Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.18.5
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyReceive Direction Beyond Our Defects
“A foolish person who manufactures his own ways and means through mental speculation and does not recognize the authority of the sages who lay down unimpeachable directions is simply unsuccessful again and again in his attempts.”
What the purport teaches
- A conditioned soul has four defects: mistakes, illusion, a tendency to cheat, and imperfect senses. Therefore, we need direction from liberated persons.
- The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement receives instructions from the Supreme Personality of Godhead through those who strictly follow Him.
- Even a follower who is not liberated can act free from material contamination by faithfully following the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rejecting this guidance for invented ideas leads to repeated failure.
Try this today
Identify one assumption you may have mistaken for knowledge, and compare it with the instructions in this reading.
Ask yourself
How does recognizing my own defects change the way I receive spiritual instruction?
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.