Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.20.2
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyUnderstand Uddhava’s Question About Piety
“According to Vedic literature, the superior and inferior varieties found in the human social system, varṇāśrama, are due to pious and sinful modes of family planning. Thus piety and sin are constant points of reference in the Vedic analysis of the components of a given situation — namely the material ingredients, place, age and time. Indeed, the Vedas reveal the existence of material heaven and hell, which are certainly based on piety and sin.”
What the purport teaches
- The verse describes distinctions within varṇāśrama as connected with pious and sinful modes of family planning. The purport explains these distinctions through different combinations of parental social status.
- Vedic analysis considers material ingredients, place, age and time in relation to piety and sin. Material heaven and hell also depend on this distinction.
- Uddhava points out that the entire Vedic social system distinguishes piety from sin. He therefore asks the Lord to explain more fully how one should transcend both.
Try this today
List the four factors named in the translation: material ingredients, place, age and time.
Ask yourself
Why does the importance of piety and sin in Vedic teaching make Uddhava’s question significant?
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.