Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.23.48-49
Āśraya· The supreme shelterRecognize Kṛṣṇa Behind Every Sacrificial Offering
“All the aspects of sacrifice — the auspicious place and time, the various items of paraphernalia, the Vedic hymns, the prescribed rituals, the priests and sacrificial fires, the demigods, the patron of the sacrifice, the sacrificial offering and the pious results obtained — all are simply manifestations of His opulences. Yet even though we had heard that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, the Lord of all mystic controllers, had taken birth in the Yadu dynasty, we were so foolish that we could not recognize Śrī Kṛṣṇa to be none other than Him.”
What the purport teaches
- Every aspect of sacrifice, including its place, time, materials, hymns and rituals, manifests the Lord’s opulences.
- The priests, fires, demigods, patron, offering and pious results also manifest His opulences. Nothing in the sacrifice stands apart from Him.
- The brāhmaṇas had heard that Viṣṇu had appeared in the Yadu dynasty, yet failed to recognize Śrī Kṛṣṇa as that Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Try this today
Reread the list of sacrificial elements and remember that each manifests Kṛṣṇa’s opulences.
Ask yourself
Do I pay more attention to religious arrangements than to the Supreme Lord they concern?
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.