Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.3.40
Mukti· LiberationDevotional Service Purifies the Heart
“When one seriously engages in the devotional service of the Personality of Godhead, fixing the Lord’s lotus feet within one’s heart as the only goal of life, one can destroy the innumerable impure desires lodged within the heart as a result of one’s previous fruitive work within the three modes of material nature. When the heart is thus purified one can directly perceive both the Supreme Lord and one’s self as transcendental entities. Thus one becomes perfect in spiritual understanding through direct experience, just as one can directly experience the sunshine through normal, healthy vision.”
What the purport teaches
- A preliminary glimpse of the soul does not remove the material desires that keep one bound. Serious devotional service cleanses the heart of desires produced by material activities.
- One should seek shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as life's only goal. Fixing the mind on Him prepares one to remember Him at death.
- When the heart becomes purified through bhakti-yoga, one can directly perceive the Supreme Lord and one's own spiritual nature. This is personal realization, not becoming equal to the Lord or merging impersonally into Him.
Try this today
Chant “oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya” today, fixing your attention on seeking shelter at the Lord's lotus feet rather than a material reward.
Ask yourself
Which material desire can I begin replacing with a desire to serve 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.