Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.18.32
Āśraya· The supreme shelterThe World Is Temporary, Not False
“My dear Lord, You manifest Your different energies in countless forms: as living entities born from wombs, from eggs and from perspiration; as plants and trees that grow out of the earth; as all living entities, both moving and standing, including the demigods, the learned sages and the pitās; as outer space, as the higher planetary system containing the heavenly planets, and as the planet earth with its hills, rivers, seas, oceans and islands. Indeed, all the stars and planets are simply manifestations of Your different energies, but originally You are one without a second. Therefore there is nothing beyond You. This entire cosmic manifestation is therefore not false but is simply a temporary manifestation of Your inconceivable energy.”
What the purport teaches
- Living beings, mountains, rivers, stars and planets are manifestations of the Lord’s different energies. Although His energies appear in countless forms, He remains one without a second.
- Both permanent and temporary things are facts. The material world and our bodies are temporary, but they are not false.
- Living entities receive different bodies according to their past activities, or karma, and experience pleasure and pain within them. The Supreme Lord’s energy is permanent, although it is sometimes manifest and sometimes unmanifest.
Try this today
Look at a plant or the sky and recall that it is a real manifestation of the Lord’s energy.
Ask yourself
How does knowing that my body is temporary but real affect the way I treat it and others?
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.