Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.23.40
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesQualifications Are Useless Without Kṛṣṇa
“[The brāhmaṇas said:] To hell with our threefold birth, our vow of celibacy and our extensive learning! To hell with our aristocratic background and our expertise in the rituals of sacrifice! These are all condemned because we were inimical to the transcendental Personality of Godhead.”
What the purport teaches
- The brāhmaṇas condemned their threefold birth: physical birth, brahminical initiation and initiation into Vedic sacrifice.
- They also condemned their celibacy, extensive learning, aristocratic background and ritual expertise because they had been inimical to the transcendental Personality of Godhead.
- The purport concludes that everything is useless if one is ignorant of the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Try this today
Choose one ability you take pride in and identify a small way to use it in Kṛṣṇa’s service today.
Ask yourself
Am I valuing my qualifications more than knowing and serving Kṛṣṇa?
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.