Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.5.47
Mukti· LiberationLoving Service Preserves Our Personal Relationship
“Others, who are pacified by means of transcendental self-realization and have conquered over the modes of nature by dint of strong power and knowledge, also enter into You, but for them there is much pain, whereas the devotee simply discharges devotional service and thus feels no such pain.”
What the purport teaches
- Devotional service involves labor, but that labor is compensated by increasing transcendental pleasure. Devotees find greater pleasure in continuous service than in having no such engagement.
- Impersonalists seek to end their individuality by merging into oneness. Devotees retain their individuality to exchange feelings with the supreme individual Lord.
- Devotees attain liberation automatically while continuing the pleasure of personal service. Their destination is Vaikuṇṭha, where anxieties are completely removed.
Try this today
Spend a few minutes reading about the Lord as an act of service, giving attention to the relationship rather than the effort.
Ask yourself
How might viewing service as a loving exchange change my attitude toward its effort?
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.