Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.4.40
Ūti· What drives us to actA Plan to Destroy Sacrificial Life
“O King, we, who are your adherents in all respects, shall therefore kill the Vedic brāhmaṇas, the persons engaged in offering sacrifices and austerities, and the cows that supply milk, from which clarified butter is obtained for the ingredients of sacrifice.”
What the purport teaches
- The king’s adherents declared their full allegiance to him and proposed killing the Vedic brāhmaṇas.
- They also targeted those engaged in sacrifices and austerities.
- Their plan included killing cows, whose milk supplies clarified butter for sacrifice. The verse records a destructive proposal, not conduct to follow.
Try this today
Write one sentence identifying how cows support sacrifice in this verse.
Ask yourself
What does this proposal reveal about the harm caused by destructive allegiance?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.