Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.3.45
Ūti· What drives us to actDo Not Abandon Discipline Prematurely
“If an ignorant person who has not conquered the material senses does not adhere to the Vedic injunctions, certainly he will engage in sinful and irreligious activities. Thus his reward will be repeated birth and death.”
What the purport teaches
- One who does not understand himself as an eternal spiritual soul, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, cannot properly control the senses. Rejecting Vedic regulation in that condition leads to sinful activities and repeated birth and death.
- A show of renunciation does not replace genuine sense control. The purport encourages an immature practitioner to eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam with satisfaction rather than adopt severe eating habits and later fall into unregulated eating.
- Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, teaches that prescribed duties should continue until detachment and faith in hearing and chanting about Him develop. Regulation supports purification; devotional service remains the goal.
Try this today
Honor kṛṣṇa-prasādam with satisfaction today, without making a show of severe restriction.
Ask yourself
Am I honestly accepting the discipline I need, or trying to appear more advanced than I am?
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.