Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.88.25-26
Sthāna· The universe in orderThe Supreme Lord Offers Shelter
“The great demigods could only remain silent, not knowing how to counteract the benediction. Then Lord Śiva reached the luminous realm of Vaikuṇṭha, beyond all darkness, where the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa is manifest. That realm is the destination of renunciants who have attained peace and given up all violence against other creatures. Going there, one never returns.”
What the purport teaches
- The great demigods remained silent because they did not know how to counteract the benediction. Lord Śiva then reached the realm where the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa is manifest.
- Vaikuṇṭha is luminous and beyond darkness. It is the destination of peaceful renunciants who have given up violence against other creatures; those who go there never return.
- Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī identifies Śiva’s destination as Śvetadvīpa, an outpost of the spiritual world within the material universe. There Lord Viṣṇu rests on Ananta Śeṣa amid the Ocean of Milk, available to help the demigods.
Try this today
Offer a brief prayer to the Supreme Lord for shelter, and consciously avoid harming another creature today.
Ask yourself
How does the Lord’s availability for help deepen my desire to approach Him?
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.