Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.12.2
Visarga· Brahmā's creationForgetfulness Begins Material Bondage
“Brahmā first created the nescient engagements like self-deception, the sense of death, anger after frustration, the sense of false ownership, and the illusory bodily conception, or forgetfulness of one’s real identity.”
What the purport teaches
- Before creating the different species, Brahmā created the conditions of material life. The first condition is forgetfulness of one’s real identity.
- Although the pure living soul is deathless and birthless, false identification produces fear of death and false ownership.
- Material resources are the Supreme Lord’s property, provided for peaceful living and self-realization. The conditioned living entity is not equal to the Supreme Being.
Try this today
Before using one possession today, pause to remember that it belongs to the Supreme Lord and is meant to support self-realization.
Ask yourself
Where do I treat the Supreme Lord’s resources as exclusively mine?
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.