Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.54.48
Mukti· LiberationMaterial Absorption Resembles a Dream
“As a sleeping person perceives himself, the objects of sense enjoyment and the fruits of his acts within the illusion of a dream, so one who is unintelligent undergoes material existence.”
What the purport teaches
- A sleeping person experiences a self, objects of enjoyment and results of actions within a dream. The verse compares unintelligent absorption in material existence to this experience.
- The living being has no intimate connection with the material world. Dreamlike experiences do not establish the soul’s true identity.
- For one who keeps meditating on sense gratification, material life does not go away. It persists like the unpleasant experiences of a dream.
Try this today
Notice one recurring fantasy of sense enjoyment today, and stop dwelling on it for a minute while reflecting on the dream analogy.
Ask yourself
What repeated thoughts of sense enjoyment keep me absorbed in material life?
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.