Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 12.5.7
Ūti· What drives us to actMaterial Life Depends on Changing Conditions
“A lamp functions as such only by the combination of its fuel, vessel, wick and fire. Similarly, material life, based on the soul’s identification with the body, is developed and destroyed by the workings of material goodness, passion and ignorance, which are the constituent elements of the body.”
What the purport teaches
- A lamp functions only through the combination of fuel, vessel, wick and fire.
- Similarly, material life is based on the soul’s identification with the body.
- Material goodness, passion and ignorance are the constituent elements of the body. Their workings develop and destroy material life.
Try this today
List the lamp’s four components, then briefly reflect on how bodily life also depends on a combination of material conditions.
Ask yourself
What does the lamp’s dependence on several parts show me about bodily existence?
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.