Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 9.15.26
Ūti· What drives us to actCow Protection Supports Sacrifice
“Being puffed up by material power, Kārtavīryārjuna encouraged his men to steal Jamadagni’s kāmadhenu. Thus the men forcibly took away the crying kāmadhenu, along with her calf, to Māhiṣmatī, Kārtavīryārjuna’s capital.”
What the purport teaches
- Puffed up by material power, Kārtavīryārjuna had Jamadagni’s crying kāmadhenu taken away with her calf. This cow supplied ghee for sacrifices.
- Human beings should be trained to perform yajñas rather than work only for sense gratification. The purport connects regular sacrifice with proper rainfall and the necessities of life.
- Sacrifice requires clarified butter, and clarified butter requires cow protection. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement seeks to revive a civilization in which everyone can be happy.
Try this today
Write down the connection between cow protection, clarified butter and yajña.
Ask yourself
How does this teaching challenge the idea that material power alone makes a civilization successful?
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.