Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.13.31
Ūti· What drives us to actNothing Exists Independently of the Lord
“Those states of existence that are conceived of as separate from the Supreme Personality of Godhead have no actual existence, although they create a sense of separation from the Absolute Truth. Just as the seer of a dream imagines many different activities and rewards, similarly, because of the sense of an existence separate from the Lord’s existence, the living entity falsely performs fruitive activities, thinking them to be the cause of future rewards and destinations.”
What the purport teaches
- The world is real because it is the Lord’s creation. The illusion is to regard His creations as belonging to oneself or existing separately from Him.
- Identification with the material body, mind or occupation is illusion. Dreams of permanent material relationships and heavenly rewards cannot provide lasting substance.
- A liberated soul in Kṛṣṇa consciousness sees no substantial value even in exalted heavenly rewards. One should remain fixed in self-realization rather than be diverted by religious rituals aimed at rewards.
Try this today
Look at one possession today and remember that it belongs to the Lord’s creation, not independently to you.
Ask yourself
Am I seeking spiritual understanding, or mainly hoping for material rewards?
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.