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

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Canto 8 · Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations · 24 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 8 · Chapter 20: Bali Mahārāja Surrenders the Universe

8.20.20 8.20.22

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 8.20.21

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 8.20.16inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

तद् वामनं रूपमवर्धताद्भ‍ुतं

हरेरनन्तस्य गुणत्रयात्मकम् ।

भू: खं दिशो द्यौर्विवरा: पयोधय-

स्तिर्यङ्‌नृदेवा ऋषयो यदासत ॥ २१ ॥

tad vāmanaṁ rūpam avardhatādbhutaṁ

harer anantasya guṇa-trayātmakam

bhūḥ khaṁ diśo dyaur vivarāḥ payodhayas

tiryaṅ-nṛ-devā ṛṣayo yad-āsata

Translation

The unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead, who had assumed the form of Vāmana, then began increasing in size, acting in terms of the material energy, until everything in the universe was within His body, including the earth, the planetary systems, the sky, the directions, the various holes in the universe, the seas, the oceans, the birds, beasts, human beings, the demigods and the great saintly persons.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Offer With Devotion What Already Belongs to Him

1
Vāmana expanded His body until everything in the universe was within Him. He showed Bali Mahārāja that everything already belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
2
An offering does not increase the Lord’s opulence, just as offering Ganges water back to the Ganges does not increase the river. Yet offering with devotion and faith makes one a recognized devotee.
3
The Lord is the original source of everything, including ourselves. When He is decorated, His devotees and all living entities are decorated automatically, like a reflection following the original.

Key points from the purport

Actually, no one can give anything to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for He is full in everything.
The original source of everything is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is our original source also.
Therefore when the Supreme Personality of Godhead is decorated, the devotees and all living entities are decorated automatically.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

How it feels

Public loss and humiliation → Total surrender. An apparent external defeat conceals a devotional triumph.

Chapters 19–23 of Canto 8: Vāmana tests Bali; Bali offers everything. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 20: Bali Mahārāja Surrenders the Universe

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

With His hands He covered all directions, and with His second footstep He covered the entire upper planetary system. Therefore there was no vacant place where He could take His third footstep.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 8.20

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

tatthat
vāmanamincarnation of Lord Vāmana
rūpamform
avardhatabegan to increase more and more
adbhutamcertainly very wonderful
hareḥof the Supreme Personality of Godhead
anantasyaof the unlimited
guṇa-traya-ātmakamwhose body is expanded by the material energy, consisting of three modes (goodness, passion and ignorance)

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 8.20
In this verse: “devotion”, “devotee”
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 8.20
In this verse: “material”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How might remembering that everything belongs to the Lord change the way you offer something?

Practice

Make one small offering to the Lord today with devotion and faith, remembering that it already belongs to Him.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayOffer With Devotion What Already Belongs to HimThis 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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