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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 8: Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva Slays the King of the Demons
7.8.37-397.8.41

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.8.40

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 7.8.40inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira

श्रीब्रह्मोवाच

नतोऽस्म्यनन्ताय दुरन्तशक्तये

विचित्रवीर्याय पवित्रकर्मणे ।

विश्वस्य सर्गस्थितिसंयमान् गुणै:

स्वलीलया सन्दधतेऽव्ययात्मने ॥ ४० ॥

śrī-brahmovāca

nato ’smy anantāya duranta-śaktaye

vicitra-vīryāya pavitra-karmaṇe

viśvasya sarga-sthiti-saṁyamān guṇaiḥ

sva-līlayā sandadhate ’vyayātmane

Translation

Lord Brahmā prayed: My Lord, You are unlimited, and You possess unending potencies. No one can estimate or calculate Your prowess and wonderful influence, for Your actions are never polluted by the material energy. Through the material qualities, You very easily create the universe, maintain it and again annihilate it, yet You remain the same, without deterioration. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord’s Potencies Are Beyond Calculation

  1. 1

    Lord Brahmā praises the Lord’s unlimited potencies. The Lord creates, maintains and annihilates the universe, yet remains unchanged and untouched by material contamination.

  2. 2

    The Lord’s activities are always wonderful. His servants accepted demoniac bodies, Prahlāda Mahārāja appeared as an exalted devotee, and the Lord appeared as Nṛsiṁhadeva.

  3. 3

    No one can fully understand even the activities of the Lord’s servants, much less those of the Lord. Kṛṣṇa benefits the entire world in ways beyond our understanding.

Key points from the purport
  • The activities of the Lord are always wonderful.
  • Therefore, who can understand the Lord’s transcendental activities?
  • Therefore, what to speak of the activities of the Lord?

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 7.8.40 quotesCC Madhya 23.39

In Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 23.39) it is said, tāṅra vākya, kriyā, mudrā vijñeha nā bhujhaya: no one can understand the activities of the Lord’s servants.

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

Further reading

Chapter 8: Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva Slays the King of the Demons

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Hiraṇyakaśipu could immediately understand that the extraordinarily wonderful form of the Lord was surely meant for his death, and thus he prepared to fight with the form of half lion and half man. The Lord performed His pastimes by fighting with the demon for some time, and in the evening, on the border between day and night, the Lord captured the demon, threw him on His lap, and killed him by piercing his abdomen with His nails.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 7.8
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śrī-brahmā uvācaLord Brahmā said
  2. nataḥbowed down
  3. asmiI am
  4. anantāyaunto the unlimited Lord
  5. durantavery difficult to find an end to
  6. śaktayewho possesses different potencies
  7. vicitra-vīryāyahaving varieties of prowess
  8. pavitra-karmaṇewhose actions have no reaction (even though doing contrary things, He remains without contamination by the material modes)
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 7.8

    In this verse: “material”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 7.8

    In this verse: “devotee”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 7.8

    In this verse: “contamination”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Can I offer respect to the Lord even when I cannot understand His activities?

Practice

Repeat Lord Brahmā’s acknowledgment, “My Lord, You are unlimited,” and offer respectful obeisances.

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.

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

Live this todayThe Lord’s Potencies Are Beyond CalculationThis 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 7.8.40? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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