Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.3.6
Ūti· What drives us to actPast Actions Do Not Remove Present Choice
“Impelled by deep-rooted material desires, the embodied living entity engages his active sense organs in fruitive activities. He then experiences the results of his material actions by wandering throughout this world in so-called happiness and distress.”
What the purport teaches
- Deep-rooted material desires impel the embodied soul to perform fruitive activities. Accepting their results, the soul wanders through so-called happiness and distress.
- Past decisions constrain present circumstances but do not eliminate new choices. Although karma determines a particular body, human life still offers scope for free will and decision-making.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is therefore not unjust in holding human beings responsible for present actions. Māyā is so powerful that a proud conditioned soul may think he is enjoying even in a hellish condition.
Try this today
Name one difficult circumstance, then write down and carry out one responsible choice still available within it.
Ask yourself
What responsible choice remains available to me within a circumstance I cannot presently change?
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.