Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.28.21
Āśraya· The supreme shelterDefine Everything in Relation to the Lord
“That which did not exist in the past and will not exist in the future also has no existence of its own for the period of its duration, but is only a superficial designation. In My opinion, whatever is created and revealed by something else is ultimately only that other thing.”
What the purport teaches
- Temporary material products have no independent existence; their changing designations are superficial. Yet the material world is a real manifestation of the Lord’s potency.
- The Personality of Godhead is the world’s essential reality, whereas identities imposed by conditioned souls are illusion. We are actually the marginal potency of the Supreme Lord.
- Trying to exploit the Lord’s inferior material potency entangles us in illusion. Everything should instead be properly understood in relation to the Personality of Godhead.
Try this today
Write down one temporary label you use for yourself, then reflect, “I am the marginal potency of the Supreme Lord.”
Ask yourself
Which temporary designation most often obscures my relationship with the Supreme 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.