Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 2.5.4
Āśraya· The supreme shelterCreative Power Is Never Independent
“My dear father, what is the source of your knowledge? Under whose protection are you standing? And under whom are you working? What is your real position? Do you alone create all entities with material elements by your personal energy?”
What the purport teaches
- Nārada knew that Brahmā gained creative energy through severe austerities. He understood that a superior authority had invested Brahmā with this power.
- Nārada therefore asked about the source of Brahmā's knowledge, protection and authority. His questions looked beyond creative achievement to its underlying support.
- Scientific discovery also depends on things already existing and on an awarded brain. No one is independent in creation, nor does creation happen automatically.
Try this today
Choose one achievement of yours and write down two abilities or resources it depended on.
Ask yourself
Which abilities do I treat as entirely my own, forgetting what they depend upon?
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.