Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.3.19
Mukti· LiberationWealth Cannot Give Permanent Happiness
“Wealth is a perpetual source of distress, it is most difficult to acquire, and it is virtual death for the soul. What satisfaction does one actually gain from his wealth? Similarly, how can one gain ultimate or permanent happiness from one’s so-called home, children, relatives and domestic animals, which are all maintained by one’s hard-earned money?”
What the purport teaches
- Wealth is difficult to acquire and a continual source of distress. The verse describes it as virtual death for the soul.
- Home, children, relatives and domestic animals are maintained by hard-earned money. Yet all these circumstances are unsteady.
- The verse asks us to examine what satisfaction wealth actually provides. Neither money nor the temporary arrangements it supports can give ultimate or permanent happiness.
Try this today
Name one financial goal today and pause to consider whether achieving it could truly give permanent happiness.
Ask yourself
What lasting satisfaction am I expecting money or my home circumstances to provide?
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.