Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 8.9.29
Āśraya· The supreme shelterServing Kṛṣṇa Benefits Everyone
“In human society there are various activities performed for the protection of one’s wealth and life by one’s words, one’s mind and one’s actions, but they are all performed for one’s personal or extended sense gratification with reference to the body. All these activities are baffled because of being separate from devotional service. But when the same activities are performed for the satisfaction of the Lord, the beneficial results are distributed to everyone, just as water poured on the root of a tree is distributed throughout the entire tree.”
What the purport teaches
- Activities for personal or extended sense gratification are temporary because they are separate from devotional service. Their hopes and results end in bafflement.
- Even a little work for Kṛṣṇa is a permanent, good asset. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everyone’s friend, and the enjoyer and proprietor of everything.
- Spiritual activity aims to satisfy the Lord rather than one’s own senses. It benefits everyone, just as watering a tree’s root nourishes the whole tree.
Try this today
Before one task today, pause and consciously make the Lord’s satisfaction your aim; carry out the task in that spirit of service.
Ask yourself
How can I make satisfying Kṛṣṇa, rather than satisfying my own senses, the purpose of today’s work?
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.