Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.13.18
Ūti· What drives us to actSense Enjoyment Offers No Secure Shelter
“When the living entity becomes exactly like a monkey jumping from one branch to another, he remains in the tree of household life without any profit but sex. Thus he is kicked by his wife just like the he-ass. Unable to gain release, he remains helplessly in that position. Sometimes he falls victim to an incurable disease, which is like falling into a mountain cave. He becomes afraid of death, which is like the elephant in the back of that cave, and he remains stranded, grasping at the twigs and branches of a creeper.”
What the purport teaches
- The verse describes a householder bound to sexual enjoyment, like a monkey remaining in a tree. Though suffering, he feels unable to leave his condition.
- The purport describes continuous sexual indulgence leading to incurable disease. The attraction to enjoyment does not remove the misery of this precarious life.
- Death is compared to an elephant that fills the person with fear. His desperate hold on material shelter resembles a monkey hanging from twigs and branches.
Try this today
Pause before one act of sense indulgence today and reflect on whether it offers lasting security.
Ask yourself
What enjoyment am I clinging to as though it could protect me from disease and death?
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.