Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.10.9
Mukti· LiberationThe Body Carries; the Soul Is Different
“The great brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharata said: My dear King and hero, whatever you have spoken sarcastically is certainly true. Actually these are not simply words of chastisement, for the body is the carrier. The load carried by the body does not belong to me, for I am the spirit soul. There is no contradiction in your statements because I am different from the body. I am not the carrier of the palanquin; the body is the carrier. Certainly, as you have hinted, I have not labored carrying the palanquin, for I am detached from the body. You have said that I am not stout and strong, and these words are befitting a person who does not know the distinction between the body and the soul. The body may be fat or thin, but no learned man would say such things of the spirit soul. As far as the spirit soul is concerned, I am neither fat nor skinny; therefore you are correct when you say that I am not very stout. Also, if the object of this journey and the path leading there were mine, there would be many troubles for me, but because they relate not to me but to my body, there is no trouble at all.”
What the purport teaches
- Jaḍa Bharata explained that the body carried the palanquin, while he was the spirit soul. The load and the journey belonged to the body, not to his spiritual identity.
- Fatness and thinness describe the body, not the soul. The King's comments about Jaḍa Bharata's body did not actually apply to him as a spirit soul.
- Austerity and penance are meant to help one understand the distinction between body and soul. One advanced in spiritual knowledge is not disturbed by bodily pains and pleasures.
Try this today
Write down one bodily description you use for yourself, then add: “This describes my body, not the spirit soul.”
Ask yourself
Which bodily description do I most often mistake for my true identity?
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.