Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.85.44
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesUnderstanding the Limits of Our Knowledge
“What to speak of ourselves, O Lord of all perfect yogīs, even the greatest mystics do not know what Your spiritual power of delusion is or how it acts.”
What the purport teaches
- Bali addresses the Lord as the supreme master of all perfect yogīs. Even the greatest mystics do not know His spiritual power of delusion or how it acts.
- Systematic understanding includes both svarūpa, a thing’s essential identity, and viśeṣas, the attributes distinguishing it from other things.
- Māyā, the energy underlying material existence, is subtler than ordinary phenomena. Only God and His liberated devotees can know its essential identity and distinguishing attributes.
Try this today
Reread the purport slowly, then offer a brief prayer acknowledging what you do not yet understand.
Ask yourself
Can I acknowledge the limits of my understanding of the Lord’s energies?
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.