While crossing the footbridge of Keshtopur Khal (canal), I saw this little kid insisting his mother get him the plastic ball that was floating on the water. The plastic was glittering in the sunlight and must have been tempting to him.

His mother said he already had better balls with him, but the kid insisted he wanted this ball only. His mother tried to explain to him that since the ball was in the middle of sewage water, if he went to get it, he would surely get dirty. The boy said it didn't matter, for he would take a bath again.

Seeing the kid adamant, the father took him on his lap and said, pointing to the ball, "Do you see, the ball is punctured. Someone has discarded the ball into this wastewater. Do you really need this useless ball?" The child thought for a moment and then agreed to give it up.

Contemplating on this incident, I could see myself as this kid.

This material world is more filthy than the canal, for it is full of suffering. Every moment, I keep jumping into this dirty water, tempted to get the glittering balls which seem to promise me happiness. I forget, like the kid, and get fooled into believing that the next immediate allurement will give me all the happiness that the previous one couldn't. I keep missing the point which the father had made: the ball was damaged and already discarded.

Prahlada Maharaja describes this state of consciousness in Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.30:

Prahlada Maharaja replied: Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krsna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.

Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.30

I fail to remember that every moment we are progressing towards our end. At that point, it won't matter to me how many punctured balls I had chased or supposedly accumulated.

Let us all pray to Sri Guru and Gauranga to bless us with the intelligence to control our urges to enjoy and be focused on our ultimate goal. Let us be intelligent enough not to waste our time on these allurements.

If the kid didn't have the guidance or shelter of his parents, maybe he would have jumped into the dirty water to get the punctured ball. May we be intelligent enough to take shelter of our authorities more than our mind.

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Hare Krishna!