Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.11.21
Āśraya· The supreme shelterDevotional Service Takes Us Beyond Karma
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is all-powerful, and He awards the results of one’s fruitive activities. Thus, although one living entity’s duration of life is very small whereas that of another is very great, He is always in His transcendental position, and there is no question of lessening or increasing His duration of life.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead awards lifetimes according to karma, from the mosquito’s short life to Lord Brahmā’s long life. His own existence is never increased or diminished.
- Work should be performed to satisfy the Supreme Lord; otherwise it binds us through action and reaction. The Lord diminishes or vanquishes His devotees’ karmic reactions.
- Our best interest is to engage in devotional service and return to Godhead. In His abode there is neither birth nor death nor different forms of life under karma.
Try this today
Choose one task today and begin it with the intention of satisfying the Supreme Lord.
Ask yourself
Which activity could I do for the Lord’s satisfaction rather than merely for its material result?
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.