Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.24.66
Ūti· What drives us to actAccept Kṛṣṇa’s Authority and Find Peace
“My dear Lord, all living entities within this material world are mad after planning for things, and they are always busy with a desire to do this or that. This is due to uncontrollable greed. The greed for material enjoyment is always existing in the living entity, but Your Lordship is always alert, and in due course of time You strike him, just as a snake seizes a mouse and very easily swallows him.”
What the purport teaches
- Greed for material enjoyment drives people to make endless plans. The bewildered soul thinks himself the doer, although activities are carried out by nature under the Lord’s direction.
- Without accepting the Lord’s authority, people become confused and frustrated in their plans. Families and empires are destroyed in time, and greedy leaders’ plans increase people’s suffering.
- Peace comes from knowing Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the real enjoyer, proprietor of everything and friend of all living entities. Understanding this brings happiness and peace both individually and collectively.
Try this today
Before making one plan today, pause and remember: “Kṛṣṇa is the real enjoyer, the proprietor of everything and the friend of all living entities.”
Ask yourself
How would one of my plans change if I remembered that Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor and my true well-wisher?
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.