Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.23.14
Mukti· LiberationReturning to Godhead Through Devotional Service
“When Mahārāja Pṛthu practiced a particular yogic sitting posture, he blocked the door of his anus with his ankles, pressed his right and left calves and gradually raised his life air upward, passing it on to the circle of his navel, up to his heart and throat, and finally pushed it upward to the central position between his two eyebrows.”
What the purport teaches
- The posture described is called muktāsana. In the yoga process, sitting postures follow strict regulative principles controlling sleeping, eating and mating.
- Mahārāja Pṛthu did not desire material facilities in higher planetary systems. He used his previous yoga practice to hasten his return home, back to Godhead.
- Those practicing bhakti-yoga can return to Godhead without practicing muktāsana. Devotional service keeps the devotee on the brahma-bhūta platform, the spiritual position required for returning to Godhead.
Try this today
Spend five quiet minutes remembering Kṛṣṇa, making devotional service rather than material gain your aim.
Ask yourself
Am I more attracted to material facilities or to returning home, back to Godhead?
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.