Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.25.4
Ūti· What drives us to actFalse Boats Cannot Carry Us Across
“Their taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa is just like the foolish attempt of men who abandon transcendental knowledge of the self and instead try to cross over the great ocean of material existence in the false boats of fruitive, ritual sacrifices.”
What the purport teaches
- Indra compared taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa to boarding an inadequate boat. This is his accusation, not an instruction to reject Kṛṣṇa.
- His comparison describes people abandoning transcendental knowledge of the self for fruitive ritual sacrifices.
- Such sacrifices are pictured as false boats for crossing the great ocean of material existence.
Try this today
Spend a few minutes studying spiritual knowledge today, noticing any desire to use religious practice only for material gain.
Ask yourself
Am I seeking spiritual understanding, or mainly material rewards from religious activity?
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.