Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.3.5
Sthāna· The universe in orderSupreme Justice Is Free From Contradiction
“If in this universe there are many rulers and justices who disagree about punishment and reward, their contradictory actions will neutralize each other, and no one will be punished or rewarded. Otherwise, if their contradictory acts fail to neutralize each other, everyone will have to be both punished and rewarded.”
What the purport teaches
- The Yamadūtas worried that conflicting rulers could cause people to be wrongly punished, wrongly rewarded, or neither punished nor rewarded.
- Material courts may give different judgments, but the court of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot have contradictory judgments.
- Yamarāja is perfect in administering justice because the Supreme Personality of Godhead empowers him. Everyone is controlled by that supreme controller.
Try this today
Write one sentence distinguishing Yamarāja’s empowered authority from the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Ask yourself
Do I mistake my incomplete understanding of divine justice for a contradiction in it?
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.