Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.21.15
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyChant With Understanding, Offer Your Work
“A mantra is purified when chanted with proper knowledge, and one’s work is purified when offered to Me. Thus by purification of the place, time, substance, doer, mantras and work, one becomes religious, and by negligence of these six items one is considered irreligious.”
What the purport teaches
- A mantra is purified when chanted with proper knowledge, and work is purified when offered to the Lord.
- A bona fide spiritual master teaches the mantra's method, meaning and ultimate purpose. Chanting with the understanding that one is the Lord's eternal servant gradually leads to offenseless chanting and life's highest perfection.
- Religious life requires purification of six things: place, time, substance, doer, mantras and work. Neglect of these brings irreligious life.
Try this today
Before one task today, consciously offer that work to the Lord as His servant.
Ask yourself
Do I approach chanting and work with the understanding that I am the Lord's servant?
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.