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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
  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 8 · Chapter 5: The Demigods Appeal to the Lord for Protection
8.5.258.5.27

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 8.5.26

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 8.5.26inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

श्रीब्रह्मोवाच

अविक्रियं सत्यमनन्तमाद्यं

गुहाशयं निष्कलमप्रतर्क्यम् ।

मनोऽग्रयानं वचसानिरुक्तं

नमामहे देववरं वरेण्यम् ॥ २६ ॥

śrī-brahmovāca

avikriyaṁ satyam anantam ādyaṁ

guhā-śayaṁ niṣkalam apratarkyam

mano-’grayānaṁ vacasāniruktaṁ

namāmahe deva-varaṁ vareṇyam

Translation

Lord Brahmā said: O Supreme Lord, O changeless, unlimited supreme truth. You are the origin of everything. Being all-pervading, You are in everyone’s heart and also in the atom. You have no material qualities. Indeed, You are inconceivable. The mind cannot catch You by speculation, and words fail to describe You. You are the supreme master of everyone, and therefore You are worshipable for everyone. We offer our 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 Supreme Eternal Is Everyone’s Worshipable Lord

  1. 1

    Material creations change and perish, but Kṛṣṇa and the living entities are eternal. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme eternal, while individual souls are His minute, fragmental parts.

  2. 2

    The Lord is unlimited, all-pervading and situated in everyone’s heart. No individual soul equals or surpasses Him, so He is the supreme worshipable object.

  3. 3

    Mental speculation and clever words cannot measure the Lord. As the demigods follow Brahmā, we must understand Him through the authorities of the paramparā system, the disciplic succession.

Key points from the purport
  • The Supreme Personality of Godhead is sanātana, eternal, and the individual living entities are also eternal.
  • Although the Lord is a living being and the individual souls are living beings, the Supreme Lord, unlike the individual souls, is vibhu, all-pervading, and ananta, unlimited.
  • As the demigods follow Lord Brahmā to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we also have to follow the authorities of the paramparā system to understand 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· 5

The purport of SB 8.5.26 quotesBG 13.3

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (13.3), kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata.

The purport of SB 8.5.26 quotesBG 15.15

In Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) the Lord says, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ: “I am situated in everyone’s heart.”

The purport of SB 8.5.26 quotesBG 9.4

All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.”

The purport of SB 8.5.26 quotesBG 9.10

By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.”

The purport of SB 8.5.26 quotesSB 6.3.20-21

balir vaiyāsakir vayam. We belong to the disciplic succession of Brahmā, and therefore we are known as the Brahma sampradāya.

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

Danger and ambition → Divine rescue and surprise. Cooperation, rivalry and revelation alternate rapidly.

Chapters 5–12 of Canto 8: Churning the ocean, poison and nectar. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 5: The Demigods Appeal to the Lord for Protection

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

When the demigods were deprived of their heavenly kingdom, they went to the assembly house of Lord Brahmā and informed Lord Brahmā of what had happened. Then Brahmā, along with all the demigods, went to the shore of the Ocean of Milk and offered prayers to Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 8.5
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śrī-brahmā uvācaLord Brahmā said
  2. avikriyamunto the Personality of Godhead, who never changes (as opposed to material existence)
  3. satyamthe eternal supreme truth
  4. anantamunlimited
  5. ādyamthe original cause of all causes
  6. guhā-śayampresent in everyone’s heart
  7. niṣkalamwithout any decrease in potency
  8. apratarkyaminconceivable, not within the jurisdiction of material arguments
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 8.5

    In this verse: “material”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 8.5

    In this verse: “worshipable”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 8.5

    In this verse: “understand”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does knowing that I am an eternal part of the Lord, but not His equal, shape my worship?

Practice

Reread Brahmā’s prayer in this verse and offer respectful obeisances to the Supreme Lord.

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.

The purport quotesSB 6.3.20

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 8.5's connections

Live this todayThe Supreme Eternal Is Everyone’s Worshipable LordThis 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 8.5.26? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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