Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 2.6.21
Āśraya· The supreme shelterChoose Service Rather Than Control
“By His energies, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead is thus comprehensively the master in the activities of controlling and in devotional service. He is the ultimate master of both nescience and factual knowledge of all situations.”
What the purport teaches
- The individual soul knows only a limited field of activities. The Supreme Personality of Godhead knows everyone’s thoughts, feelings and desires, past, present and future.
- The living entity may forget his identity, but the Lord never does. The soul is a part of the Lord and can never equal the whole in knowledge.
- Trying to lord over creation brings clash and frustration, the symptoms of ignorance. In the field of true knowledge, there is devotional service to the Lord.
Try this today
Before one activity today, pause and choose to approach it as service to the Lord rather than an opportunity to control.
Ask yourself
Where am I seeking control when I could choose devotional service?
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.