Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 8.6.22-23
Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protectionWork Attentively With the Lord’s Help
“O demigods, cast into the Ocean of Milk all kinds of vegetables, grass, creepers and drugs. Then, with My help, making Mandara Mountain the churning rod and Vāsuki the rope for churning, churn the Ocean of Milk with undiverted attention. Thus the demons will be engaged in labor, but you, the demigods, will gain the actual result, the nectar produced from the ocean.”
What the purport teaches
- The Lord instructed the demigods to put vegetables, grass, creepers and drugs into the Ocean of Milk. The purport explains that their active principles would mix with the milk through churning, producing nectar.
- Mandara Mountain was to serve as the churning rod and Vāsuki as the rope. The demigods were to churn with the Lord’s help and undiverted attention.
- The demons would share in the labor, but the demigods would gain the actual result: the nectar produced from the ocean.
Try this today
Spend two uninterrupted minutes studying these instructions, noting both the demigods’ effort and the Lord’s help.
Ask yourself
What does the instruction to work with the Lord’s help and undiverted attention teach me?
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.