Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, Shloka 9
Citraketu’s Detachment, Nārada’s Mantra, and the Darśana of Anantadeva
एष नित्योऽव्यय: सूक्ष्म एष सर्वाश्रय: स्वदृक् । आत्ममायागुणैर्विश्वमात्मानं सृजते प्रभु: ॥ ९ ॥
eṣa nityo ’vyayaḥ sūkṣma eṣa sarvāśrayaḥ svadṛk ātmamāyā-guṇair viśvam ātmānaṁ sṛjate prabhuḥ
The living entity is eternal and imperishable because he actually has no beginning and no end. He never takes birth or dies. He is the basic principle of all types of bodies, yet he does not belong to the bodily category. The living being is so sublime that he is equal in quality to the Supreme Lord. Nonetheless, because he is extremely small, he is prone to be illusioned by the external energy, and thus he creates various bodies for himself according to his different desires.
In this verse the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda — simultaneous oneness and difference — is described. The living entity is eternal ( nitya ) like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the difference is that the Supreme Lord is the greatest, no one being equal to or greater than Him, whereas the living entity is sūkṣma, or extremely small. The śāstra describes that the magnitude of the living entity is one ten-thousandth the size of the tip of a hair. The Supreme Lord is all-pervading ( aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham ). Relatively, if the living entity is accepted as the smallest, there should naturally be inquiry about the greatest. The greatest is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the smallest is the living entity.
FAQs
This verse states that the Supreme Lord is nitya (eternal), avyaya (imperishable), sarvāśraya (the support of everything), and self-luminous in knowledge—meaning all existence rests upon Him, not vice versa.
Nārada instructs Citraketu to redirect his consciousness from temporary material identity and grief toward the Supreme Reality—Bhagavān, who remains unchanged and from whom the cosmos is manifested.
See changing circumstances as products of guṇas and māyā, while anchoring your life in devotion to the unchanging Lord through remembrance, prayer, and steady dharma-based choices.