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

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Canto 9 · Liberation · 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 9 · Chapter 1: King Sudyumna Becomes a Woman

9.1.7 9.1.9

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 9.1.8

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 9.1.7inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

परावरेषां भूतानामात्मा य: पुरुष: पर: ।

स एवासीदिदं विश्वं कल्पान्तेऽन्यन्न किञ्चन ॥ ८ ॥

parāvareṣāṁ bhūtānām

ātmā yaḥ puruṣaḥ paraḥ

sa evāsīd idaṁ viśvaṁ

kalpānte ’nyan na kiñcana

Translation

The transcendental Supreme Person, the Supersoul of all living entities, who are in different statuses of life, high and low, existed at the end of the millennium, when neither this manifested cosmos nor anything else but Him existed.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Supreme Person Remains Beyond Cosmic Dissolution

1
The transcendental Supreme Person is the Supersoul of all living entities, whether their status of life is high or low.
2
When the entire world is inundated, only the Supreme Personality of Godhead exists, and nothing else.
3
Śukadeva Gosvāmī begins the account of Manu’s dynasty from this foundation. He will describe how the Lord creates other things, one after another.

Key points from the purport

Taking the proper position from which to describe the dynasty of Manu, Śukadeva Gosvāmī begins by saying that when the entire world is inundated, only the Supreme Personality of Godhead exists, and nothing else.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī will now describe how the Lord creates other things, one after another.

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

Change → Acceptance. The instability of worldly identities is a recurring premise.

Chapters 1–3 of Canto 9: Dynastic origins and domestic transformations. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 1: King Sudyumna Becomes a Woman

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

While describing this dynasty, he also described how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, while lying down in the waters of devastation, gave birth to Lord Brahmā from a lotus generated from His navel. From the mind of Lord Brahmā, Marīci was generated, and his son was Kaśyapa.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 9.1