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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

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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 ›
Canto 7 · Chapter 2: Hiraṇyakaśipu, King of the Demons
7.2.237.2.25-26

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.2.24

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Hiraṇyakaśipusince 7.2.20inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja YudhiṣṭhiraHiraṇyakaśipu → his mother and family

एवं गुणैर्भ्राम्यमाणे मनस्यविकल: पुमान् ।

याति तत्साम्यतां भद्रे ह्यलिङ्गो लिङ्गवानिव ॥ २४ ॥

evaṁ guṇair bhrāmyamāṇe

manasy avikalaḥ pumān

yāti tat-sāmyatāṁ bhadre

hy aliṅgo liṅgavān iva

Translation

In the same way, O my gentle mother, when the mind is agitated by the movements of the modes of material nature, the living entity, although freed from all the different phases of the subtle and gross bodies, thinks that he has changed from one condition to another.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

You Are Not the Agitated Mind

  1. 1

    When the modes of material nature agitate the mind, the living entity thinks that he too has changed. Yet ātmā, the spirit soul, remains unchanged.

  2. 2

    Identifying the body as the self is condemned in the śāstras. Even learning and high social position do not free a person from this bodily conception.

  3. 3

    When carried away by mental activities, we suffer material conditions of life. The purport warns that exalted material qualities without devotion do not give knowledge of the spirit’s higher existence.

Key points from the purport
  • Hiraṇyakaśipu had clear knowledge of the spirit soul and the subtle and gross bodies, but now we are so degraded that everyone, including the exalted scientists, philosophers and other leaders, is under the bodily conception of life, which is condemned in the śāstras.
  • The designations of the conditioned soul in the material world are decorations of the dead body.
  • The conditioned soul has no information of the spirit and its exalted existence beyond the effects of the material condition.

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 7.2.24 quotesSB 10.84.13

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.84.13): “A human being who identifies the body made of three elements as the self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of his birth worshipable, and who goes to a place of pilgrimage simply to bathe rather than to meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to…

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

Further reading

Chapter 2: Hiraṇyakaśipu, King of the Demons

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

According to their different fruitive activities, living entities come together within this material world and are again separated by the laws of nature. We should always know, however, that the spirit soul, which is different from the body, is eternal, inadjustable, pure, all-pervading and aware of everything.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 7.2
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. evamin this way
  2. guṇaiḥby the modes of material nature
  3. bhrāmyamāṇewhen shaken
  4. manasithe mind
  5. avikalaḥchangeless
  6. pumānthe living entity
  7. yātiapproaches
  8. tat-sāmyatāmthe same condition of agitation as the mind
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Mukti · Liberation

    What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 7.2

    In this verse: “material”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 7.2

    In this verse: “mother”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 7.2

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “spirit soul”

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

When your mind becomes unsettled, can you distinguish its agitation from your identity as spirit soul?

Practice

Notice one changing mood today and remind yourself, “This mental condition is changing; the spirit soul is unchanged.”

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

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

The purport quotesSB 10.84.13

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 7.2's connections

Live this todayYou Are Not the Agitated MindThis 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 7.2.24? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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