Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 7.15.50-51
Ūti· What drives us to actHeavenly Pleasure Does Not End Rebirth
“My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, when oblations of ghee and food grains like barley and sesame are offered in sacrifice, they turn into celestial smoke, which carries one to successively higher planetary systems like the kingdoms of Dhumā, Rātri, Kṛṣṇapakṣa, Dakṣiṇam and ultimately the moon. Then, however, the performers of sacrifice descend again to earth to become herbs, creepers, vegetables and food grains. These are eaten by different living entities and turned to semen, which is injected into female bodies. Thus one takes birth again and again.”
What the purport teaches
- Those who follow pravṛtti-mārga perform sacrifices to reach higher planetary systems. Their heavenly happiness is temporary, and they return when the results of their pious activities are exhausted.
- The returning living entity comes to earth in rainfall and enters plant life. Through food and reproduction, the living entity takes birth again.
- Kṛṣṇa advises transcending the three modes of material nature to escape birth and death. Even residence in Brahmaloka is temporary, but one who returns home, back to Godhead, need not return.
Try this today
Write one sentence contrasting a temporary reward you seek with the lasting goal of returning to Godhead.
Ask yourself
How does temporary heavenly happiness differ from returning home, back to Godhead?
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.