Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.8.72
Mukti· LiberationLive Simply and Serve With Determination
“For the first month Dhruva Mahārāja ate only fruits and berries on every third day, only to keep his body and soul together, and in this way he progressed in his worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
What the purport teaches
- Dhruva Mahārāja ate fruits and berries every third day, only to maintain his body for worship. A devotee accepts enough food to keep the body fit, not to indulge the tongue.
- We cannot imitate Dhruva Mahārāja’s austerities in this age, but we should follow his determination. By Lord Caitanya’s mercy, devotional service has been made easy through the prescribed principles.
- Śrīla Prabhupāda asks his followers to observe the four prohibitive rules, chant sixteen rounds and accept prasāda. We should be determined to fulfill our duties in devotional service in this life.
Try this today
Accept a simple meal of prasāda today with the intention of maintaining your body for devotional service.
Ask yourself
Am I using simplicity to support devotional service, or neglecting the duties that make it possible?
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.