54 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 11

ad aarad Prd arrarafaaa |
fareeta Ten Torah sas: VII

upyamaénam muhuh ksetrar
svayam nirviryatam iyat

na kalpate punah siityai
uptam bijarh ca nasyati

evan kamdsayam cittarn
kdmanam atisevaya

virajyeta yatha rajann
agnivat kama-bindubhih

upyamanam—being cultivated; muhuh—again and again; ksetram—
a field; suayam—itself; nirviryatam—barrenness; iyat—may obtain; na
kalpate—is not suitable; punah—again; siityai—for growing further
harvests; uptam—sown; bijam—the seed; ca—and; nasyati—is spoiled;
evam—in this way; kama-dsayam—full of lusty desires; cittam—the
core of the heart; kamanam—of the desirable objects; ati-sevaya—by
enjoyment over and over again; virajyeta—may become detached;
yatha—just as; rajan—O King; agni-vat—a fire; kama-bindubhih—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 ex-
tinguish 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.
