Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.9.41
Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protectionBound to the Lord by Love
“O supreme protector, O grandfather, O supreme pure, O Lord! We are all surrendered souls at Your lotus feet. Indeed, our minds are bound to Your lotus feet in meditation by chains of love. Now please manifest Your incarnation. Accepting us as Your own eternal servants and devotees, be pleased with us and sympathetic toward us. By Your love-filled glance, with its cool and pleasing smile of sympathy, and by the sweet, nectarean words emanating from Your beautiful face, free us from the anxiety caused by this Vṛtrāsura, who always pains the cores of our hearts.”
What the purport teaches
- The Lord is addressed as grandfather because Brahmā is the father of the demigods, and Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu, is Brahmā’s father. Brahmā took birth from the lotus growing from the Lord’s abdomen.
- The surrendered souls describe their minds as bound to the Lord’s lotus feet by chains of love. They ask Him to accept them as His eternal servants and devotees.
- They seek relief from the anxiety caused by Vṛtrāsura through the Lord’s compassionate glance, pleasing smile and sweet words. Their prayer expresses dependence on His sympathy.
Try this today
Spend one quiet minute meditating on the Lord’s lotus feet and offering yourself as His servant.
Ask yourself
What does it mean to approach the Lord as His eternal servant rather than only as someone needing relief?
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.