Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 8.5.28
Āśraya· The supreme shelterRemember the Supersoul at the Center
“In the cycle of material activities, the material body resembles the wheel of a mental chariot. The ten senses [five for working and five for gathering knowledge] and the five life airs within the body form the fifteen spokes of the chariot’s wheel. The three modes of nature [goodness, passion and ignorance] are its center of activities, and the eight ingredients of nature [earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego] comprise the rim of the wheel. The external, material energy moves this wheel like electrical energy. Thus the wheel revolves very quickly around its hub or central support, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul and the ultimate truth. We offer our respectful obeisances unto Him.”
What the purport teaches
- The body is compared to a wheel in the cycle of repeated birth and death. Under the hold of material energy, the living entity revolves on this wheel under the Supreme Lord’s direction.
- The material body results from the conditioned soul’s activities. The Supersoul, situated in everyone’s heart, supports the body and directs the living entity’s wanderings.
- The Supersoul is the central reality to whom we should offer respectful obeisances. We should not become so absorbed in material activities that we forget the Absolute Truth.
Try this today
Before one ordinary task today, pause and offer respectful obeisances to the Supreme Lord within your heart.
Ask yourself
Which daily activity most easily makes me forget the Supreme Lord at the center?
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.