Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 12.3.31
Ūti· What drives us to actBodily Freedom Can Become Slavery to Lust
“Because of the bad qualities of the Age of Kali, human beings will become shortsighted, unfortunate, gluttonous, lustful and poverty-stricken. The women, becoming unchaste, will freely wander from one man to the next.”
What the purport teaches
- The bad qualities of Kali lead human beings toward shortsightedness, misfortune, excessive eating, lust and poverty.
- The purport describes identifying the self with the body and seeking freedom through bodily indulgence as ignorance and slavery to lust.
- The verse predicts unchastity among women. The purport warns that sexual promiscuity can leave children growing up in psychologically unfavorable circumstances.
Try this today
Pause before one unnecessary indulgence today and consider whether it expresses freedom or dependence on desire.
Ask yourself
When does what you call freedom become obedience to a bodily desire?
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.