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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.4.23

Who is speaking and story frame

श्रीप्रजापतिरुवाच

नम: परायावितथानुभूतये

गुणत्रयाभासनिमित्तबन्धवे ।

अद‍ृष्टधाम्ने गुणतत्त्वबुद्धिभि-

र्निवृत्तमानाय दधे स्वयम्भुवे ॥ २३ ॥

śrī-prajāpatir uvāca

namaḥ parāyāvitathānubhūtaye

guṇa-trayābhāsa-nimitta-bandhave

adṛṣṭa-dhāmne guṇa-tattva-buddhibhir

nivṛtta-mānāya dadhe svayambhuve

Translation

Prajāpati Dakṣa said: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the illusory energy and the physical categories it produces. He possesses the potency for unfailing knowledge and supreme willpower, and He is the controller of the living entities and the illusory energy. The conditioned souls who have accepted this material manifestation as everything cannot see Him, for He is above the evidence of experimental knowledge. Self-evident and self-sufficient, He is not caused by any superior cause. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

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 Measurement

  1. 1

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the illusory energy and its products. He controls both the living entities and the illusory energy.

  2. 2

    Even someone who could count all the atoms in the universe could not understand the Lord through material knowledge. His unlimited existence cannot be measured by mental speculation.

  3. 3

    Whether one understands Him or not, the Lord exists in His own spiritual potency. He is self-evident and self-sufficient, without any superior cause.

Key points from the purport
  • The transcendental position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is explained herewith.
  • He is not perceivable by the conditioned souls, who are accustomed to material vision and cannot understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead exists in His abode, which is beyond that vision.
  • The conditioned souls may try to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead for many billions of years through their mental speculative processes, traveling at the speed of the mind or the wind, but still the Absolute Truth will remain inconceivable to them because a materialistic person cannot measure the length and breadth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s unlimited existence.

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

Anger and conflict → Spiritual commitment. Competing understandings of duty create relational tension.

Chapters 4–6 of Canto 6: Dakṣa, Nārada and the consequences of preaching. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 4: The Haṁsa-guhya Prayers Offered to the Lord by Prajāpati Dakṣa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

However, the Lord has a potency called avidyā, the illusory energy, which induces the false arguer to think himself perfect and which induces the illusory energy to bewilder the conditioned soul. That Supreme Brahman, the Supersoul, is very affectionate to His devotees.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.4
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śrī-prajāpatiḥ uvācathe prajāpati Dakṣa said
  2. namaḥall respectful obeisances
  3. parāyaunto the Transcendence
  4. avitathacorrect
  5. anubhūtayeunto Him whose spiritual potency brings about realization of Him
  6. guṇa-trayaof the three material modes of nature
  7. ābhāsaof the living entities who have the appearance
  8. nimittaand of the material energy
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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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.4

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understand”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.4

    In this verse: “material”

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

Do I expect the unlimited Lord to fit within the limits of my material understanding?

Practice

Offer respectful obeisances to the Lord today, acknowledging that His existence exceeds your ability to measure Him.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Lord Is Beyond Material MeasurementThis 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 6.4.23? Get an answer from the verses themselves.