Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 50
Kṛṣṇa’s Impending Departure; Uddhava’s Surrender; King Yadu and the Avadhūta’s Twenty-Four Gurus
Beginnings
गुणैर्गुणानुपादत्ते यथाकालं विमुञ्चति । न तेषु युज्यते योगी गोभिर्गा इव गोपति: ॥ ५० ॥
guṇair guṇān upādatte yathā-kālaṁ vimuñcati na teṣu yujyate yogī gobhir gā iva go-patiḥ
Just as the sun evaporates large quantities of water by its potent rays and later returns the water to the earth in the form of rain, similarly, a saintly person accepts all types of material objects with his material senses, and at the appropriate time, when the proper person has approached him to request them, he returns such material objects. Thus, both in accepting and giving up the objects of the senses, he is not entangled.
A Kṛṣṇa conscious person never feels proprietorship over the opulences entrusted to him by Lord Kṛṣṇa for spreading the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa should not merely accumulate material wealth, but should distribute the opulences of Lord Kṛṣṇa in such a way that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement spreads unlimitedly. This is a lesson to be learned from the sun.
FAQs
This verse teaches that a yogī may accept and later give up necessities through the modes of nature, yet remains unattached—like a cowherd managing cows without being bound by them.
In the Uddhava-gītā section, Kṛṣṇa instructs Uddhava on liberation: how to engage with practical life while remaining beyond the guṇas through steady spiritual vision and discipline.
Take what is required for duty and health, let go when the time passes, and regularly anchor the mind in spiritual practice so possessions and experiences don’t become identity or bondage.