Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.47.6
Ūti· What drives us to actPure Devotion Is Free from Self-Interest
“The friendship shown toward others — those who are not family members — is motivated by personal interest, and thus it is a pretense that lasts only until one’s purpose is fulfilled. Such friendship is just like the interest men take in women, or bees in flowers.”
What the purport teaches
- The gopīs condemned fickle affection that lasts only until a personal purpose is fulfilled. The purport compares it to bees leaving flowers after drinking their nectar.
- The gopīs had given their hearts completely to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and wanted only His pleasure. In the pain of separation, they questioned the motives of His friendship.
- Lord Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs are eternally free from lust, greed and pride. Their spiritual loving affairs are motivated exclusively by unalloyed devotion, not the impurities of worldly relationships.
Try this today
Offer one small service to Lord Kṛṣṇa today without asking for a personal reward.
Ask yourself
Where can I replace a desire for personal gain with a desire to please 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.