed with happiness or subjected to distress. These are all merely dualities created by the external energy.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.17
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. ekaḥone
  2. sṛjaticreates
  3. bhūtānidifferent varieties of living entities
  4. bhagavānthe Supreme Personality of Godhead
  5. ātma-māyayāby His personal potencies
  6. eṣāmof all the conditioned souls
  7. bandhamthe conditional life
  8. caand
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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.17

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understanding”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.17

    In this verse: “material”

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 6.17

    In this verse: “distress”

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 do the influences of goodness, passion and ignorance appear in my daily choices?

Practice

Review one choice today and note whether it encouraged goodness, restless passion or confusion about right and wrong.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Lord Remains Beyond Material ModesThis 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 6.17.21? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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