Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.16.30
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe Lord in Beauty and Sacred Offerings
“Among jewels I am the ruby, and among beautiful things I am the lotus cup. Among all types of grass I am the sacred kuśa, and of oblations I am ghee and other ingredients obtained from the cow.”
What the purport teaches
- Pañca-gavya consists of five sacrificial ingredients from the cow: milk, ghee, yogurt, dung and urine. The purport emphasizes the cow’s value by explaining that even its dung and urine are fit for sacrificial offering.
- Sacred kuśa grass is used on religious occasions. Mahārāja Parīkṣit made a sitting place from it during the last week of his life.
- The lotus cup formed by lotus petals represents Lord Kṛṣṇa among beautiful things. The ruby resembles His Kaustubha gem and symbolizes His potency.
Try this today
Reread the description of the lotus cup and ruby, and pause to remember the Lord they represent.
Ask yourself
How can beauty remind me of Kṛṣṇa rather than hold my attention by itself?
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.