Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.21.17
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutySpiritual Commitment Requires Steady Standards
“The same activities that would degrade an elevated person do not cause falldown for those who are already fallen. Indeed, one who is lying on the ground cannot possibly fall further. The material association that is dictated by one’s own nature is considered a good quality.”
What the purport teaches
- The same activity may degrade an elevated person without causing further falldown for someone already fallen. Material piety and sin are therefore relative to one's position.
- The purport distinguishes the duties of a renounced sannyāsī from those of a householder. Association with one's wife for procreation at the suitable time is prescribed for the householder, not the sannyāsī.
- Anyone initiated into chanting the Lord's holy names must follow four principles: no eating meat, fish or eggs, no illicit sex, no intoxication and no gambling. Neglecting these principles causes a spiritually initiated person to fall from an elevated position.
Try this today
Review the four regulative principles and identify one concrete choice today that helps you honor them.
Ask yourself
Am I honoring my spiritual commitments rather than comparing myself with someone else's standards?
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.