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

6.4.46 6.4.48

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.4.47

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The Supreme Personality of Godheadsince 6.4.43inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

अहमेवासमेवाग्रे नान्यत् किञ्चान्तरं बहि: ।

संज्ञानमात्रमव्यक्तं प्रसुप्तमिव विश्वत: ॥ ४७ ॥

aham evāsam evāgre

nānyat kiñcāntaraṁ bahiḥ

saṁjñāna-mātram avyaktaṁ

prasuptam iva viśvataḥ

Translation

Before the creation of this cosmic manifestation, I alone existed with My specific spiritual potencies. Consciousness was then unmanifested, just as one’s consciousness is unmanifested during the time of sleep.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Supreme Lord Is Eternally Personal

1
Before creation, the Supreme Personality of Godhead existed as a person with His spiritual potencies. His person is the Absolute Truth in the past, present and future.
2
The Lord can be understood only through bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Speculative philosophical research and meditation alone cannot reveal Him.
3
After annihilation, conditioned living entities remain asleep until the next creation, but the Lord does not sleep. He remains eternally in His original consciousness and spiritual body.

Key points from the purport

Consideration of the Paramātmā and impersonal Brahman arose after the creation; before the creation, only the Supreme Personality of Godhead existed.
The ultimate cause, the supreme cause of creation, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can be understood only by bhakti-yoga.
Because the Lord says that He existed as a person before the creation (agre) and will also exist after the annihilation, the Lord is a person eternally.

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· 4

The purport of SB 6.4.47 quotesSB 1.2.11

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.11): “Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.”

The purport of SB 6.4.47 quotesBG 18.55

As firmly declared in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55), the Lord can be understood only by bhakti-yoga.

The purport of SB 6.4.47 quotesSB 10.9.13-14

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura therefore quotes these verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.9.13-14):

The purport of SB 6.4.47 quotesBG 2.12

The Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (2.12), “Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.”

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

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

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

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

“The Supreme Brahman is the cause of all causes because He originally existed before the creation. He is the original cause of everything, both material and spiritual, and His existence is independent.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 6.4

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

ahamI, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
evaonly
āsamwas
evacertainly
agrein the beginning, before the creation
nanot
anyatother
kiñcaanything

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
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 6.4
In this verse: “devotional service”, “bhakti-yoga”
Jñāna · Spiritual insight
Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.4
In this verse: “philosophical”, “absolute truth”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does knowing that the Lord is eternally a person shape my approach to devotional service?

Practice

Reread the translation slowly, remembering that the speaker is the eternal Supreme Person, not a temporary material form.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Supreme Lord Is Eternally PersonalThis 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 6.4.47? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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