Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.40.13-14
Āśraya· The supreme shelterSeeing the World in Relation to Him
“Fire is said to be Your face, the earth Your feet, the sun Your eye, and the sky Your navel. The directions are Your sense of hearing, the chief demigods Your arms, and the oceans Your abdomen. Heaven is thought to be Your head, and the wind Your vital air and physical strength. The trees and plants are the hairs on Your body, the clouds the hair on Your head, and the mountains the bones and nails of You, the Supreme. The passage of day and night is the blinking of Your eyes, the progenitor of mankind Your genitals, and the rain Your semen.”
What the purport teaches
- Fire is described as the Supreme Lord’s face, the earth as His feet, the sun as His eye and the sky as His navel.
- The directions are His hearing, the chief demigods His arms, the oceans His abdomen and heaven His head. The wind is His vital air and physical strength.
- Trees and plants are His bodily hairs, clouds His head hair, and mountains His bones and nails. Day and night are His blinking, the progenitor of mankind His genitals, and rain His semen.
Try this today
Look at a tree or plant today and recall how this prayer describes it in relation to the Lord.
Ask yourself
How might these descriptions help me see the world in relation to the Supreme Lord?
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.