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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

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 8: Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva Slays the King of the Demons

7.8.23 7.8.25

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.8.24

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Hiraṇyakaśipusince 7.8.11inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira

अलक्षितोऽग्नौ पतित: पतङ्गमो

यथा नृसिंहौजसि सोऽसुरस्तदा ।

न तद्विचित्रं खलु सत्त्वधामनि

स्वतेजसा यो नु पुरापिबत् तम: ॥ २४ ॥

alakṣito ’gnau patitaḥ pataṅgamo

yathā nṛsiṁhaujasi so ’suras tadā

na tad vicitraṁ khalu sattva-dhāmani

sva-tejasā yo nu purāpibat tamaḥ

Translation

Just as a small insect falls forcefully into a fire and the insignificant creature becomes invisible, when Hiraṇyakaśipu attacked the Lord, who was full of effulgence, Hiraṇyakaśipu became invisible. This is not at all astonishing, for the Lord is always situated in pure goodness. Formerly, during creation, He entered the dark universe and illuminated it by His spiritual effulgence.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotional Service Dispels the Darkness of Ignorance

1
The Lord is always transcendentally situated in pure goodness. Material passion and ignorance cannot touch Him, and His spiritual effulgence dispels darkness.
2
In the Lord’s effulgence, Hiraṇyakaśipu became invisible like a small insect entering a fire. His influence became insignificant as the Lord’s pure goodness became prominent.
3
The darkness of spiritual ignorance is dissipated through bhakti-yoga, which invokes the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Where Kṛṣṇa is present, ignorance has no power; devotional service creates a situation free from material contamination.

Key points from the purport

The material world is generally controlled by tamo-guṇa, the quality of ignorance, but the spiritual world, because of the presence of the Lord and His effulgence, is free from all contamination by darkness, passion or contaminated goodness.
But because the Lord is always transcendentally situated, the material modes of passion and ignorance cannot touch Him.
The Lord appeared because of the bhakti-yoga exhibited by Prahlāda Mahārāja, and as soon as the Lord appeared, the influence of Hiraṇyakaśipu’s passion and ignorance was vanquished as the Lord’s quality of pure goodness, or the Brahman effulgence, became prominent.

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 7.8.24 quotesCC Madhya 22.31

It is stated in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.31): “Godhead is light.

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

Terror and divine fury → Protection and compassion. The crisis resolves through relationship rather than domination.

Chapters 8–10 of Canto 7: Nṛsiṁhadeva appears; Prahlāda pacifies Him. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 8: Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva Slays the King of the Demons

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

When Hiraṇyakaśipu heard this philosophy from his young son, he derided the boy’s statement as just the talk of a child and forcefully struck the pillar with his fist. As soon as Hiraṇyakaśipu struck the column, there issued forth a tumultuous sound.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 7.8

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

alakṣitaḥinvisible
agnauin the fire
patitaḥfallen
pataṅgamaḥan insect
yathājust as
nṛsiṁhaof Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva
ojasiin the effulgence
saḥhe

Key ideas in this verse

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

Īśānukathā · The science of God
Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 7.8
In this verse: “devotional service”, “bhakti-yoga”
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 7.8
In this verse: “material”
Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment
Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 7.8
In this verse: “free from”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I making space for devotional service to dispel my ignorance of spiritual life?

Practice

Set aside five minutes today for bhakti-yoga by prayerfully reading this passage and remembering Kṛṣṇa.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Connected stories

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

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 7.8's connections

Live this todayDevotional Service Dispels the Darkness of IgnoranceThis 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 7.8.24? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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