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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 7 · The Science of God · 15 chapters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 7 · Chapter 1: The Supreme Lord Is Equal to Everyone

7.1.4-5 7.1.7

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.1.6

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 7.1.4-5inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

निर्गुणोऽपि ह्यजोऽव्यक्तो भगवान्प्रकृते: पर: ।

स्वमायागुणमाविश्य बाध्यबाधकतां गत: ॥ ६ ॥

nirguṇo ’pi hy ajo ’vyakto

bhagavān prakṛteḥ paraḥ

sva-māyā-guṇam āviśya

bādhya-bādhakatāṁ gataḥ

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is always transcendental to material qualities, and therefore He is called nirguṇa, or without qualities. Because He is unborn, He does not have a material body to be subjected to attachment and hatred. Although the Lord is always above material existence, through His spiritual potency He appeared and acted like an ordinary human being, accepting duties and obligations, apparently like a conditioned soul.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa’s Activities Are Always Transcendental

1
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is nirguṇa, free from material qualities. Though He appears like a human being, His spiritual body and qualities never change.
2
Kṛṣṇa is always equal to everyone. Seeing material attachment, hatred or obligation in His actions means imposing our imperfect material vision upon Him.
3
Only devotees can understand the truth of Kṛṣṇa’s activities. Such understanding makes one devoted and free from material qualities, fit to enter the spiritual world after leaving the material body.

Key points from the purport

So-called attachment, detachment and obligations pertain to the material nature, which is an emanation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but whenever the Lord descends and acts in this material world, He does so in His spiritual position.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma ca me divyam: whatever He does, being always transcendental, has nothing to do with material qualities; Evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ: only devotees can understand the truth of how He acts.
Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna: one who understands the activities of the Lord in truth is transferred to the spiritual world after he gives up his material body.

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· 1

The purport of SB 7.1.6 quotesBG 9.11

In Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) the Lord clearly says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam: “Fools deride Me when I descend in a human form.”

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

Pride and rage → Oppression. The ruler's power intensifies his insecurity.

Chapters 1–4 of Canto 7: Hiraṇyakaśipu's ascent and intimidation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 1: The Supreme Lord Is Equal to Everyone

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī proves that because the body of the conditioned soul is infected by the three qualities of nature, dualities arise such as enmity and friendship, attachment and detachment. For the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, there are no such dualities.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 7.1

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

nirguṇaḥwithout material qualities
apialthough
hicertainly
ajaḥunborn
avyaktaḥunmanifest
bhagavānthe Supreme Lord
prakṛteḥto material nature
paraḥtranscendental

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
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 7.1
In this verse: “attachment”, “material”
Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct
Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 7.1
In this verse: “duties”
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 7.1
In this verse: “devotees”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I judging Kṛṣṇa’s activities by the limitations of ordinary human behavior?

Practice

Reread this verse’s translation slowly, remembering that the Lord’s apparent human duties never bind Him.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa’s Activities Are Always TranscendentalThis 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 7.1.6? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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