Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.51.52
Ūti· What drives us to actGreater Power Does Not Bring Happiness
“A king who desires even greater power than he already has strictly performs his duties, carefully practicing austerity and forgoing sense enjoyment. But he whose urges are so rampant, thinking “I am independent and supreme,” cannot attain happiness.”
What the purport teaches
- A king may strictly perform his duties and carefully practice austerity to gain still greater power.
- He may even give up sense enjoyment while continuing to desire a higher position.
- With rampant urges and the thought “I am independent and supreme,” he cannot attain happiness.
Try this today
Before one demanding task today, examine whether your aim is duty or the desire to become more important.
Ask yourself
Is any discipline in my life driven mainly by wanting greater power or importance?
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.