Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.23.18-19
Ūti· What drives us to actWealth Should Serve the Lord
“Theft, violence, speaking lies, duplicity, lust, anger, perplexity, pride, quarreling, enmity, faithlessness, envy and the dangers caused by women, gambling and intoxication are the fifteen undesirable qualities that contaminate men because of greed for wealth. Although these qualities are undesirable, men falsely ascribe value to them. One desiring to achieve the real benefit of life should therefore remain aloof from undesirable material wealth.”
What the purport teaches
- Greed for wealth contaminates people with fifteen undesirable qualities, including theft, violence, lying, lust, anger, pride and envy.
- Although these qualities are undesirable, people falsely ascribe value to them. Those seeking life’s real benefit should remain aloof from undesirable wealth.
- The purport defines undesirable wealth as money or property that cannot be efficiently engaged in the loving service of the Lord. Such superfluous wealth should be given up because it pollutes one’s character.
Try this today
Choose one possession and make a concrete plan to engage it in the Lord’s service or give it up if it is superfluous.
Ask yourself
Which of my possessions supports loving service to the Lord, and which merely feeds greed?
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.