Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 8.5.26
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe Supreme Eternal Is Everyone’s Worshipable Lord
“Lord Brahmā said: O Supreme Lord, O changeless, unlimited supreme truth. You are the origin of everything. Being all-pervading, You are in everyone’s heart and also in the atom. You have no material qualities. Indeed, You are inconceivable. The mind cannot catch You by speculation, and words fail to describe You. You are the supreme master of everyone, and therefore You are worshipable for everyone. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.”
What the purport teaches
- Material creations change and perish, but Kṛṣṇa and the living entities are eternal. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme eternal, while individual souls are His minute, fragmental parts.
- The Lord is unlimited, all-pervading and situated in everyone’s heart. No individual soul equals or surpasses Him, so He is the supreme worshipable object.
- Mental speculation and clever words cannot measure the Lord. As the demigods follow Brahmā, we must understand Him through the authorities of the paramparā system, the disciplic succession.
Try this today
Reread Brahmā’s prayer in this verse and offer respectful obeisances to the Supreme Lord.
Ask yourself
How does knowing that I am an eternal part of the Lord, but not His equal, shape my worship?
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.