Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.85.46
Mukti· LiberationPurification Through Following the Lord’s Command
“O Lord of all subordinate creatures, please tell us what to do and thus free us of all sin. One who faithfully executes Your command, O master, is no longer obliged to follow the ordinary Vedic rites.”
What the purport teaches
- Bali considers that his request for immediate deliverance may have been too bold. He reflects that he first needs to become sufficiently purified.
- He understands that Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma must have come for a specific purpose. Receiving and carrying out Their order would be his best opportunity for purification.
- A devotee acting under the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s instruction need no longer follow the sacrificial injunctions and prohibitions of the Vedas. Bali therefore asks for an opportunity to serve.
Try this today
Pray today for an opportunity to serve the Lord, rather than asking only for relief from difficulty.
Ask yourself
How can Bali’s desire to serve shape your own prayers?
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.