Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.4.23
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe Lord Is Beyond Material Measurement
“Prajāpati Dakṣa said: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the illusory energy and the physical categories it produces. He possesses the potency for unfailing knowledge and supreme willpower, and He is the controller of the living entities and the illusory energy. The conditioned souls who have accepted this material manifestation as everything cannot see Him, for He is above the evidence of experimental knowledge. Self-evident and self-sufficient, He is not caused by any superior cause. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the illusory energy and its products. He controls both the living entities and the illusory energy.
- Even someone who could count all the atoms in the universe could not understand the Lord through material knowledge. His unlimited existence cannot be measured by mental speculation.
- Whether one understands Him or not, the Lord exists in His own spiritual potency. He is self-evident and self-sufficient, without any superior cause.
Try this today
Offer respectful obeisances to the Lord today, acknowledging that His existence exceeds your ability to measure Him.
Ask yourself
Do I expect the unlimited Lord to fit within the limits of my material understanding?
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.