Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.29.16
Mukti· LiberationHumbly Honor the Lord Within All
“Disregarding the ridicule of one’s companions, one should give up the bodily conception and its accompanying embarrassment. One should offer obeisances before all — even the dogs, outcastes, cows and asses — falling flat upon the ground like a rod.”
What the purport teaches
- One should give up the bodily conception and its embarrassment, disregarding ridicule while offering obeisances before all creatures.
- Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised devotees to consider themselves lower than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree. Such humility supports undisturbed pure devotional service.
- A devotee does not think that a cow or an ass is God. Rather, the devotee sees the Supreme Lord within all creatures.
Try this today
Take a moment today to practice seeing the Supreme Lord within an animal, without mistaking the animal itself for God.
Ask yourself
Does fear of ridicule keep me from showing humble respect?
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.