Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 7 Chapter 11 Verses 33-34

Canto 7: The Science of God | Chapter 11: The Perfect Society: Four Social Classes

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.11.33-34

upyamānaḿ muhuḥ kṣetraḿ

svayaḿ nirvīryatām iyāt

na kalpate punaḥ sūtyai

uptaḿ bījaḿ ca naśyati

evaḿ kāmāśayaḿ cittaḿ

kāmānām atisevayā

virajyeta yathā rājann

agnivat kāma-bindubhiḥ

SYNONYMS

upyamānam — being cultivated; muhuḥ — again and again; kṣetram — a field; svayam — itself; nirvīryatām — barrenness; iyāt — may obtain; na kalpate — is not suitable; punaḥ — again; sūtyai — for growing further harvests; uptam — sown; bījam — the seed; ca — and; naśyati — is spoiled; evam — in this way; kāma-āśayam — full of lusty desires; cittam — the core of the heart; kāmānām — of the desirable objects; ati-sevayā — by enjoyment over and over again; virajyeta — may become detached; yathā — just as; rājan — O King; agni-vat — a fire; kāma-bindubhiḥ — by small drops of clarified butter.

TRANSLATION

My dear King, if an agricultural field is cultivated again and again, the power of its production decreases, and whatever seeds are sown there are lost. Just as drops of ghee on a fire never extinguish the fire but a flood of ghee will, similarly, overindulgence in lusty desires mitigates such desires entirely.

PURPORT

If one continuously sprinkles drops of ghee on a fire, the fire will not be extinguished, but if one suddenly puts a lump of ghee on a fire, the fire may possibly be extinguished entirely. Similarly, those who are too sinful and have thus been born in the lower classes are allowed to enjoy sinful activities fully, for thus there is a chance that these activities will become detestful to them, and they will get the opportunity to be purified.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness