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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 9: Prahlāda Pacifies Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva with Prayers
7.9.207.9.22

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.9.21

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Prahlāda Mahārājasince 7.9.9inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira

माया मन: सृजति कर्ममयं बलीय:

कालेन चोदितगुणानुमतेन पुंस: ।

छन्दोमयं यदजयार्पितषोडशारं

संसारचक्रमज कोऽतितरेत् त्वदन्य: ॥ २१ ॥

māyā manaḥ sṛjati karmamayaṁ balīyaḥ

kālena codita-guṇānumatena puṁsaḥ

chandomayaṁ yad ajayārpita-ṣoḍaśāraṁ

saṁsāra-cakram aja ko ’titaret tvad-anyaḥ

Translation

O Lord, O supreme eternal, by expanding Your plenary portion You have created the subtle bodies of the living entities through the agency of Your external energy, which is agitated by time. Thus the mind entraps the living entity in unlimited varieties of desires to be fulfilled by the Vedic directions of karma-kāṇḍa [fruitive activity] and the sixteen elements. Who can get free from this entanglement unless he takes shelter 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.

Devotional Service Frees the Entangled Mind

  1. 1

    Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of everything, and material nature cannot act independently of Him. He gives living entities facilities to pursue their desires through the mind and senses.

  2. 2

    The real purpose of the Vedas is to direct us back home, back to Godhead. Without knowing this goal, the living entity wanders through different bodies and activities, suffering their reactions.

  3. 3

    A bona fide representative of the Lord gives the seed of devotional service. By accepting this guidance and cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one gradually attains liberation through bhakti-yoga.

Key points from the purport
  • All the activities in both the spiritual and material world are certainly conducted by the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the agency of either the material or spiritual nature.
  • Therefore, in the beginning the living entity wanted to enjoy the material energy, and to give the living entity all facility, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, created this material world and gave the living entity the facility to concoct different ideas and plans through the mind.
  • The wheel of repeated birth and death is created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but to direct the bewildered living entity in progress toward liberation according to varied stages of advancement, different directions are given in the Vedas (chandomayam).

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· 3

The purport of SB 7.9.21 quotesBG 9.10

As further confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.10), mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sacarācaram: without the direction of the Supreme Lord, material nature cannot do anything; it cannot act independently.

The purport of SB 7.9.21 quotesBG 9.25

As the Lord states in Bhagavad-gītā (9.25): “Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.”

The purport of SB 7.9.21 quotesCC Madhya 19.151

guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. The fallen, conditioned living entity, trapped by the external energy, loiters in the material world, but if by good fortune he meets a bona fide representative of the Lord who gives him the seed of devotional service, and if he takes advantage of such a guru, or representative of God, he receives the bhakti-latā-bīja, the seed of…

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 9: Prahlāda Pacifies Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva with Prayers

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The miserable condition of the living entities in the material world can be remedied only by the mercy of the Lord. Although there are so-called material protectors like Lord Brahmā and the other demigods, or even one’s own father, they are unable to do anything if one is neglected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 7.9
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. māyāthe external energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  2. manaḥthe mind*
  3. </a> sṛjaticreates
  4. karma-mayamproducing hundreds and thousands of desires and acting accordingly
  5. balīyaḥextremely powerful, insurmountable
  6. kālenaby time
  7. codita-guṇawhose three modes of material nature are agitated
  8. anumatenapermitted by the mercy of the glance (time)
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 7.9

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “bhakti-yoga”

  • Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender

    Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 7.9

    In this verse: “shelter”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 7.9

    In this verse: “free from”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Which desire is drawing my mind away from the goal of returning to Godhead?

Practice

Identify one distracting desire today and spend a few minutes studying these teachings instead of pursuing it.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayDevotional Service Frees the Entangled 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.

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