Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.6.14
Āśraya· The supreme shelterHumbly Surrender to the Supreme Controller
“You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the transcendental entity who is superior to both material nature and the enjoyer of nature. May Your lotus feet bestow transcendental pleasure upon us. All of the great demigods, beginning with Brahmā, are embodied living entities. Struggling painfully with one another under the strict control of Your time factor, they are just like bulls dragged by ropes tied through their pierced noses.”
What the purport teaches
- Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond material nature and its enjoyer. Even Brahmā and the other powerful demigods remain under His control.
- Victory and defeat are in the Lord’s hands, but this does not cancel our free will. He awards results according to our activities, including those of previous lives.
- A superficial observer cannot understand the Lord’s perfect justice. The demigods approach Him not to display their power, but to surrender humbly at His lotus feet.
Try this today
Before one important task today, pause and pray for humility, remembering that its outcome is not entirely in your hands.
Ask yourself
Where am I relying on my own power instead of approaching the Lord humbly?
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.