Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 12.4.28
Mukti· LiberationKṛṣṇa Is Beyond Material Cause and Effect
“Anything experienced in terms of general cause and specific effect must be an illusion, because such causes and effects exist only relative to each other. Indeed, whatever has a beginning and an end is unreal.”
What the purport teaches
- Material effects depend on their causes, and our perception of a cause depends on observing its effects. Fire’s burning nature, for example, is perceived through a burning object or ashes.
- Material causes and effects are defined relative to one another and have a beginning and an end. They are therefore temporary, relative and illusory.
- Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the cause of all causes and has no beginning or end. His opulences and potencies are absolute reality, beyond material cause and effect.
Try this today
Identify one temporary cause and effect today, then recall that Kṛṣṇa’s opulences and potencies are absolute reality.
Ask yourself
How does Kṛṣṇa’s beginningless existence differ from the temporary causes and effects you observe?
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.