Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.8.24
Ūti· What drives us to actAttachment Shapes What We Imagine
“Mahārāja Bharata continued to speak like a madman. Seeing above his head the dark marks on the rising moon, which resembled a deer, he said: Can it be that the moon, who is so kind to an unhappy man, might also be kind upon my deer, knowing that it has strayed from home and has become motherless? This moon has given the deer shelter near itself just to protect it from the fearful attacks of a lion.”
What the purport teaches
- Seeing deerlike marks on the rising moon, Mahārāja Bharata continued speaking like a madman.
- He wondered whether the moon had taken pity on his motherless deer, which had strayed from home.
- He imagined that the moon was sheltering the deer from a lion's attack.
Try this today
Write down one worry today and separate the known facts from your imagined explanation.
Ask yourself
When I worry about someone, can I distinguish what I know from what I imagine?
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.