Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.85.45
Mukti· LiberationSeek Shelter at the Lord’s Lotus Feet
“Please be merciful to me so I may get out of the blind well of family life — my false home — and find the true shelter of Your lotus feet, which selfless sages always seek. Then, either alone or in the company of great saints, who are the friends of everyone, I may wander freely, finding life’s necessities at the feet of the universally charitable trees.”
What the purport teaches
- Invited by Śrī Kṛṣṇa to choose a benediction, Bali asks for freedom from the entanglement of material life. He wants the Lord’s lotus feet as his only shelter.
- Bali proposes to live simply, taking fruits to eat and leaves to sleep on from the forest trees. These gifts are available for all to use as needed.
- Bali hopes that the Lord’s special mercy will allow him to travel with Lord Kṛṣṇa’s devotees rather than alone.
Try this today
Offer a short prayer asking Kṛṣṇa for shelter and the company of His devotees.
Ask yourself
What would it mean for you to seek the Lord’s shelter rather than depend entirely on material comforts?
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.