Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 6.16.4
Mukti· LiberationOur True Relationship Is With the Lord
“By the mystic power of Nārada Muni, the living entity reentered his dead body for a short time and spoke in reply to Nārada Muni’s request. He said: According to the results of my fruitive activities, I, the living being, transmigrate from one body to another, sometimes going to the species of the demigods, sometimes to the species of lower animals, sometimes among the vegetables, and sometimes to the human species. Therefore, in which birth were these my mother and father? No one is actually my mother and father. How can I accept these two people as my parents?”
What the purport teaches
- The material body is like a machine made of five gross elements and three subtle elements. The living entity enters different bodies according to his fruitive actions.
- The living entity questions which birth made these people his parents. His present bodily parentage does not establish his true identity.
- The living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because he wants to enjoy the material world, the Lord allows him to enter various bodies.
Try this today
Pause for one minute and reflect: “I am part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, not this material body.”
Ask yourself
How might remembering my relationship with the Supreme Lord change my understanding of who I am?
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.