Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.5.3
Ūti· What drives us to actRespect the Lord and His Spiritual Master
“If any of the members of the four varṇas and four āśramas fail to worship or intentionally disrespect the Personality of Godhead, who is the source of their own creation, they will fall down from their position into a hellish state of life.”
What the purport teaches
- Some people neglect worship through ignorance; others know of the Lord’s supreme position but deliberately disrespect Him. The Supreme Lord is the source of their own creation and of everything.
- Social or spiritual standing cannot protect someone who neglects or disrespects the Personality of Godhead. Such a person falls from the varṇāśrama system into increasingly degraded conditions.
- Learning to worship a bona fide spiritual master properly leads to proper worship of the Supreme Lord. Without the spiritual master’s mercy, even a seemingly religious person can become atheistic and offend the Lord.
Try this today
Offer respectful obeisances to a bona fide spiritual master today, remembering that this respect supports proper worship of the Lord.
Ask yourself
Am I willing to learn respectful worship, rather than relying on my position or knowledge?
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.