FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.6.45

శయ్యాసనాటనస్థానస్న‍ానక్రీడాశనాదిషు । కథం త్వాం ప్రియమాత్మానం వయం భక్తాస్త్యజేమహి ॥ ౪౫ ॥
śayyāsanāṭana-sthāna-
[shayyaasanaatana-sthaana-]
snāna-krīḍāśanādiṣu
[snaana-kreedaashanaadishu]
kathaṁ tvāṁ priyam ātmānaṁ
[katham tvaam priyam aatmaanam]
vayaṁ bhaktās tyajema hi
[vayam bhaktaas tyajema hi]
sayyā — in lying down āsana — sitting aṭana — walking sthāna — standing snāna — bathing krīḍā — taking recreation āsana — eating ādiṣu — and other activities katham — how tvām — You priyam — dear ātmānam — Self vayam — we bhaktāḥ — Your devotees tyajema — can reject hi — indeed.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śayyāsanāṭana-sthāna-
sayyā
in lying down
āsana
sitting
aṭana
walking
sthāna
standing
snāna-krīḍāśanādiṣu
snāna
bathing
krīḍā
taking recreation
āsana
eating
ādiṣu
and other activities
kathaṁ tvāṁ priyam ātmānaṁ
katham
how
tvām
You
priyam
dear
ātmānam
Self
vayaṁ bhaktās tyajema hi
vayam
we
bhaktāḥ
Your devotees
tyajema
can reject
hi
indeed.
My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Soul, and thus You are most dear to us. We are Your devotees, and how can we possibly reject You or live without You even for a moment? Whether we are lying down, sitting, walking, standing, bathing, enjoying recreation, eating or doing anything else, we are constantly engaged in Your service.

One should be constantly engaged in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa. By hearing about Kṛṣṇa and by serving Him, we can give up the illusion of trying to enjoy something separately from the Supreme Lord. If we neglect such hearing and serving, our minds will become bewildered by the illusory energy of the Lord, and seeing the world as separate from Kṛṣṇa, we will take it as a place meant for our own sense gratification. This gross ignorance brings nothing but trouble to the living entity.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
We are your devotees. How can we reject you, our dear self, since we serve you while you lie down, sit, walk, stand, bathe, enjoy recreation, or eat? How can we, your devotees, who constantly serve you by massaging your feet and other actions while you lie down or sit, give you up?
Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Soul most dear to us; lying, sitting, walking, eating — every act of the devotee is service to Him.
Practical Applications
  • Before lying down tonight, offer the act of sleep itself to Kṛṣṇa as service rather than as private retreat.
  • Pick one mundane activity tomorrow — bathing, eating, or walking — and consciously remember it is occurring in Kṛṣṇa's presence and for His pleasure.
  • Refuse the split between sādhana time and ordinary time; speak Kṛṣṇa's name once aloud during a recreation or meal today to dissolve that boundary.
Reflection Questions
  • Which everyday activities have I quietly walled off as mine alone, where the thought of Kṛṣṇa would feel like an intrusion?
  • When I say Kṛṣṇa is dear to me, am I speaking as the devotees in this verse — unable to live without Him for a moment — or as someone fitting Him into a schedule?
For Each Age Group
youth
  • Before opening social media tonight, pause for one breath and remember Kṛṣṇa — let even scrolling happen in His presence rather than in a private hiding place.
  • Pick one meal in the dining hall or canteen this week, mentally offer it to Kṛṣṇa before the first bite, and notice how the meal and the conversation change.
  • When you study or play a sport tomorrow, dedicate the effort to Kṛṣṇa at the start; refuse the story that academics and recreation belong to your career while bhakti is a separate hobby.
householder
  • Bring Kṛṣṇa into one ordinary family activity today — cooking, driving the children, sitting with your spouse — by silently offering it to Him before you begin.
  • Examine your earning and spending this week and ask where money is being deployed as if Kṛṣṇa were absent; redirect one concrete decision so that He is the proprietor and you the steward.
  • Refuse to compartmentalize: speak Kṛṣṇa's name at the dinner table, not only at the altar, so that your children grow up seeing Him as a member of the household rather than a Sunday topic.
senior
  • As bathing, eating, and rest become slower and more deliberate with age, let each act be offered explicitly to Kṛṣṇa — turn the body's limitations into opportunities for conscious service.
  • Loosen attachment to possessions and roles by mentally placing each one at Kṛṣṇa's feet this week, asking what He would have you do with them rather than what you can still extract from them.
  • Mentor a younger person not by lecturing but by letting them see you remember Kṛṣṇa during ordinary moments — a meal, a walk, lying down to rest — so that your legacy is the mood of this verse, not just its words.
Common Pitfalls
  • Treating "constant service" as a future ideal for renunciants, exempting one's own ordinary householder routine from it now.
  • Performing outward rituals while keeping recreation, meals, and rest in a private zone where Kṛṣṇa is not invited.
  • Confusing constant remembrance with constant tension — straining to think of Kṛṣṇa rather than letting affection for Him naturally pervade the day.
Discussion Prompts
  • Share one activity from yesterday — sleeping, bathing, eating, recreation — and discuss honestly whether Kṛṣṇa had any place in it, and what stopped you if He did not.
  • The devotees say they cannot reject Kṛṣṇa even for a moment. Where does that intensity sound exaggerated to you, and where does it sound like the only sane response?
  • Prabhupāda warns that neglecting hearing and serving leads us to see the world as a place for our own sense gratification. Where do you see that gross ignorance operating in your own week, and where do you see it in the wider culture?
Role Play

Two students pair up. One plays a devotee who has just decided to begin treating ordinary acts — meals, bathing, walking to work — as service to Kṛṣṇa. The other plays a sincere friend who finds this strange or excessive and presses with questions like "Isn't eating just eating?" and "Aren't you making religion into everything?" The devotee must answer from the mood of this verse — that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Soul most dear, so no act can be honestly separated from Him — without becoming defensive or preachy.

Objections & Responses
  • This sounds obsessive. Healthy people need activities that are simply their own — recreation, rest, a meal with friends — not every breath turned into religion.
    The verse is not asking you to add a layer of religious tension to every act; it is pointing out that the Supreme Soul is already most dear to the devotee, so eating or resting in His remembrance is more relaxed, not less. What looks obsessive from outside is, from inside, the natural ease of being with the person one loves most. The alternative Prabhupāda names — treating the world as a place for one's own sense gratification — is the truly exhausting position.
  • If I am supposed to engage Kṛṣṇa in lying down, bathing, and recreation, doesn't this just sanctify whatever I was already doing? It risks becoming a label slapped on ordinary self-indulgence.
    That risk is real, which is why the verse places these activities inside the devotees' confession that Kṛṣṇa is dearmost and they cannot abandon Him. Service is defined by His pleasure, not by one's own. The test is simple: would the activity, done in this mood, withstand being offered to Him? If not, it is not yet service — but the solution is to bring it under His shelter, not to fence it off as private.
📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 6