Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.21.32
Mukti· LiberationBhakti Brings Knowledge and Freedom
“When a devotee takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is completely cleansed of all misunderstanding or mental speculation, and he manifests renunciation. This is possible only when one is strengthened by practicing bhakti-yoga. Once having taken shelter at the root of the lotus feet of the Lord, a devotee never comes back to this material existence, which is full of the threefold miseries.”
What the purport teaches
- Hearing and chanting the Lord's glories gradually cleanse the mind. Practicing bhakti-yoga removes the misunderstanding that we are our bodies.
- Devotional service brings jñāna, understanding that we are not the body, and vairāgya, disinterest in sense gratification. Through devotion, we come to understand our own position and the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Progress in bhakti-yoga can be directly perceived, just as someone eating can feel hunger being satisfied. A devotee fixed in loving service to the Lord does not return to material existence after leaving the body.
Try this today
Chant attentively today: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
Ask yourself
As I practice devotional service, do I notice less desire to enjoy or control material things?
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.