Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.19.28-32
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutySeek Kṛṣṇa’s Definitions of Life’s Values
“Śrī Uddhava said: My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, O chastiser of the enemies, please tell me how many types of disciplinary regulations and regular daily duties there are. Also, my Lord, tell me what is mental equilibrium, what is self-control, and what is the actual meaning of tolerance and steadfastness. What are charity, austerity and heroism, and how are reality and truth to be described? What is renunciation, and what is wealth? What is desirable, what is sacrifice, and what is religious remuneration? My dear Keśava, O most fortunate one, how am I to understand the strength, opulence and profit of a particular person? What is the best education, what is actual humility, and what is real beauty? What are happiness and unhappiness? Who is learned, and who is a fool? What are the true and the false paths in life, and what are heaven and hell? Who is indeed a true friend, and what is one’s real home? Who is a rich man, and who is a poor man? Who is wretched, and who is an actual controller? O Lord of the devotees, kindly explain these matters to me, along with their opposites.”
What the purport teaches
- Śrī Uddhava asks Lord Kṛṣṇa about discipline, daily duties, self-control, tolerance and many other aspects of life. His questions seek their actual meaning, not merely familiar labels.
- Different cultures and societies define these universal matters in different ways. Uddhava therefore approaches Lord Kṛṣṇa directly as the supreme authority for standard definitions.
- Uddhava asks about happiness and unhappiness, wisdom and foolishness, and true and false paths. He respectfully asks the Lord of the devotees to explain these matters along with their opposites.
Try this today
Write down one of Uddhava’s questions that matters to you, noting that you wish to understand Lord Kṛṣṇa’s answer.
Ask yourself
Which of my ideas about success or happiness needs clarification from 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.