Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.28.41
Āśraya· The supreme shelterSimultaneously One With and Different
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Parambrahma, is the seer. He is different from the jīva soul, or individual living entity, who is combined with the senses, the five elements and consciousness.”
What the purport teaches
- The living entity is different from the material elements. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, their creator and the seer, is also different from the individual living entity.
- Lord Caitanya taught acintya-bhedābheda-tattva: simultaneous oneness and difference. Both the living entity and the material energy are one with and different from the Supreme Lord.
- Living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, like sparks of a fire. As fire distributes heat and light, the Lord distributes His different energies throughout creation.
Try this today
Write one sentence describing your relationship with the Supreme Lord using the words “part and parcel.”
Ask yourself
How does being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord differ from being the Supreme 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.