Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.18.37
Ūti· What drives us to actLong Life Is Not True Immortality
“Diti replied: O my husband, O great soul, I have now lost my sons. If you want to give me a benediction, I ask you for an immortal son who can kill Indra. I pray for this because Indra, with the help of Viṣṇu, has killed my two sons Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu.”
What the purport teaches
- Having lost Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, Diti asks for an immortal son who can kill Indra.
- The word indra-haṇam can mean either “one who can kill Indra” or “one who follows Indra.”
- The demigods have extremely long lives, but everyone in the material world must die. Here amṛtyum indicates that Diti wanted a son equal in status to the demigods.
Try this today
Write one sentence explaining why a demigod’s long life is not freedom from death.
Ask yourself
Do I sometimes mistake a long-lasting material condition for something permanent?
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.