Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.5.34
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesThe Lord Mercifully Seeks the Fallen
“O Mahā-puruṣa, I worship Your lotus feet. You gave up the association of the goddess of fortune and all her opulence, which is most difficult to renounce and is hankered after by even the great demigods. Being the most faithful follower of the path of religion, You thus left for the forest in obedience to a brāhmaṇa’s curse. Out of sheer mercifulness You chased after the fallen conditioned souls, who are always in pursuit of the false enjoyment of illusion, and at the same time engaged in searching out Your own desired object, Lord Śyāmasundara.”
What the purport teaches
- Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appearing as a brāhmaṇa. He gave up the association of the goddess of fortune and opulence desired even by the demigods.
- The Lord accepted a brāhmaṇa’s curse as a blessing and took the renounced order of life. His mission was to give up the illusion of material sense gratification and engage constantly in devotional service.
- While conditioned souls search for illusory enjoyment, Caitanya Mahāprabhu searches for them out of mercy. He rescues them from material existence and brings them into ecstatic love of Godhead, without discrimination based on caste, color or creed.
Try this today
Set aside five minutes you would otherwise spend seeking material enjoyment, and use them to worship the Lord with a sincere prayer.
Ask yourself
What pursuit of temporary enjoyment could I set aside to give more attention to devotional service?
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.