Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 12.9.3
Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protectionKṛṣṇa Grants Life’s Highest Perfection
“We are perfectly satisfied with your practice of lifelong celibacy. Please choose whatever benediction you desire, since I can grant your wish. May you enjoy all good fortune.”
What the purport teaches
- The Lord was perfectly satisfied with Mārkaṇḍeya’s lifelong celibacy and invited him to choose a benediction.
- Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that “We are satisfied” refers to the Lord together with Śiva and Umā.
- The Lord speaks in the singular as the bestower of benedictions because ultimately only Lord Nārāyaṇa (Kṛṣṇa) can award eternal Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the highest perfection of life.
Try this today
Offer a brief prayer asking the Lord for eternal Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Ask yourself
Do my prayers seek eternal Kṛṣṇa consciousness as life’s highest perfection?
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.