Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.1.44
Ūti· What drives us to actHuman Actions Need Vedic Guidance
“O inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha, you are sinless, but those within this material world are all karmīs, whether acting piously or impiously. Both kinds of action are possible for them because they are contaminated by the three modes of nature and must act accordingly. One who has accepted a material body cannot be inactive, and sinful action is inevitable for one acting under the modes of material nature. Therefore all the living entities within this material world are punishable.”
What the purport teaches
- The Yamadūtas address the inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha as sinless. Material fruitive workers, however, perform both pious and impious actions under the three modes of nature.
- One who has a material body cannot remain inactive. Sinful action is inevitable for one acting under the modes of material nature.
- Human beings are meant to act according to the Vedas. When they manufacture their own ways of acting without Vedic guidance, they commit sinful actions and become punishable.
Try this today
Before one action today, review a relevant Vedic instruction you have already studied.
Ask yourself
Where do I need guidance rather than simply following my own preferences?
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.