🪷 ŚB 11.13.23

Sanskrit, transliteration, word meanings, and translation for steady Bhāgavata reading.

Sanskrit

पञ्चात्मकेषु भूतेषु समानेषु च वस्तुत: । को भवानिति व: प्रश्न‍ो वाचारम्भो ह्यनर्थक: ॥ २३ ॥

Transliteration

pañcātmakeṣu bhūteṣu samāneṣu ca vastutaḥ ko bhavān iti vaḥ praśno vācārambho hy anarthakaḥ
Synonyms
pañca — of five elements; ātmakeṣu — made of; bhūteṣu — thus existing; samāneṣu — being the same; ca — also; vastutaḥ — in essence; kaḥ — who; bhavān — are You; iti — thus; vaḥ — your; praśnaḥ — question; vācā — merely with words; ārambhaḥ — such an endeavor; hi — certainly; anarthakaḥ — without real meaning or purpose.

Translation

If by asking Me “Who are You?” you were referring to the material body, then I must point out that all material bodies are constituted of five elements, namely earth, water, fire, air and ether. Thus, you should have asked, “Who are you five?” If you consider that all material bodies are ultimately one, being constituted essentially of the same elements, then your question is still meaningless, since there would be no deep purpose in distinguishing one body from another. Thus, it appears that in asking My identity, you are merely speaking words, without any real meaning or purpose.

Sources and Connected Bhāgavata Readings

After the Sanskrit, word meanings, translation, and reading navigation, these links connect the requested reference with its canonical received passage, parent chapter and skandha, and the wider Bhāgavata corpus without inventing artificial verse boundaries.

ŚB 11.13.23requested verse-reference route for this Bhāgavatam reading pageŚB 11.13parent chapter route and reading-passage indexSkandha 11parent skandha chapter index/bhagavatammaster index for 12 skandhas, 335 chapters, and 13,003 reading pagesŚB 1.1.1satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi · the Bhāgavatam source meditationŚB 1.2.6supreme dharma as ahaitukī and apratihatā bhaktiŚB 1.2.11Brahman · Paramātmā · Bhagavān as one advaya-tattvaŚB 1.3.28kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam · Krishna-pramāṇa source sealŚB 10.10.29Dāmodara/Yamala-arjuna · Krishna as supreme original PersonŚB 10.10.30-31Krishna as Kāla · Viṣṇu · Paramātmā · AntaryāmīŚB 10.10.38speech, hearing, body, mind, head, and sight offered in Krishna-sevāŚB 10.10.39Gokuleśvara bound by love, smilingŚB 10.10.40Nārada correction as anugrahaŚB 10.10.41sādhu-darśana removes bondage-darknessŚB 12.2.18Kalki witness at ŚambhalaŚB 12.3.51Kali-yuga blessing through Krishna-kīrtanaSkandha 10 līlā index20-anchor Krishna-līlā reading pathway inside the Bhāgavatam master pageBG 7.7mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat · no source higher than KrishnaBG 10.8ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ · Krishna as source of allBG 15.15Krishna seated in every heart and the target of all Veda/binduDiamond of Darśanas · Bhāgavata prema as the Bindu made rasa/philosophyKrishna = Paramaatma = Parabrahman constitutional foundation

🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷