Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.24.33
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe Lord Is Independent and Transcendental
“I surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, descended in the form of Kapila, who is independently powerful and transcendental, who is the Supreme Person and the Lord of the sum total of matter and the element of time, who is the fully cognizant maintainer of all the universes under the three modes of material nature, and who absorbs the material manifestations after their dissolution.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original person and the cause of all causes, not formless. He knows everything—past, present and future.
- The material world is a manifestation of His energy. He maintains all living entities, but no one maintains Him; He is fully independent.
- Although Kapila appeared as Kardama Muni’s son, Kardama offered Him obeisances with full surrender. When Kṛṣṇa or His expansions descend, their bodies are always transcendental, never products of material energy.
Try this today
Pause today to offer respectful obeisances to the Lord, remembering that He maintains all living entities.
Ask yourself
How does the Lord’s complete independence deepen my understanding of surrender?
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.