Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.14.8
Ūti· What drives us to actRemember Kṛṣṇa Beyond Bodily Necessities
“Sometimes the conditioned soul is absorbed in finding residential quarters or apartments and getting a supply of water and riches to maintain his body. Absorbed in acquiring a variety of necessities, he forgets everything and perpetually runs around the forest of material existence.”
What the purport teaches
- Absorption in housing, water and wealth can make one forget one’s original relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Bodily comfort then becomes one’s only engagement.
- Even after obtaining sufficient necessities, the materialist manufactures artificial needs. Wanting greater and greater comforts brings deeper entanglement.
- The bewildered soul thinks himself the doer, although activities are carried out by the modes of material nature. Desires for material enjoyment lead him into different bodies and their sufferings.
Try this today
Remove one unnecessary item from today’s shopping or planning list, and pause to remember your relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Ask yourself
Which of my supposed necessities is an artificial need that distracts me from my relationship with Kṛṣṇa?
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.