Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 7.1.6
Āśraya· The supreme shelterKṛṣṇa’s Activities Are Always Transcendental
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is always transcendental to material qualities, and therefore He is called nirguṇa, or without qualities. Because He is unborn, He does not have a material body to be subjected to attachment and hatred. Although the Lord is always above material existence, through His spiritual potency He appeared and acted like an ordinary human being, accepting duties and obligations, apparently like a conditioned soul.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is nirguṇa, free from material qualities. Though He appears like a human being, His spiritual body and qualities never change.
- Kṛṣṇa is always equal to everyone. Seeing material attachment, hatred or obligation in His actions means imposing our imperfect material vision upon Him.
- Only devotees can understand the truth of Kṛṣṇa’s activities. Such understanding makes one devoted and free from material qualities, fit to enter the spiritual world after leaving the material body.
Try this today
Reread this verse’s translation slowly, remembering that the Lord’s apparent human duties never bind Him.
Ask yourself
Am I judging Kṛṣṇa’s activities by the limitations of ordinary human behavior?
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.