SB 7.14.14
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 14
- siddhair yajñāvaśiṣṭārthaiḥ
- kalpayed vṛttim ātmanaḥ
- śeṣe svatvaṁ tyajan prājñaḥ
- padavīṁ mahatām iyāt
SYNONYMS
siddhaiḥ — things obtained by the grace of the Lord; yajñā-avaśiṣṭa-arthaiḥ — things obtained after a sacrifice is offered to the Lord or after the recommended pañca-sūnā yajña is performed; kalpayet — one should consider; vṛttim — the means of livelihood; ātmanaḥ — for the self; śeṣe — at the end; svatvam — so-called proprietorship over one's wife, children, home, business and so on; tyajan — giving up; prājñaḥ — those who are wise; padavīm — the position; mahatām — of the great personalities who are fully satisfied in spiritual consciousness; iyāt — should achieve.
TRANSLATION
An intelligent person should be satisfied with eating prasāda [food offered to the Lord] or with performing the five different kinds of yajña [pañca-sūnā]. By such activities, one can give up attachment for the body and so-called proprietorship with reference to the body. When one is able to do this, he is firmly fixed in the position of a mahātmā.
PURPORT
Nature already has an arrangement to feed us. By the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is an arrangement for eatables for every living entity within the 8,400,000 forms of life. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān. Every living entity has to eat something, and in fact the necessities for his life have already been provided by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord has provided food for both the elephant and the ant. All living beings are living at the cost of the Supreme Lord, and therefore one who is intelligent should not work very hard for material comforts. Rather, one should save his energy for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All created things in the sky, in the air, on land and in the sea belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and every living being is provided with food. Therefore one should not be very much anxious about economic development and unnecessarily waste time and energy with the risk of falling down in the cycle of birth and death.