Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.20.5
Sthāna· The universe in orderCollected Wealth Should Serve Public Welfare
“With its rays, the sun had for eight months drunk up the earth’s wealth in the form of water. Now that the proper time had arrived, the sun began releasing this accumulated wealth.”
What the purport teaches
- The sun had drawn up the earth’s wealth of water for eight months and released it when needed. The ācāryas compare this to a king’s collecting taxes.
- Just as water returns to nourish the earth, collected taxes must return to the people through education, public works, sanitation, and similar services.
- Good government should use taxes for public welfare, not simply collect them for useless squandering.
Try this today
Use a small resource available to you today to meet a practical need shared by others.
Ask yourself
How can resources entrusted to you be used for others’ welfare rather than wasted?
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.