Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.25.1
Sthāna· The universe in orderThe Lord Is Transcendental, Not the Enjoying Soul
“Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said to Mahārāja Parīkṣit: My dear King, approximately 240,000 miles beneath the planet Pātāla lives another incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the expansion of Lord Viṣṇu known as Lord Ananta or Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa. He is always in the transcendental position, but because He is worshiped by Lord Śiva, the deity of tamo-guṇa or darkness, He is sometimes called tāmasī. Lord Ananta is the predominating Deity of the material mode of ignorance as well as the false ego of all conditioned souls. When a conditioned living being thinks, “I am the enjoyer, and this world is meant to be enjoyed by me,” this conception of life is dictated to him by Saṅkarṣaṇa. Thus the mundane conditioned soul thinks himself the Supreme Lord.”
What the purport teaches
- Lord Ananta, or Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, is an expansion of Lord Viṣṇu. Although sometimes called tāmasī, He is always transcendental and has no material body.
- Thinking “I am the Supreme Lord” or “I am the supreme enjoyer” is illusion. The living entity is only an insignificant part of the Supreme Lord.
- Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord seated in everyone’s heart; remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness come from Him. As Saṅkarṣaṇa, He allows the soul who claims to be supreme to remain in that forgetfulness.
Try this today
Notice one desire to be the supreme enjoyer today, and pause to remember your position as a small part of the Supreme Lord.
Ask yourself
When do I act as though everything exists for my enjoyment?
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.