Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.24.18
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe Supreme Lord Is the Ultimate Cause
“A material object, itself composed of an essential ingredient, creates another material object through transformation. Thus one created object becomes the cause and basis of another created object. A particular thing may thus be called real in that it possesses the basic nature of another object that constitutes its origin and final state.”
What the purport teaches
- A pot comes from clay, and clay comes from earth. Each created thing can become the ingredient cause of another through transformation.
- A pot is called real because it possesses the essential characteristics of clay, which exists before and after it. Similarly, earth and the other elements possess the essential characteristics of the mahat-tattva.
- The mahat-tattva is ultimately created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. He remains after everything is annihilated and gives meaning and character to all that exists.
Try this today
Trace the example aloud once today: pot, clay, earth, mahat-tattva, and ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Ask yourself
How does tracing created things to their causes help me recognize the Supreme Lord?
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.