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Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.14.36-42

Mukti· Liberation

The Lord’s Form Is Meditation’s Auspicious Goal

“Keeping the eyes half closed and fixed on the tip of one’s nose, being enlivened and alert, one should meditate on the lotus flower situated within the heart. This lotus has eight petals and is situated on an erect lotus stalk. One should meditate on the sun, moon and fire, placing them one after the other within the whorl of that lotus flower. Placing My transcendental form within the fire, one should meditate upon it as the auspicious goal of all meditation. That form is perfectly proportioned, gentle and cheerful. It possesses four beautiful long arms, a charming, beautiful neck, a handsome forehead, a pure smile and glowing, shark-shaped earrings suspended from two identical ears. That spiritual form is the color of a dark rain cloud and is garbed in golden-yellowish silk. The chest of that form is the abode of Śrīvatsa and the goddess of fortune, and that form is also decorated with a conchshell, disc, club, lotus flower and garland of forest flowers. The two brilliant lotus feet are decorated with ankle bells and bracelets, and that form exhibits the Kaustubha gem along with an effulgent crown. The upper hips are beautified by a golden belt, and the arms are decorated with valuable bracelets. All of the limbs of that beautiful form capture the heart, and the face is beautified by merciful glancing. Pulling the senses back from the sense objects, one should be grave and self-controlled and should use the intelligence to strongly fix the mind upon all of the limbs of My transcendental body. Thus one should meditate upon that most delicate transcendental form of Mine.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda · Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.36-42, translation

What the purport teaches

  • Lord Kṛṣṇa answers Uddhava’s question about the procedure, nature and object of meditation for those desiring liberation. The practitioner should remain enlivened and alert while meditating on the eight-petaled lotus within the heart.
  • After placing the sun, moon and fire within that lotus, one places the Lord’s transcendental form within the fire. His gentle, cheerful form is the auspicious goal of all meditation.
  • The Lord’s beautiful limbs capture the heart, and His face has a merciful glance. With gravity and self-control, one should withdraw the senses from sense objects and use the intelligence to fix the mind on His form.

Try this today

Reread the description of the Lord’s form and spend one quiet minute remembering His pure smile and merciful glance.

Ask yourself

Which feature of the Lord’s form described here most draws my attention toward 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.

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