Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 2.1.33
Āśraya· The supreme shelterNature Acts Under the Lord’s Direction
“O King, the rivers are the veins of the gigantic body, the trees are the hairs of His body, and the omnipotent air is His breath. The passing ages are His movements, and His activities are the reactions of the three modes of material nature.”
What the purport teaches
- The Personality of Godhead is neither inactive nor a dead stone. He knows the past, present and future; nothing is unknown to Him.
- The modes of material nature act only under His direction. Natural functions are not blind or automatic, even though the Lord need not personally perform every task.
- Rivers are His veins, trees His bodily hairs, air His breath, and passing ages His movements. Studying these can help one conceive of the personal Lord rather than regard Him as formless.
Try this today
Observe a tree, a river or the movement of air for one minute, recalling its description in the Lord’s universal form.
Ask yourself
How would remembering the Lord’s supervision change the way I observe nature?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.