Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.10.4
Mukti· LiberationProgress Toward Service Without Selfish Motives
“One who has fixed Me within his mind as the goal of life should give up activities based on sense gratification and should instead execute work governed by the regulative principles for advancement. When, however, one is fully engaged in searching out the ultimate truth of the soul, one should not accept the scriptural injunctions governing fruitive activities.”
What the purport teaches
- One who accepts Kṛṣṇa as the goal should give up activities based on sense gratification and follow duties that support spiritual advancement. This process gradually leads to complete absorption in loving service.
- In the beginning, one offers the fruits of work to the Lord. At the advanced stage, the impulse to work for personal rewards disappears, and one serves Him without selfish motives.
- Fully spiritual consciousness seeks the Lord’s pleasure rather than personal enjoyment. Even eating is done moderately, with food first offered for the Deity’s pleasure, to keep the body fit for serving Kṛṣṇa.
Try this today
Before one act of devotional service today, pause and consciously make pleasing Kṛṣṇa your purpose rather than gaining a personal reward.
Ask yourself
In your service, are you mainly seeking your own satisfaction or the Lord’s pleasure?
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.