Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.9.36
Āśraya· The supreme shelterUnderstand the Lord Through Devotional Service
“O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all contradictions can be reconciled in You. O Lord, since You are the Supreme Person, the reservoir of unlimited spiritual qualities, the supreme controller, Your unlimited glories are inconceivable to the conditioned souls. Many modern theologians argue about right and wrong without knowing what is actually right. Their arguments are always false and their judgments inconclusive because they have no authorized evidence with which to gain knowledge of You. Because their minds are agitated by scriptures containing false conclusions, they are unable to understand the truth concerning You. Furthermore, because of polluted eagerness to arrive at the right conclusion, their theories are incapable of revealing You, who are transcendental to their material conceptions. You are one without a second, and therefore in You contradictions like doing and not doing, happiness and distress, are not contradictory. Your potency is so great that it can do and undo anything as You like. With the help of that potency, what is impossible for You? Since there is no duality in Your constitutional position, You can do everything by the influence of Your energy.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is self-sufficient and full of transcendental bliss. Material conceptions of happiness and distress do not apply to Him.
- Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotees experience transcendental bliss both in meeting and in separation. What appears contradictory to us is not material duality in them.
- The Lord’s transcendental pastimes can be understood through devotional service. Logical arguments alone cannot reveal His inconceivable form, name and pastimes.
Try this today
Reread one passage from this verse’s purport, pausing to approach it as an opportunity for devotional understanding rather than argument.
Ask yourself
How can I approach what I do not understand about the Lord with a more devotional attitude?
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.