Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 2.3.8
Ūti· What drives us to actWorship Viṣṇu for Spiritual Advancement
“One should worship Lord Viṣṇu or His devotee for spiritual advancement in knowledge, and for protection of heredity and advancement of a dynasty one should worship the various demigods.”
What the purport teaches
- For spiritual advancement in knowledge, one should worship Lord Viṣṇu or His devotee. Religion means progress toward reviving our eternal relation with the Lord.
- Spiritual advancement includes understanding the Lord's impersonal effulgence, His localized Paramātmā feature and ultimately His personal feature.
- Those seeking the progress of temporary bodily relations take shelter of the Pitās and demigods. Their destinations remain within the universe, whereas reaching the spiritual planets in the brahmajyoti is the highest perfection.
Try this today
Offer a brief prayer to Lord Viṣṇu asking for spiritual advancement and revival of your eternal relation with Him.
Ask yourself
How can I give more attention to my eternal relation with the Lord than to temporary bodily relations?
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.