Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.31.23
Ūti· What drives us to actConsider the Suffering Inherent in Birth
“Pushed downward all of a sudden by the wind, the child comes out with great trouble, head downward, breathless and deprived of memory due to severe agony.”
What the purport teaches
- The child is suddenly pushed out, head downward, with great difficulty. The verse describes him as breathless and deprived of memory through severe agony.
- The purport emphasizes that birth itself involves suffering. After the difficult condition within the womb, the child is forcibly pushed out.
- A person serious about spiritual advancement should consider birth, death, disease and old age. Material progress cannot stop these four sufferings inherent in material existence.
Try this today
Spend one minute reflecting on birth, death, disease and old age, and your wish to advance in spiritual consciousness.
Ask yourself
How does remembering these four sufferings affect my priorities?
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.