Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.21.29-30
Ūti· What drives us to actReligious Concessions Do Not Encourage Violence
“Those who are sworn to sense gratification cannot understand the confidential conclusion of Vedic knowledge as explained by Me. Taking pleasure in violence, they cruelly slaughter innocent animals in sacrifice for their own sense gratification and thus worship demigods, forefathers and leaders among ghostly creatures. Such passion for violence, however, is never encouraged within the process of Vedic sacrifice.”
What the purport teaches
- The Vedic concessions for animal sacrifice are restricted by rigorous rituals. They are meant to gradually discourage animal killing, not encourage enjoyment of violence.
- Materialistic persons misuse these restrictions to justify killing animals for their own pleasure. In doing so, they miss the confidential conclusion of Vedic knowledge.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the actual enjoyer of all sacrifice and austerity. Accepting rituals without surrendering to Him misses their ultimate purpose.
Try this today
Identify one desire you tend to justify through religion, and offer a brief prayer for willingness to surrender it to Kṛṣṇa.
Ask yourself
Do I ever use religious permission to defend a desire rather than become purified?
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.