Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.18.40-41
Ūti· What drives us to actReject False Renunciation and Cultivate Genuine Service
“One who has not controlled the six forms of illusion [lust, anger, greed, excitement, false pride and intoxication], whose intelligence, the leader of the senses, is extremely attached to material things, who is bereft of knowledge and detachment, who adopts the sannyāsa order of life to make a living, who denies the worshipable demigods, his own self and the Supreme Lord within himself, thus ruining all religious principles, and who is still infected by material contamination, is deviated and lost both in this life and the next.”
What the purport teaches
- Lord Kṛṣṇa condemns adopting sannyāsa for a livelihood or sense gratification while remaining without knowledge and detachment. Lust, anger, greed, excitement, false pride and intoxication must not be hidden beneath a religious appearance.
- One who denies the worshipable demigods, his own self and the Supreme Lord within himself ruins religious principles. Such false renunciation leaves one lost in this life and the next.
- False sannyāsīs may become famous among foolish persons, but they cheat themselves and their followers. Their outward show is not loving devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Try this today
Examine one spiritual activity today and honestly identify whether its motive is service, recognition or material gain.
Ask yourself
Am I more concerned with appearing spiritual or with genuinely serving Lord 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.