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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 6.9.45

Who is speaking and story frame

हंसाय दह्रनिलयाय निरीक्षकाय

कृष्णाय मृष्टयशसे निरुपक्रमाय ।

सत्सङ्ग्रहाय भवपान्थनिजाश्रमाप्ता-

वन्ते परीष्टगतये हरये नमस्ते ॥ ४५ ॥

haṁsāya dahra-nilayāya nirīkṣakāya

kṛṣṇāya mṛṣṭa-yaśase nirupakramāya

sat-saṅgrahāya bhava-pāntha-nijāśramāptāv

ante parīṣṭa-gataye haraye namas te

Translation

O Lord, O supreme pure, You live within the core of everyone’s heart and observe all the desires and activities of the conditioned souls. O Supreme Personality of Godhead known as Lord Kṛṣṇa, Your reputation is bright and illuminating. You have no beginning, for You are the beginning of everything. This is understood by pure devotees because You are easily accessible to the pure and truthful. When the conditioned souls are liberated and sheltered at Your lotus feet after roving throughout the material world for many millions of years, they attain the highest success of life. Therefore, O Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, we offer our respectful obeisances at Your lotus feet.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is Our Ultimate Shelter

  1. 1

    Kṛṣṇa is the original cause of everything and the Supreme Person. He expands as Viṣṇu like one candle lighting another, with no difference in their power.

  2. 2

    Kṛṣṇa is famous for relieving His devotees from danger. A devotee who sacrifices everything for His service and depends only on Him is called akiñcana.

  3. 3

    After wandering through the material world, souls attain the highest success by taking shelter at the Lord’s lotus feet. Pure devotees can understand and approach Him.

Key points from the purport
  • The demigods certainly wanted Lord Viṣṇu to relieve their anxiety, but now they directly approach Lord Kṛṣṇa, for although there is no difference between Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa descends to this planet in His Vāsudeva feature for the purpose of paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām — protecting His devotees and annihilating the miscreants.
  • Kṛṣṇa, being the original cause of everything, is the Supreme Person, above even Viṣṇu and Nārāyaṇa, although there is no difference between these different forms of the Lord.
  • A devotee who has sacrificed everything for the service of Kṛṣṇa and whose only source of relief is the Lord is known as akiñcana.

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:

Finding no other means of protection, the demigods began to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the enjoyer of all the results of sacrifice, who is supreme throughout the entire universe. The demigods all worshiped Him because ultimately no one but Him can protect a living entity from fear and danger.
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. haṁsāyaunto the most exalted and pure ( pavitraṁ paramam, the supreme pure)
  2. dahrain the core of the heart
  3. nilayāyawhose abode
  4. nirīkṣakāyasupervising the activities of the individual soul
  5. kṛṣṇāyaunto the Supersoul, who is a partial manifestation of Kṛṣṇa
  6. mṛṣṭa-yaśasewhose reputation is very bright
  7. nirupakramāyawho has no beginning
  8. sat-saṅgrahāyaunderstood only by pure devotees
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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

  • Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender

    Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 6.9

    In this verse: “sheltered”, “shelter”

  • 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: “devotees”

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

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What would it mean for me to regard Kṛṣṇa’s shelter as life’s highest success?

Practice

Offer respectful obeisances to Kṛṣṇa and a short prayer for shelter at His lotus feet.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Is Our Ultimate ShelterThis 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 6.9.45? Get an answer from the verses themselves.