Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.28.36
Mukti· LiberationOur Eternal Relationship Is Loving Service
“Thus situated in the highest transcendental stage, the mind ceases from all material reaction and becomes situated in its own glory, transcendental to all material conceptions of happiness and distress. At that time the yogī realizes the truth of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He discovers that pleasure and pain as well as their interactions, which he attributed to his own self, are actually due to the false ego, which is a product of ignorance.”
What the purport teaches
- Ignorance means forgetting our relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thinking ourselves independent. Our eternal relationship with Him is one of loving service.
- False ego makes us attribute material pleasure and pain to our true self. The desire to control material nature keeps us subject to these experiences.
- Perfection comes when our desires agree with the Lord’s desires and we find happiness in His happiness. This realization preserves our individuality rather than erasing it.
Try this today
Pause before one choice today and ask, “Am I seeking only my own enjoyment, or cultivating a desire to serve the Lord?”
Ask yourself
Where am I seeking independent enjoyment rather than happiness in the Lord’s happiness?
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.