Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.9.32
Āśraya· The supreme shelterLook Beyond Heaven to Vaikuṇṭha
“O supreme controller, You control the three destinations [promotion to the heavenly planets, birth as a human being, and condemnation in hell], yet Your supreme abode is Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma. Since we appeared after You created this cosmic manifestation, Your activities are impossible for us to understand. We therefore have nothing to offer You but our humble obeisances.”
What the purport teaches
- The Lord controls promotion to heaven, human birth and condemnation in hell. His own supreme abode is Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma.
- An inexperienced person generally does not know what benediction to request from the Lord. People often pray for heaven because they have no information of Vaikuṇṭhaloka.
- Vaikuṇṭhaloka is beyond the material planetary systems and is the ultimate resort of the Vaiṣṇavas. Recognizing their limited understanding, the demigods offer humble obeisances.
Try this today
Review one request you commonly make in prayer, then offer humble obeisances while remembering Vaikuṇṭha as the ultimate destination.
Ask yourself
Do my prayers seek only a better material situation, or do they look beyond it?
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.