Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.7.36
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesMake the Lord’s Pleasure Your Purpose
“The wife of Dakṣa prayed as follows: My dear Lord, it is very fortunate that You have appeared in this arena of sacrifice. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, and I request that You be pleased on this occasion. The sacrificial arena is not beautiful without You, just as a body is not beautiful without the head.”
What the purport teaches
- All activities should be performed for the pleasure of Lord Viṣṇu. Activities that do not please Him cause bondage in the material world.
- Without the Lord, a grand sacrifice is like a decorated body without a head. Likewise, material advancement has no real value without Kṛṣṇa consciousness and understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Prasūti asked the Lord to turn the priests into Vaiṣṇavas rather than workers seeking material benefits from sacrifices. Devotional service, not material gain, is the purpose.
Try this today
Choose one task today and consciously undertake it for the Lord’s pleasure rather than for praise or personal gain.
Ask yourself
Is my main concern the outward success of my activities, or whether they please the 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.