Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.13.39
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesPure Devotion Leads to the Lord
“O Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are worshipable by universal prayers, Vedic hymns and sacrificial ingredients. We offer our obeisances unto You. You can be realized by the pure mind freed from all visible and invisible material contamination. We offer our respectful obeisances to You as the supreme spiritual master of knowledge in devotional service.”
What the purport teaches
- Bhakti requires freedom from material contamination and desires; this freedom is called vairāgya. Devotional service according to regulative principles automatically frees one from material desires.
- The Lord, situated in everyone’s heart, guides the devotee in pure devotional service. To one who serves constantly with faith and love, He gives the intelligence to attain Him.
- The ultimate goal of Vedic rituals and sacrifices is bhakti. Without devotional service, one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Try this today
Set aside one distraction for a few minutes and offer the Lord a focused prayer for guidance in devotional service.
Ask yourself
What material desire distracts me from serving the Lord with faith and love?
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.