Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 12.3.36
Ūti· What drives us to actCare Beyond Wealth and Usefulness
“Servants will abandon a master who has lost his wealth, even if that master is a saintly person of exemplary character. Masters will abandon an incapacitated servant, even if that servant has been in the family for generations. Cows will be abandoned or killed when they stop giving milk.”
What the purport teaches
- Servants will abandon even an exemplary master who loses his wealth. Masters will abandon servants who can no longer work, despite generations of service.
- Cows will be abandoned or killed when they stop giving milk. The verse describes care being withdrawn when material benefit ends.
- The purport explains that the cow is one of our mothers because her milk has nourished us. Since one's mother is sacred, the cow should not be killed.
Try this today
Offer one small act of care to someone who cannot repay you.
Ask yourself
Does my care for others depend on what they can give me?
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.