Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.30.9
Ūti· What drives us to actRelief From Distress Is Not Lasting Happiness
“The attached householder remains in his family life, which is full of diplomacy and politics. Always spreading miseries and controlled by acts of sense gratification, he acts just to counteract the reactions of all his miseries, and if he can successfully counteract such miseries, he thinks that he is happy.”
What the purport teaches
- The attached householder struggles within family life filled with diplomacy and misery. Successfully counteracting distress is then mistaken for happiness.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead describes the material world as temporary and full of miseries. What passes for happiness here is relief from the effects of distress.
- Competition and clever management cannot secure lasting happiness. Despite all our intelligence, everything can end in a second by the supreme will.
Try this today
Notice one moment of relief today and distinguish it from happiness that would truly last.
Ask yourself
What do I call happiness that is actually only temporary relief from distress?
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.