1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

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

Or browse by canto and chapter

Canto

Canto 8 · Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations · 24 chapters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 3: Gajendra’s Prayers of Surrender

8.3.5 8.3.7

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 8.3.6

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The King of the elephants, Gajendrasince 8.3.2inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

न यस्य देवा ऋषय: पदं विदु-

र्जन्तु: पुन: कोऽर्हति गन्तुमीरितुम् ।

यथा नटस्याकृतिभिर्विचेष्टतो

दुरत्ययानुक्रमण: स मावतु ॥ ६ ॥

na yasya devā ṛṣayaḥ padaṁ vidur

jantuḥ punaḥ ko ’rhati gantum īritum

yathā naṭasyākṛtibhir viceṣṭato

duratyayānukramaṇaḥ sa māvatu

Translation

An artist onstage, being covered by attractive dresses and dancing with different movements, is not understood by his audience; similarly, the activities and features of the supreme artist cannot be understood even by the demigods or great sages, and certainly not by those who are unintelligent like animals. Neither the demigods and sages nor the unintelligent can understand the features of the Lord, nor can they express in words His actual position. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protection.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Know the Lord Through His Instructions

1
The Supreme Lord exists everywhere, within and without, including within the heart. Yet even great yogīs, demigods, and sages cannot understand His features and activities by their own efforts.
2
We must accept the instructions the Lord gives when He appears. By following Lord Rāmacandra, Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we may understand the purpose of Their appearances.
3
By the Lord’s grace, one can understand Him and become delivered even within the material body. One’s activities then become activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, leading back home, back to Godhead.

Key points from the purport

Thus it is indicated that one can find the Supreme Lord within one’s heart.
Nonetheless, even great yogīs, demigods, saints and sages have been unable to understand the bodily features of that great artist, nor could they understand the meaning of His movements.
If by the Lord’s grace one can understand Him, one will immediately be delivered, even within his material body.

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 8.3.6 quotesBG 4.9

naiti mām eti so ’rjuna. If by the Lord’s grace one can understand Him, one will immediately be delivered, even within his material body.

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

Helplessness → Surrender and rescue. A mighty animal finally realizes the limits of strength.

Chapters 1–4 of Canto 8: Gajendra's struggle and prayers. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 3: Gajendra’s Prayers of Surrender

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Nonetheless, he tried to chant the mantra and expressed himself in appropriate words as follows. “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of all causes, the original person from whom everything has emanated.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 8.3

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

naneither
yasyaHe of whom
devāḥthe demigods
ṛṣayaḥgreat sages
padamposition
viduḥcan understand
jantuḥunintelligent living beings like animals
punaḥagain

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
Rakṣā · Divine protection
Protection of devotees through the Lord’s intervention. · Theme in SB 8.3
In this verse: “protection”
Jñāna · Spiritual insight
Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 8.3
In this verse: “understand”
Kṛpā · Divine mercy
Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 8.3
In this verse: “grace”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I willing to learn from the Lord’s instructions rather than rely only on my own speculation?

Practice

Reread this purport’s instruction to accept the Lord’s words, and offer a prayer for the grace to follow them.

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 8.3's connections

Live this todayKnow the Lord Through His InstructionsThis 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 8.3.6? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

Next in Learn · 5 of 11 · 2 minAsk the BhāgavatamBring your own question. Get an answer drawn only from the Bhāgavatam's translations, with every verse shown.Back · LearnCantos & stories