Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.16.52
Āśraya· The supreme shelterEverything Rests Upon the Supreme Lord
“In this world of matter, which the conditioned soul accepts as consisting of enjoyable resources, the conditioned soul expands, thinking that he is the enjoyer of the material world. Similarly, the material world expands in the living entity as a source of enjoyment. In this way they both expand, but because they are My energies, they are both pervaded by Me. As the Supreme Lord, I am the cause of these effects, and one should know that both of them rest in Me.”
What the purport teaches
- The living entities wrongly consider material elements to be resources for their enjoyment and themselves to be the enjoyers. Neither is independent; both are energies of the Supreme Lord.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original cause of both material and spiritual energies. Everything rests upon Him.
- The living entities are parts of the Lord, but they are not the Lord Himself. His material expansion is temporary, whereas He is not, and His energies are not equally worshipable with Him.
Try this today
Choose one possession you use today and pause to remember that it belongs to the Lord’s energy, not to your independent control.
Ask yourself
Where do I treat the Lord’s energy as something meant only 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.