Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.7.68
Ūti· What drives us to actSense Gratification Cannot Give Lasting Satisfaction
“The male pigeon said: Alas, just see how I am now destroyed! I am obviously a great fool, for I did not properly execute pious activities. I could not satisfy myself, nor could I fulfill the purpose of life. My dear family, which was the basis of my religiosity, economic development and sense gratification, is now hopelessly ruined.”
What the purport teaches
- Although completely attached to his wife, children and nest, the pigeon remained unsatisfied. There is ultimately no satisfaction in such sense gratification.
- His hopes and dreams for expanding his future enjoyment were also ruined.
- The purport warns that wife, children and fortune will all be dragged away in the hunter’s net. Death will end these arrangements for material enjoyment.
Try this today
Review one plan for future enjoyment and reflect on whether it can offer lasting satisfaction.
Ask yourself
Am I expecting future material enjoyment to give the satisfaction that present enjoyment has not given?
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.