Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.13.32
Mukti· LiberationKnow Yourself Beyond Mind and Senses
“While awake the living entity enjoys with all of his senses the fleeting characteristics of the material body and mind; while dreaming he enjoys similar experiences within the mind; and in deep dreamless sleep all such experiences merge into ignorance. By remembering and contemplating the succession of wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep, the living entity can understand that he is one throughout the three stages of consciousness and is transcendental. Thus, he becomes the lord of the senses.”
What the purport teaches
- Wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep come and go, but the living entity remains the same experiencer. Reflecting on these states helps one understand the soul’s transcendental position.
- The living entity remembers experiences across these changing states. Thus one’s actual identity is separate from the material body and mind.
- The living entity is the lord of the senses and mind, though temporarily influenced by them. Through Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can resume this rightful position.
Try this today
Spend a minute recalling waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep, reflecting that you remain the experiencer through these changes.
Ask yourself
What can my memory of changing states teach me about who I am?
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.