Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.14.6
Ūti· What drives us to actSense Enjoyment Is Like a Mirage
“Sometimes in this house in the sky [gandharva-pura] the conditioned soul drinks, eats and has sex. Being overly attached, he chases after the objects of the senses just as a deer chases a mirage in the desert.”
What the purport teaches
- Overly attached to eating, drinking and sex, the conditioned soul runs after sense objects. The verse compares this pursuit to a deer chasing water in a desert mirage.
- The purport distinguishes the spiritual world from the material world. Seeking peace in material enjoyment is like seeking water where there is none.
- Lord Kṛṣṇa describes the material world as both miserable and temporary. Even someone willing to remain amid suffering must change bodies and enter another condition.
Try this today
Pause before one urge for sense enjoyment today and reflect on the image of a deer chasing a mirage.
Ask yourself
What enjoyment do I keep pursuing as though it could give me lasting peace?
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.