Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.23.10-11
Āśraya· The supreme shelterRecognize Kṛṣṇa Beyond Mundane Vision
“Although the ingredients of sacrificial performance — the place, time, particular paraphernalia, mantras, rituals, priests, fires, demigods, performer, offering and the as yet unseen beneficial results — are all simply aspects of His opulences, the brāhmaṇas saw Lord Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary human because of their perverted intelligence. They failed to recognize that He is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the directly manifest Personality of Godhead, whom the material senses cannot ordinarily perceive. Thus bewildered by their false identification with the mortal body, they did not show Him proper respect.”
What the purport teaches
- Every element of sacrifice, including its place, rituals, offerings and results, is an aspect of Kṛṣṇa’s opulences.
- The brāhmaṇas considered Kṛṣṇa an ordinary human, failing to recognize the Supreme Absolute Truth, the directly manifest Personality of Godhead. Their false identification with the mortal body kept them from showing Him proper respect.
- Just as colored glasses alter one’s view, mundane vision makes a conditioned soul see even God as mundane. This loses the opportunity to go back home, back to Godhead.
Try this today
Offer Kṛṣṇa a respectful prayer, acknowledging Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead rather than an ordinary human.
Ask yourself
How might ordinary material assumptions limit your understanding of Kṛṣṇa?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.