Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.29.45
Āśraya· The supreme shelterMaterial Opulence Cannot Reveal the Supreme Lord
“Despite the cultivation of Vedic knowledge, which is unlimited, and the worship of different demigods by the symptoms of Vedic mantras, demigod worship does not help one to understand the supreme powerful Personality of Godhead.”
What the purport teaches
- Material desires lead people to worship demigods for particular powers and benefits. Each demigod has a particular power.
- Through such worship, people seeking material results may obtain riches, animals, followers and other forms of opulence.
- Neither this material opulence nor demigod worship enables one to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even extensive cultivation of Vedic knowledge does not make such worship sufficient.
Try this today
Identify one material benefit you seek through worship, and reflect on why obtaining it would not itself reveal the Supreme Lord.
Ask yourself
Am I more interested in gaining material benefits than in understanding the Supreme Lord?
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.