Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.4.29
Āśraya· The supreme shelterKnow the Lord Beyond Material Conceptions
“Anything expressed by material vibrations, anything ascertained by material intelligence and anything experienced by the material senses or concocted within the material mind is but an effect of the modes of material nature and therefore has nothing to do with the real nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is beyond the creation of this material world, for He is the source of the material qualities and creation. As the cause of all causes, He exists before the creation and after the creation. I wish to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Lord existed before creation. His name, form and qualities are always transcendental, never materially created.
- Material thoughts, senses and invented names cannot reveal the Lord. We must receive knowledge from a person to whom He has revealed Himself.
- By the Lord’s grace, understanding His transcendental nature frees one from repeated birth and death. One who desires freedom from misery should hear, glorify and remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Try this today
Read the translation aloud once, then spend a minute remembering the Lord as beyond material creation.
Ask yourself
Am I learning about the Lord from revealed knowledge, or relying on my own imagined ideas?
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.