Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.5.41
Mukti· LiberationDevotee Association Awakens Renunciation
“Material enjoyment is indeed the cause of all unhappiness, but one cannot give it up unless one has personally experienced how much suffering it is. Therefore one should be allowed to remain in so-called material enjoyment while simultaneously advancing in knowledge to experience the misery of this false material happiness. Then, without help from others, one will find material enjoyment detestful. Those whose minds are changed by others do not become as renounced as those who have personal experience.”
What the purport teaches
- Dakṣa argued that people must personally experience the suffering of material enjoyment before they can renounce it. The purport explains that suffering alone does not automatically produce detachment.
- Material nature is so strong that people continue seeking enjoyment despite repeated distress. One needs the association and blessings of a devotee like Nārada Muni or his servant in disciplic succession.
- The young people of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement gave up the spirit of material enjoyment by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His servants. Their change was not merely the result of repeated painful experience.
Try this today
Reach out to a devotee today and ask for one practical suggestion for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Ask yourself
Am I relying on disappointment alone to change me, or seeking the help of devotees?
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.