Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.8.80
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesOne Devotee Can Influence the Whole World
“When Dhruva Mahārāja became practically one in heaviness with Lord Viṣṇu, the total consciousness, due to his fully concentrating and his closing all the holes of his body, the total universal breathing became choked up, and all the great demigods in all the planetary systems felt suffocated and thus took shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
What the purport teaches
- When individual energy is engaged in serving the total energy, it shares in the total energy’s power. Dhruva Mahārāja’s spiritual advancement gave his meditation an influence felt throughout the universe.
- As Dhruva Mahārāja concentrated fully on the Supreme Personality of Godhead and closed the holes of his body, universal breathing became choked. The bewildered demigods took shelter of the Lord.
- Through personal devotional service, a devotee can influence people throughout the world to become devotees of the Lord. One pure devotee in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness can change the consciousness of the whole world.
Try this today
Set aside five minutes today to concentrate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, gently putting aside distractions.
Ask yourself
How does the influence of one pure devotee encourage you to take your own devotional service seriously?
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.