Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 7.2.22
Mukti· LiberationThe Eternal Soul Needs Surrender
“The spirit soul, the living entity, has no death, for he is eternal and inexhaustible. Being free from material contamination, he can go anywhere in the material or spiritual worlds. He is fully aware and completely different from the material body, but because of being misled by misuse of his slight independence, he is obliged to accept subtle and gross bodies created by the material energy and thus be subjected to so-called material happiness and distress. Therefore, no one should lament for the passing of the spirit soul from the body.”
What the purport teaches
- The soul is eternal, inexhaustible and completely different from the body. The soul does not die when leaving the body.
- Desiring to enjoy independently places the soul under material nature. According to karma, the soul receives a body and experiences its pleasures and pains.
- The body is like a machine, and the Supreme Lord in the heart directs the living entity’s wanderings. This passage from life to life continues until the soul surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Try this today
Take a quiet minute to pray to the Supreme Personality of Godhead for help in surrendering to Him.
Ask yourself
How might remembering that I am an eternal soul change my desire to enjoy independently?
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.