Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 2.5.19
Ūti· What drives us to actMaterial Modes Cover Our Spiritual Knowledge
“These three modes of material nature, being further manifested as matter, knowledge and activities, put the eternally transcendental living entity under conditions of cause and effect and make him responsible for such activities.”
What the purport teaches
- The living entities are the Lord’s marginal potency, situated between His internal and external potencies. Although eternally transcendental, they become conditioned by wanting to lord it over material energy.
- The Lord’s external energy, māyā, covers the living entity’s pure knowledge of eternally existing with Him. This constant covering makes ignorance appear eternal.
- The material modes bind the living entity to cause, effect and responsibility for activities. Freedom from this conditioned state is the highest perfectional attainment for a human being.
Try this today
Pause during one attempt to control a situation today and reflect: “I am not meant to remain bound by material energy.”
Ask yourself
Where do I notice the desire to control material things covering my awareness of my relationship with the Lord?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.