Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 2.9.30
Mukti· LiberationServe Without Taking Pride
“O my Lord, the unborn, You have shaken hands with me just as a friend does with a friend [as if equal in position]. I shall be engaged in the creation of different types of living entities, and I shall be occupied in Your service. I shall have no perturbation, but I pray that all this may not give rise to pride, as if I were the Supreme.”
What the purport teaches
- Brahmā is related to the Lord in transcendental friendship, yet he remains the Lord’s servant. No one is equal to or greater than the Lord.
- Brahmā does not create the living entities themselves; he is empowered to give them bodies according to their previous work. He knows that he is only an instrument of the Lord.
- Whatever extraordinary power a devotee receives belongs to the Personality of Godhead. The credit for successful service goes to the Lord, not to the doer.
Try this today
Before one duty today, pray that you may carry it out as the Lord’s servant without becoming proud.
Ask yourself
When something goes well, do I remember the Lord’s power or take all the credit myself?
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.