Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 7.2.7-8
Ūti· What drives us to actThe Lord Responds to Loving Devotion
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead has given up His natural tendency of equality toward the demons and demigods. Although He is the Supreme Person, now, influenced by māyā, He has assumed the form of a boar to please His devotees, the demigods, just as a restless child leans toward someone. I shall therefore sever Lord Viṣṇu’s head from His trunk by my trident, and with the profuse blood from His body I shall please my brother Hiraṇyākṣa, who was so fond of sucking blood. Thus shall I too be peaceful.”
What the purport teaches
- Hiraṇyakaśipu wrongly thought that Lord Viṣṇu was changeable, materially conditioned and could be killed. The purport explains that conditioned beings mistakenly attribute their own limitations to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Even unfavorable thought of Viṣṇu is effective, and demons generally attain sāyujya-mukti. Yet such hostile remembrance does not make them devotees.
- The Supreme Lord accepts a leaf, flower, fruit or water offered with love and devotion. His affection for His devotees is not childishness or material conditioning, but His quality of being bhakta-vatsala.
Try this today
Offer a little water or fruit to the Supreme Lord with love and devotion before taking it yourself.
Ask yourself
How can I make my offering to the Lord an expression of love rather than a mere formality?
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.