Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.4.34
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesKnow the Lord Through Devotional Service
“As the air carries various characteristics of the physical elements, like the aroma of a flower or colors resulting from a mixture of dust in the air, the Lord appears through lower systems of worship according to one’s desires, although He appears as the demigods and not in His original form. What is the use of these other forms? May the original Supreme Personality of Godhead please fulfill my desires.”
What the purport teaches
- Dakṣa wanted to worship the supreme form of Lord Kṛṣṇa, not an imagined form. Devotees wish to know and worship the Lord as He actually is.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood by speculation or imagination. He reveals Himself by His mercy through devotional service.
- The Supreme Lord knows everything, while the ordinary living being does not. Kṛṣṇa is the origin of all the demigods, and there is no truth superior to Him.
Try this today
Offer a short prayer asking Kṛṣṇa for the mercy to know Him as He is and to serve Him.
Ask yourself
Am I seeking to know the Lord through devotional service, or mainly through my own 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.