Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.29.53
Nirodha· Winding upServe the Lord Before Death Comes
“My dear King, please search out that deer who is engaged in eating grass in a very nice flower garden along with his wife. That deer is very much attached to his business, and he is enjoying the sweet singing of the bumblebees in his garden. Just try to understand his position. He is unaware that before him is a tiger, which is accustomed to living at the cost of another’s flesh. Behind the deer is a hunter, who is threatening to pierce him with sharp arrows. Thus the deer’s death is imminent.”
What the purport teaches
- The deer enjoys grass and the humming of bumblebees in a flower garden, unaware of danger on every side. This pictures a person absorbed in family enjoyment without recognizing the danger ahead.
- The tiger represents time, which the person enjoying family life fails to notice. Fruitive activities create further danger by obliging the living entity to accept different types of bodies.
- After many births, we have attained the rare human form. Its fulfillment is to understand our constitutional position and engage in the Lord’s transcendental loving service before death comes.
Try this today
Set aside five minutes today for loving service to the Lord instead of postponing it for another day.
Ask yourself
Which daily enjoyment most easily makes me forget that my time in this human body is limited?
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.