Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 9.11.22
Nirodha· Winding upDevotional Service Leads to the Lord’s Abode
“Lord Rāmacandra returned to His abode, to which bhakti-yogīs are promoted. This is the place to which all the inhabitants of Ayodhyā went after they served the Lord in His manifest pastimes by offering Him obeisances, touching His lotus feet, fully observing Him as a fatherlike King, sitting or lying down with Him like equals, or even just accompanying Him.”
What the purport teaches
- The inhabitants of Ayodhyā served Lord Rāmacandra in various relationships and went back home, back to Godhead.
- A devotee perfect in devotional service enters the manifest pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra or Lord Kṛṣṇa. After training in service there, the devotee reaches sanātana-dhāma, the eternal spiritual abode.
- The Lord’s return does not mean that He became impersonal. The Lord and His devotees remain persons, even after the devotees give up their material bodies.
Try this today
Offer obeisances to the Lord today, remembering that devotional service leads to His personal association.
Ask yourself
How does knowing that service to the Lord continues eternally affect my desire to serve Him now?
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.