Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 1.17.7
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesDo Not Accept Suffering as Ordinary
“Then he [Mahārāja Parīkṣit] asked the bull: Oh, who are you? Are you a bull as white as a white lotus, or are you a demigod? You have lost three of your legs and are moving on only one. Are you some demigod causing us grief in the form of a bull?”
What the purport teaches
- Mahārāja Parīkṣit saw a white bull deprived of three legs and moving on only one. He was astonished by the bull's terrible condition.
- Up to his time, such wretched conditions for cows and bulls were unimaginable. His response shows how unusual this suffering was under proper protection.
- The king asked whether the bull was a demigod in that form. He wondered whether this distress indicated the future condition of cows and bulls.
Try this today
Pause today when you notice an animal's distress instead of passing by without attention.
Ask yourself
Have I become accustomed to suffering that should move me to concern?
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.