Shloka 16
The Deliverance of Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva
Yamala-Arjuna Līlā Prelude and Culmination
नित्यं क्षुत्क्षामदेहस्य दरिद्रस्यान्नकाङ्क्षिण: । इन्द्रियाण्यनुशुष्यन्ति हिंसापि विनिवर्तते ॥ १६ ॥
nityaṁ kṣut-kṣāma-dehasya daridrasyānna-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ indriyāṇy anuśuṣyanti hiṁsāpi vinivartate
Always hungry and longing for sufficient food, the poor man grows weaker and weaker. Lacking surplus strength, his senses are automatically pacified, and harmful, envious acts also cease; thus he naturally gains the fruits of austerity that saintly persons undertake voluntarily.
According to the opinion of experienced medical practitioners, diabetes is a result of voracious eating, and tuberculosis is a disease of undereating. We should desire neither to be diabetic nor to be tubercular. Yāvad artha-prayojanam. We should eat frugally and keep the body fit for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As recommended elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.10) :
FAQs
This verse explains that chronic hunger and poverty can cause the senses to lose their strength, and as enjoyment becomes impossible, even aggressive or violent impulses tend to subside.
Śukadeva uses a realistic observation about human psychology—how deprivation weakens sensual drive—to highlight the temporary nature of sense pleasure and to support the Bhagavatam’s broader teaching of detachment.
Recognize how strongly the senses depend on favorable conditions; instead of chasing constant stimulation, cultivate restraint and compassion, and use life’s reversals to deepen detachment and spiritual focus.