Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.9.22
Āśraya· The supreme shelterSeek the Lord’s Fearless Shelter
“Free from all material conceptions of existence and never wonder-struck by anything, the Lord is always jubilant and fully satisfied by His own spiritual perfection. He has no material designations, and therefore He is steady and unattached. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is the only shelter of everyone. Anyone desiring to be protected by others is certainly a great fool who desires to cross the sea by holding the tail of a dog.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is fully satisfied by His own spiritual perfection. Free from material designations, He is steady and unattached.
- Seeking another shelter to cross the ocean of ignorance is like trying to cross the sea by holding a dog’s tail. Neither can carry one across.
- The Lord’s lotus feet are an indestructible boat for crossing the ocean of ignorance. One should seek His all-powerful shelter rather than trust one’s own concocted ideas.
Try this today
Spend one minute prayerfully remembering the Lord’s lotus feet as an indestructible boat.
Ask yourself
Am I seeking the Lord’s shelter, or relying on my own invented means of ultimate protection?
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.