Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.1.43
Ūti· What drives us to actOur Lasting Identity Is Kṛṣṇa’s Servant
“When the luminaries in the sky, such as the moon, the sun and the stars, are reflected in liquids like oil or water, they appear to be of different shapes — sometimes round, sometimes long, and so on — because of the movements of the wind. Similarly, when the living entity, the soul, is absorbed in materialistic thoughts, he accepts various manifestations as his own identity because of ignorance. In other words, one is bewildered by mental concoctions because of agitation from the material modes of nature.”
What the purport teaches
- The moon’s reflection appears to change shape when water moves. Similarly, the eternal soul accepts different material bodies and, under māyā’s influence, mistakes them for his identity.
- Freedom from material form does not mean having no form: both the soul and the Supreme Lord have original, spiritual forms. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, never changes His spiritual form, whereas the conditioned soul is forced to accept different material bodies.
- The soul’s original position is to be Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant. Liberation means recovering this spiritual understanding and surrendering to Him in devotional service, not losing one’s individual identity.
Try this today
Write down one bodily label you commonly use for yourself, then beneath it write: “My lasting identity is to be Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant.”
Ask yourself
How would remembering that you are Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant change the way you view your bodily identity?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.