Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.3.31
Āśraya· The supreme shelterPure Love Goes Beyond Admiring Opulence
“At the time of devastation, the entire cosmos, containing all created moving and nonmoving entities, enters Your transcendental body and is held there without difficulty. But now this transcendental form has taken birth from my womb. People will not be able to believe this, and I shall become an object of ridicule.”
What the purport teaches
- The Lord holds the entire cosmos within His transcendental body, yet He appeared within Devakī’s womb. Loving service can include admiration of His opulence or rest simply on pure love.
- Devakī serves Kṛṣṇa in vātsalya, motherly love. She wanted to relate to her eternal son and therefore asked Him to withdraw His opulent form of Viṣṇu.
- Unalloyed devotional service carries one beyond material nature, and only through bhakti can one understand the Lord’s spiritual nature. Devakī’s and Vasudeva’s fear arose from intense love, not from material bondage.
Try this today
Offer a brief prayer to Kṛṣṇa asking to grow in pure loving service.
Ask yourself
How can I make loving service, rather than only admiration of greatness, the focus of my devotion?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.