Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.19.15
Mukti· LiberationMake the Lord Your Central Attention
“When one no longer sees the twenty-eight separated material elements, which arise from a single cause, but rather sees the cause itself, the Personality of Godhead — at that time one’s direct experience is called vijñāna, or self-realization.”
What the purport teaches
- Through jñāna, one learns that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of all material manifestations. Yet one may still identify partly with the material body and mind.
- As realization matures, one recognizes the eternal soul and sees oneself as part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The Lord Himself becomes the central object of attention.
- Vijñāna means experiencing the Lord beyond His role as material creator, existing blissfully in His eternal abode. Such realization brings disinterest in objects that are created, maintained and destroyed.
Try this today
Spend one quiet minute reflecting on yourself as an eternal soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, rather than merely a body and mind.
Ask yourself
Is my spiritual study helping me turn my attention toward the Lord Himself?
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.