Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.21.43
Āśraya· The supreme shelterContinue Beyond Preliminary Stages to Loving Service
“I am the ritualistic sacrifice enjoined by the Vedas, and I am the worshipable Deity. It is I who am presented as various philosophical hypotheses, and it is I alone who am then refuted by philosophical analysis. The transcendental sound vibration thus establishes Me as the essential meaning of all Vedic knowledge. The Vedas, elaborately analyzing all material duality as nothing but My illusory potency, ultimately completely negate this duality and achieve their own satisfaction.”
What the purport teaches
- Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate basis and purpose of all Vedic knowledge. Sacrifices, objects of worship and knowledge of His potencies are not different from Him.
- The Vedas initially offer material rewards to draw people into the Vedic way of life. They ultimately lead to God consciousness, where everything is understood in relation to the Supreme Lord.
- Fruitive rituals and speculative knowledge are to be left behind as one advances, but loving service to the Lord is never to be given up. Every living entity is the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Try this today
Before one act of devotional service today, pause and remember: “I am Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant; loving service to Him is the goal.”
Ask yourself
Am I treating any temporary reward or preliminary stage as the goal, rather than loving service to Kṛṣṇa?
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.