Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.10.9
Mukti· LiberationThe Soul Is Different From the Body
“Just as fire may appear differently as dormant, manifest, weak, brilliant and so on, according to the condition of the fuel, similarly, the spirit soul enters a material body and accepts particular bodily characteristics.”
What the purport teaches
- Just as fire is different from its fuel, the soul is different from the body. The soul always exists, even when it appears within a body and later disappears from it.
- The spirit soul is qualitatively the same in every body. Designations such as nationality and age apply to the body, not to the transcendental soul.
- Opposition to the Supreme Personality of Godhead keeps the soul covered by material designations. Realizing that everything is part and parcel of the Absolute Truth, Lord Kṛṣṇa, frees one from these designations.
Try this today
Today, notice one label you apply to yourself and reflect: this describes my body, not my eternal soul.
Ask yourself
Which bodily designation do I most often mistake for my true identity?
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.