Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 39
The First Step in God Realization: The Glory of Hearing and the Virāṭ-Rūpa Meditation
स सर्वधीवृत्त्यनुभूतसर्व आत्मा यथा स्वप्नजनेक्षितैक: । तं सत्यमानन्दनिधिं भजेत नान्यत्र सज्जेद् यत आत्मपात: ॥ ३९ ॥
sa sarva-dhī-vṛtty-anubhūta-sarva ātmā yathā svapna-janekṣitaikaḥ taṁ satyam ānanda-nidhiṁ bhajeta nānyatra sajjed yata ātma-pātaḥ
Il est le Paramātmā, ressenti dans tous les mouvements de l’intelligence, comme dans le rêve une seule personne se montre sous d’innombrables formes. Qu’on Le serve, Lui, la Vérité et le trésor de félicité; qu’on ne s’attache pas ailleurs, car cela mène à la chute de soi.
In this verse, the process of devotional service is indicated by the great gosvāmī Śrīla Śukadeva. He tries to impress upon us that instead of diverting our attention to several branches of self-realization, we should concentrate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the supreme object of realization, worship and devotion. Self-realization is, as it were, offering a fight for eternal life against the material struggle for existence, and therefore by the illusory grace of the external energy, the yogī or the devotee is faced with many allurements which can entangle a great fighter again in the bondage of material existence. A yogī can attain miraculous successes in material achievements, such as aṇimā and laghimā, by which one can become more minute than the minutest or lighter than the lightest, or in the ordinary sense, one may achieve material benedictions in the shape of wealth and women. But one is warned against such allurements because entanglement again in such illusory pleasure means degradation of the self and further imprisonment in the material world. By this warning, one should follow one’s vigilant intelligence only.
FAQs
This verse explains that the Supreme Self is one, yet is realized through all functions of consciousness—like one dreamer who seems to see many dream-people—showing unity behind diverse experiences.
Because Parīkṣit had only days to live, Śukadeva directs him to the most essential practice—exclusive devotion to the Absolute Truth, the reservoir of bliss—rather than worldly attachments that lead to spiritual loss.
Keep your primary attachment in bhakti—daily hearing/chanting and remembering the Lord—while treating worldly duties as service, reducing obsession with temporary gains that disturb the mind and weaken spiritual focus.