Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 2.5.18
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe Lord Remains Beyond Material Qualities
“The Supreme Lord is pure, spiritual form, transcendental to all material qualities, yet for the sake of the creation of the material world and its maintenance and annihilation, He accepts through His external energy the material modes of nature called goodness, passion and ignorance.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Lord has a pure spiritual form beyond material qualities. Through His external energy, He accepts goodness, passion and ignorance for material maintenance, creation and annihilation.
- The Lord controls the material modes and is never bewildered by them. Living beings, although originally qualitatively one with Him, can become controlled by those modes.
- The Lord eternally manifests through His spiritual energy. Just as the sun remains unaffected by a cloud, He remains unaffected by His material energy.
Try this today
Reflect for one minute on the sun-and-cloud example, remembering that material influence never covers the Supreme Lord.
Ask yourself
How does my susceptibility to material influence show my difference from the Supreme Lord?
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.