Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 1.13.22
Nirodha· Winding upHear the Warning of Bodily Decline
“You have been blind from your very birth, and recently you have become hard of hearing. Your memory is shortened, and your intelligence is disturbed. Your teeth are loose, your liver is defective, and you are coughing up mucus.”
What the purport teaches
- Vidura pointed out Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s symptoms of old age as warnings that death was approaching. This dwindling of the material body is called apakṣaya.
- The body is born, develops, stays, produces other bodies, dwindles and vanishes. Trying to make a permanent settlement in it makes us forget our permanent identity and prime duty.
- Genuine saints awaken people to the real situation rather than merely satisfying their senses. Vidura spoke truthfully instead of supporting Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s attachment.
Try this today
Reread one of Vidura’s warnings here and write down what it asks you to reconsider.
Ask yourself
Are you willing to hear spiritual guidance that challenges your comfortable assumptions?
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.