Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.29.78
Ūti· What drives us to actWork for the Lord, Not Sense Gratification
“As long as we desire to enjoy sense gratification, we create material activities. When the living entity acts in the material field, he enjoys the senses, and while enjoying the senses, he creates another series of material activities. In this way the living entity becomes entrapped as a conditioned soul.”
What the purport teaches
- Plans for sense gratification are recorded in the mind as seeds of fruitive activities. Through thinking, feeling and willing, we create conditions for future material bodies.
- Acting only for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu brings no bondage from material activity. Acting otherwise entraps us in one material activity after another.
- Material activity should be accepted only to maintain body and soul together. The rest of our time should be devoted to the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
Try this today
Use five minutes you would otherwise spend pursuing unnecessary enjoyment for loving service to the Lord.
Ask yourself
How much of my planning serves unnecessary enjoyment rather than the Lord's satisfaction?
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.