Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.14.50
Mukti· LiberationThe Self Underlies Our Attachments
“Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, for every created being the dearmost thing is certainly his own self. The dearness of everything else — children, wealth and so on — is due only to the dearness of the self.”
What the purport teaches
- For every created being, the self is dearmost. Children, wealth and other things become dear because of their relationship to the self.
- The purport explains that affection for society, nation and family can represent an expanded concept of false ego.
- Even apparent self-sacrifice can gratify the proud thought that one is a selfless well-wisher. Such bewilderment rests on ignorance of the nonmaterial soul.
Try this today
Examine one helpful action today and quietly note whether pride was part of your motive.
Ask yourself
When I help others, do I also seek the pleasure of seeing myself as selfless?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.