Study a Verse

• The Lord has described how brāhmaṇas and devotees achieve the perfection of life, and now a similar perfection is offered to those who utilize their materialistic wealth to relieve the poverty-stricken condition of devotees and brāhmaṇas.
• Although one may neglect the devotional service of the Lord to pursue a material life of sense gratification, one can rectify one’s position by dedicating one’s hard-earned money to the service of the Lord.
• Just as a boat saves hopeless people who have fallen into the ocean, similarly, the Lord uplifts persons who have hopelessly fallen into the ocean of material attachment if they have been charitable to the brāhmaṇas and devotees.

The purport's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Uncertainty → Clarity. The coming separation makes the instruction personally urgent.

Chapters 10–20 of Canto 11: Kṛṣṇa's teachings on self, yoga and wisdom. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 17: Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Description of the Varṇāśrama System

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

If he is disturbed by poverty, the brāhmaṇa may out of necessity accept the business of a kṣatriya or vaiśya, but he should never take the occupation of a śūdra. In a similar situation, a kṣatriya may take the occupation of a vaiśya, and a vaiśya that of a śūdra.