Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.36.39
Ūti· What drives us to actDesire Persists Despite Fate’s Obstacles
“An ordinary person is determined to act on his desires even when fate prevents their fulfillment. Therefore he encounters both happiness and distress. Yet even though such is the case, I will execute your order.”
What the purport teaches
- An ordinary person determinedly pursues desires even when fate prevents their fulfillment, and thus encounters happiness and distress.
- Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that Akrūra’s courteous, encouraging words carried a very different hidden meaning.
- Akrūra considered the plan unfit to execute. He would obey as the King’s subject, knowing that the King was about to die.
Try this today
Write down one frustrated desire and notice the happiness or distress attached to pursuing it.
Ask yourself
When my wishes are repeatedly frustrated, do I pause to reconsider them?
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.