Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.22.32
Sarga· CreationSpiritual Perception Goes Beyond Material Categories
“Similarly, the sense organs, namely the skin, ears, eyes, tongue and nose — as well as the functions of the subtle body, namely conditioned consciousness, mind, intelligence and false ego — can all be analyzed in terms of the threefold distinction of sense, object of perception and presiding deity.”
What the purport teaches
- The senses and subtle bodily functions can be analyzed through three categories: the sense, its object and its presiding deity.
- The individual soul has no permanent relationship with these interdependent material functions. Originally pure spirit, the soul is meant to depend on the Personality of Godhead in the spiritual world.
- Matter and spirit belong to different potencies of the Supreme Lord and cannot be understood within the same categories. Perceiving the Lord, His abode and one's own self is a spiritual process realized in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Try this today
Take a quiet minute to express your wish to depend on the Personality of Godhead and deepen your Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Ask yourself
Am I trying to understand my spiritual self only through material senses and mental functions?
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.