Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.30.20
Ūti· What drives us to actThe Eternal Soul Faces Its Actions
“As a criminal is arrested for punishment by the constables of the state, a person engaged in criminal sense gratification is similarly arrested by the Yamadūtas, who bind him by the neck with strong rope and cover his subtle body so that he may undergo severe punishment.”
What the purport teaches
- Like state constables arresting a criminal, the Yamadūtas bind the person engaged in criminal sense gratification and cover his subtle body for punishment.
- Every living entity has gross and subtle coverings. The subtle body consists of mind, ego, intelligence and consciousness.
- The living entity is eternal and cannot be killed. The purpose of the punishment is not to end his existence but to make him suffer the consequences of his sense-gratifying activities.
Try this today
Before one sense-gratifying choice today, pause and consider its consequences rather than only its immediate pleasure.
Ask yourself
How would remembering the consequences of my actions change a choice I face today?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.