Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.24.16
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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svabhāva - tantraḥ
—
controlled by his own nature
Compound: svabhāva (own nature) + tantra (controlled, dependent on). Tantra here means 'on the strings of.' The jīva is on the strings of his own previous karma's-residue. Gauḍīya note: only śaraṇāgati cuts the strings; nothing inside saṁsāra's machinery does.
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anuvartate
—
follows after
Present middle of anu + √vṛt. The same root as anuvartinām in verse 15 — the verse is hammering one verb: people 'follow along.' Free will operates inside a heavily channeled stream, not over it.
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deva
—
demigod
From √div — to shine. Even the shining ones move by svabhāva. Gauḍīya doctrine: the devas are jīvas of higher pedigree, not gods in the absolute sense; the verse quietly puts Indra back in his place.
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asura
—
demon
Etymologically 'not-sura' or 'powerful one' (depending on derivation). Asura too is svabhāva-bound. The verse refuses moral exceptionalism: even demons act according to nature, which is why līlā-incarnations are needed to redirect that nature.
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mānuṣam
—
human
From manuṣya (descended from Manu). Humans complete the triad. Gauḍīya emphasis: human birth is uniquely poised for bhakti precisely because svabhāva can here be reformed by sādhu-saṅga — what the verse implies, the chapter delivers.
Lord Kṛṣṇa here elaborates upon the argument given in the previous verse. Since everything depends on svabhāva, or one’s conditioned nature, why bother worshiping God or the demigods? This argument would be sublime if svabhāva, or conditioned nature, were all-powerful. But unfortunately it is not. There is a supreme controller and we must worship Him, as Lord Kṛṣṇa will emphatically reveal in this chapter of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. For now, however, He is content to tease His relatives.
This verse elaborates the idea presented in verse 15. The living entities are dependent on their previous impressions. Actions of this life are undertaken according to those impressions (svabhava). There is no necessity of supersoul giving results.
The devatās are mentioned specifically to show that, in spite of having the ability to discriminate, even they are subject to their natures and cannot surpass them.
- Where do I privately treat 'svabhāva' as the whole explanation and skip the Supreme controller behind it?
- What conditioned tendency of mine am I worshiping rather than examining?
A river follows its bed — not because some official redirects it daily, but because its own contours carry it forward. Devas, asuras, humans: each moves along the bed carved by its own svabhāva. The cosmos, Kṛṣṇa says, runs on conditioned nature, not on petitions to its officers.
My note
Source: vedabase.io