Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.20.4
Mukti· LiberationMaterial Modes Cover the Soul’s Brilliance
“The sky was then covered by dense blue clouds accompanied by lightning and thunder. Thus the sky and its natural illumination were covered in the same way that the spirit soul is covered by the three modes of material nature.”
What the purport teaches
- Dense blue clouds covered the sky and its natural illumination, like the material modes covering the spirit soul.
- Lightning is compared to goodness, thunder to passion, and clouds to ignorance.
- When disturbed by the modes of nature, the pure spirit soul is covered. His original brilliant nature is only dimly reflected through the material qualities.
Try this today
Write down the three comparisons—lightning, thunder, and clouds—and the mode each represents.
Ask yourself
How does this image help you distinguish the soul’s original nature from its material covering?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.