Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.19.7
Mukti· LiberationYou Are Not the Changing Body
“My dear Uddhava, the material body and mind, composed of the three modes of material nature, attach themselves to you, but they are actually illusion, since they appear only at the present, having no original or ultimate existence. How is it possible, therefore, that the various stages of the body, namely birth, growth, reproduction, maintenance, dwindling and death, can have any relation to your eternal self? These phases relate only to the material body, which previously did not exist and ultimately will not exist. The body exists merely at the present moment.”
What the purport teaches
- The material body and mind are composed of the three modes of material nature and exist only temporarily. They are not your eternal self.
- Illusion means falsely identifying one thing with another, as when a rope is mistaken for a snake. Identifying yourself as the material body or mind creates such illusion.
- Birth, growth, reproduction, maintenance, dwindling and death belong to the body, not the eternal self. Bodily and social labels should not be accepted as your permanent identity.
Try this today
Notice one label you apply to yourself today and remind yourself that it does not define your eternal self.
Ask yourself
Which temporary bodily or social label do I most often treat as my permanent 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.