Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 9.11.17
Ūti· What drives us to actMaterial Attraction Binds; Spiritual Love Is Bliss
“The attraction between man and woman, or male and female, always exists everywhere, making everyone always fearful. Such feelings are present even among the controllers like Brahmā and Lord Śiva and is the cause of fear for them, what to speak of others who are attached to household life in this material world.”
What the purport teaches
- Material attraction between man and woman causes fear, even among controllers like Brahmā and Lord Śiva.
- When spiritual love is pervertedly reflected in the material world, it causes bondage. Material attraction keeps the cycle of repeated birth and death continuing.
- In the spiritual world there is no fear of birth and death. Its varied feelings, including separation, all share the quality of transcendental bliss.
Try this today
Write down one attachment that brings fear, and reflect on the verse’s distinction between material bondage and spiritual bliss.
Ask yourself
Where do I notice fear connected with my material attachments?
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.