Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.8.22
Ūti· What drives us to actDistraction Can Undermine Spiritual Progress
“When I placed all the sacrificial ingredients on the kuśa grass, the deer, when playing, would touch the grass with its teeth and thus pollute it. When I chastised the deer by pushing it away, it would immediately become fearful and sit down motionless, exactly like the son of a saintly person. Thus it would stop its play.”
What the purport teaches
- Bharata Mahārāja remembered how the deer disturbed the sacrificial ingredients and became still when chastised.
- He was constantly thinking of the deer's activities.
- He forgot that this diversion of attention was destroying his progress in spiritual achievement.
Try this today
Set aside one recurring distraction for the duration of your spiritual practice today.
Ask yourself
What recurring thoughts are taking attention away from my spiritual practice?
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.