Srimad Bhagavatam — Tritiya Skandha, Shloka 53
Kardama Muni’s Mystic Opulence, Devahūti’s Rejuvenation, and the Turning Toward Fearlessness
एतावतालं कालेन व्यतिक्रान्तेन मे प्रभो । इन्द्रियार्थप्रसङ्गेन परित्यक्तपरात्मन: ॥ ५३ ॥
etāvatālaṁ kālena vyatikrāntena me prabho indriyārtha-prasaṅgena parityakta-parātmanaḥ
О Господь, доныне мы впустую растратили столько времени, увязнув в чувственных наслаждениях и пренебрегая взращиванием знания о Параматме, Всевышнем.
Human life is not meant to be wasted, like that of the animals, in sense gratificatory activities. Animals always engage in sense gratification — eating, sleeping, fearing and mating — but that is not the engagement of the human being, although, because of the material body, there is need of sense gratification according to a regulative principle. So in effect Devahūti said to her husband, “So far we have these daughters, and we have enjoyed material life in the aerial mansion, traveling all over the universe. These boons have come by your grace, but they have all been for sense gratification. Now there must be something for my spiritual advancement.”
FAQs
This verse has Devahūti confess that time is lost when one is attached to sense objects, because such attachment makes one neglect the Paramātmā within.
After fulfilling worldly duties, Devahūti turns inward and admits her entanglement in sense enjoyment, appealing to her exalted husband for guidance toward spiritual realization.
Reduce compulsive indulgence, practice conscious restraint, and re-center daily life on remembrance of the Lord within through prayer, hearing sacred teachings, and purposeful devotion.