Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 12.9.6
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesAll Things Are the Lord’s Potencies
“O lotus-eyed Lord, O crest jewel of renowned personalities, although I am satisfied simply by seeing You, I do wish to see Your illusory potency, by whose influence the entire world, together with its ruling demigods, considers reality to be materially variegated.”
What the purport teaches
- Although satisfied simply by seeing the Lord, Mārkaṇḍeya wished to see His illusory potency.
- A conditioned soul sees the material world as made of independent, separate entities. Actually, all things are united as potencies of the Supreme Lord.
- Mārkaṇḍeya wanted to witness the exact process by which māyā, the Lord’s bewildering potency, casts living beings into illusion.
Try this today
Choose one ordinary object and reflect that it is not independent of the Lord’s potencies.
Ask yourself
When do I see things as independent of the Supreme Lord?
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.