Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.7.39
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe Supreme Lord Is Beyond Material Qualities
“We offer our respectful obeisances unto the Supreme, who has created varieties of manifestations and put them under the spell of the three qualities of the material world in order to create, maintain and annihilate them. He Himself is not under the control of the external energy: in His personal feature He is completely devoid of the variegated manifestation of material qualities, and He is under no illusion of false identification.”
What the purport teaches
- The three material qualities govern creation, maintenance and annihilation. In Goloka, the Lord’s own abode, everything is eternal, sentient and blissful.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead appears by His internal potency, never under the control of material qualities. Both His internal and external energies remain under His control.
- Conditioned souls are pulled by the actions and reactions of material qualities. Anyone engaged in the Lord’s service is transcendental to their interaction and fixed in worship of the Supreme Lord.
Try this today
Offer respectful obeisances to the Supreme Lord today, remembering that His form and qualities are transcendental.
Ask yourself
How can remembering that the Lord is beyond material qualities deepen my trust in Him?
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.