Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 8.1.13
Āśraya· The supreme shelterKnow the Lord Through Devotional Service
“The entire cosmic manifestation is the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, who has millions of names and unlimited potencies. He is self-effulgent, unborn and changeless. He is the beginning of everything, but He has no beginning. Because He has created this cosmic manifestation by His external energy, the universe appears to be created, maintained and annihilated by Him. Nonetheless, He remains inactive in His spiritual energy and is untouched by the activities of the material energy.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead has many names, all nondifferent from Him and carrying His potencies. We should chant the names recommended by saintly persons and the śāstras rather than manufacture names.
- Both material and spiritual energies belong to the Lord, yet He remains untouched by material activities. While we remain in the material energy, He is very difficult to understand.
- To understand the Lord in reality, we must take to bhakti, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This path of devotional service enables us to know Him and become happy.
Try this today
Spend one minute attentively chanting the names given here: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare.
Ask yourself
How can you give chanting the Lord’s holy names a more attentive place in your day?
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.