Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 9.4.26
Mukti· LiberationService Gradually Purifies Material Desires
“The king of this planet, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, thus performed devotional service to the Lord and in this endeavor practiced severe austerity. Always satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his constitutional activities, he gradually gave up all material desires.”
What the purport teaches
- Mahārāja Ambarīṣa satisfied the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service and austerity. In this way, he gradually gave up material desires.
- Decorating the Deity, cleaning the temple, preparing food and distributing devotional literature involve hard work. Such work in devotional service is itself austerity.
- This austerity purifies one of material existence and brings one to the constitutional position of devotional service. Freedom from material desires brings freedom from repeated birth, death, old age and disease.
Try this today
Do one small cleaning task in a place used for worship, with the intention of satisfying the Lord.
Ask yourself
Can I welcome the effort involved in devotional service as an opportunity for purification?
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.