Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 7.9.50
Mukti· LiberationBhakti Is the Essential Path
“Therefore, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, the best of all persons to whom prayers are offered, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because without rendering six kinds of devotional service unto You — offering prayers, dedicating all the results of activities, worshiping You, working on Your behalf, always remembering Your lotus feet and hearing about Your glories — who can achieve that which is meant for the paramahaṁsas?”
What the purport teaches
- Prahlāda names six devotional activities: offering prayers, dedicating the results of activities, worshiping the Lord, working for Him, remembering His lotus feet and hearing His glories.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is understood only by His grace, not simply through study and prayers. Bhakti is the process for understanding Him.
- A paramahaṁsa accepts the essence of everything: devotional service. Other processes succeed only when mixed with bhakti, and intelligent bhakti-yoga leads back home, back to Godhead.
Try this today
Spend two minutes offering prayers to the Lord and remembering His lotus feet.
Ask yourself
Which of these six devotional activities can I give more attention to?
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.