Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.5.20
Mukti· LiberationScripture Guides Us Back to Godhead
“[Nārada Muni had asked how one could ignorantly defy one’s own father. The Haryaśvas understood the meaning of this question.] One must accept the original instructions of the śāstra. According to Vedic civilization, one is offered a sacred thread as a sign of second birth. One takes his second birth by dint of having received instructions in the śāstra from a bona fide spiritual master. Therefore, śāstra, scripture, is the real father. All the śāstras instruct that one should end his material way of life. If one does not know the purpose of the father’s orders, the śāstras, he is ignorant. The words of a material father who endeavors to engage his son in material activities are not the real instructions of the father.”
What the purport teaches
- Śāstra is called the real father because its instructions lead one away from materialistic life and toward spiritual life.
- One must approach a bona fide spiritual master to understand Vedic knowledge. Spiritual education teaches how to become free from repeated birth and death.
- Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of Vedic knowledge, and Kṛṣṇa personally teaches surrender unto Him. Its instructions should guide our lives, rather than our own whims.
Try this today
Reread Kṛṣṇa’s instruction to surrender unto Him in this purport, and spend one minute considering how to follow it today.
Ask yourself
Where could I let the instructions of śāstra guide me instead of my material desires?
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.