Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.87.38
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe Lord Remains Beyond Material Illusion
“The illusory material nature attracts the minute living entity to embrace her, and as a result he assumes forms composed of her qualities. Subsequently, he loses all his spiritual qualities and must undergo repeated deaths. You, however, avoid the material energy in the same way that a snake abandons its old skin. Glorious in Your possession of eight mystic perfections, You enjoy unlimited opulences.”
What the purport teaches
- The individual soul is pure spirit, sharing the Supreme Lord’s spiritual nature. Yet attraction to Māyā leads the soul to accept material bodies and senses, with suffering, death and rebirth.
- The Supreme Soul cannot be trapped by ignorance as the minute individual soul can. Māyā is His faithful maidservant, and He always remains apart from His external energy, like a snake casting aside its old skin.
- The Lord possesses unlimited opulences, untouched by material darkness. The purport’s closing prayer seeks His shelter and asks Him for relief from Māyā’s distressing influence.
Try this today
Pause today and pray to the Supreme Lord for shelter from material illusion.
Ask yourself
When material attraction troubles me, do I turn toward the Lord for shelter?
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.