Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.20.2
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesForgive With Spiritual Understanding
“Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, said: My dear King Pṛthu, Indra, the King of heaven, has disturbed your execution of one hundred sacrifices. Now he has come with Me to be forgiven by you. Therefore excuse him.”
What the purport teaches
- Lord Viṣṇu asked King Pṛthu to forgive Indra, who had disturbed his sacrifices and had now come seeking forgiveness.
- A transcendentalist never accepts a living being to be the body. The body is only a superficial covering.
- The individual self is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The self and the Superself are qualitatively nondifferent.
Try this today
Recall one small offense and make a conscious effort to forgive, remembering that the person is not merely the body.
Ask yourself
How might seeing another person as a spiritual self help me forgive?
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.