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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 6.9.36

Who is speaking and story frame

न हि विरोध उभयं भगवत्यपरिमितगुणगण ईश्वरेऽनवगाह्यमाहात्म्येऽर्वाचीनविकल्पवितर्कविचारप्रमाणाभासकुतर्कशास्त्रकलिलान्त:करणाश्रयदुरवग्रहवादिनां विवादानवसर उपरत समस्तमायामये केवल एवात्ममायामन्तर्धाय को न्वर्थो दुर्घट इव भवति स्वरूपद्वयाभावात् ॥ ३६ ॥

na hi virodha ubhayaṁ bhagavaty aparimita-guṇa-gaṇa īśvare ’navagāhya-māhātmye ’rvācīna-vikalpa-vitarka-vicāra-pramāṇābhāsa-kutarka-śāstra-kalilāntaḥkaraṇāśraya-duravagraha-vādināṁ vivādānavasara uparata-samasta-māyāmaye kevala evātma-māyām antardhāya ko nv artho durghaṭa iva bhavati svarūpa-dvayābhāvāt.

Translation

O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all contradictions can be reconciled in You. O Lord, since You are the Supreme Person, the reservoir of unlimited spiritual qualities, the supreme controller, Your unlimited glories are inconceivable to the conditioned souls. Many modern theologians argue about right and wrong without knowing what is actually right. Their arguments are always false and their judgments inconclusive because they have no authorized evidence with which to gain knowledge of You. Because their minds are agitated by scriptures containing false conclusions, they are unable to understand the truth concerning You. Furthermore, because of polluted eagerness to arrive at the right conclusion, their theories are incapable of revealing You, who are transcendental to their material conceptions. You are one without a second, and therefore in You contradictions like doing and not doing, happiness and distress, are not contradictory. Your potency is so great that it can do and undo anything as You like. With the help of that potency, what is impossible for You? Since there is no duality in Your constitutional position, You can do everything by the influence of Your energy.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Understand the Lord Through Devotional Service

  1. 1

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead is self-sufficient and full of transcendental bliss. Material conceptions of happiness and distress do not apply to Him.

  2. 2

    Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotees experience transcendental bliss both in meeting and in separation. What appears contradictory to us is not material duality in them.

  3. 3

    The Lord’s transcendental pastimes can be understood through devotional service. Logical arguments alone cannot reveal His inconceivable form, name and pastimes.

Key points from the purport
  • The Supreme Personality of Godhead, being self-sufficient, is full of transcendental bliss (ātmārāma).
  • The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of all knowledge, all potency, all strength, opulence and influence.
  • We should not be astonished to find contradictions in the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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

Offense and dread → Moral reckoning. Heroic power does not guarantee inner freedom.

Chapters 7–10 of Canto 6: Indra, Bṛhaspati and the emergence of Vṛtrāsura. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 9: Appearance of the Demon Vṛtrāsura

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

While performing the sacrifice to kill Indra, Tvaṣṭā chanted a mantra to increase Indra’s enemies, but because he chanted the mantra wrong, the sacrifice produced an asura named Vṛtrāsura, of whom Indra was the enemy. When Vṛtrāsura was generated from the sacrifice, his fierce features made the whole world afraid, and his personal effulgence diminished even the power of the demigods.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.9
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nanot
  2. hicertainly
  3. virodhaḥcontradiction
  4. ubhayamboth
  5. bhagavatiin the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  6. aparimitaunlimited
  7. guṇa-gaṇewhose transcendental attributes
  8. īśvarein the supreme controller
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 6.9

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understand”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.9

    In this verse: “material”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 6.9

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “devotees”

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 can I approach what I do not understand about the Lord with a more devotional attitude?

Practice

Reread one passage from this verse’s purport, pausing to approach it as an opportunity for devotional understanding rather than argument.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayUnderstand the Lord Through Devotional ServiceThis 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 6.9.36? Get an answer from the verses themselves.