Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.45.5
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyOur Debt to Parents Is Beyond Repayment
“With one’s body one can acquire all goals of life, and it is one’s parents who give the body birth and sustenance. Therefore no mortal man can repay his debt to his parents, even if he serves them for a full lifetime of a hundred years.”
What the purport teaches
- The body makes it possible to acquire all the goals of life. Parents give that body birth and sustenance.
- No mortal person can fully repay this debt to their parents, even through a hundred years of service.
- Kṛṣṇa speaks as though His and Balarāma’s religious principles have been spoiled by Their failure to satisfy Their parents. His words emphasize the importance of serving parents.
Try this today
Identify one way your parents sustained you, and offer thanks if possible.
Ask yourself
What care from my parents have I received without fully appreciating it?
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.