Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.27.25-26
Mukti· LiberationPrepare the Lord’s Seat and Offerings
“The worshiper should first imagine My seat as decorated with the personified deities of religion, knowledge, renunciation and opulence and with My nine spiritual energies. He should think of the Lord’s sitting place as an eight-petaled lotus, effulgent on account of the saffron filaments within its whorl. Then, following the regulations of both the Vedas and the tantras, he should offer Me water for washing the feet, water for washing the mouth, arghya and other items of worship. By this process he achieves both material enjoyment and liberation.”
What the purport teaches
- Religion, knowledge, renunciation and opulence form the four corner legs of the Lord’s sitting platform. The purport describes irreligion, ignorance, attachment and wretchedness as its intermediate legs.
- The worshiper should envision an eight-petaled lotus seat, bright with saffron filaments. The seat is also decorated with the Lord’s nine spiritual potencies.
- Following the Vedas and tantras, the worshiper offers water for the Lord’s feet and mouth, arghya and other items. The translation states that this worship brings both material enjoyment and liberation.
Try this today
Take a moment to picture the Lord’s eight-petaled lotus seat as described in the translation.
Ask yourself
How might carefully preparing an offering help me attend to the Lord?
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.