Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 7.2.37
Mukti· LiberationThe Body Perishes, the Soul Endures
“Śrī Yamarāja said: Alas, how amazing it is! These persons, who are older than me, have full experience that hundreds and thousands of living entities have taken birth and died. Thus they should understand that they also are apt to die, yet still they are bewildered. The conditioned soul comes from an unknown place and returns after death to that same unknown place. There is no exception to this rule, which is conducted by material nature. Knowing this, why do they uselessly lament?”
What the purport teaches
- Although people see many living beings take birth and die, they often remain bewildered about their own death. Yamarāja asks them to recognize this universal law of material nature.
- Material elements pass from an unmanifested state into manifestation and become unmanifested again. Even from this material viewpoint, the purport explains that nothing is simply lost.
- The Vedic conclusion is that the body is perishable but the soul is eternal. The body is like a dress, and Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization rather than lamentation over its change.
Try this today
Write this reminder and read it slowly: “The body is like a dress; the soul is eternal.”
Ask yourself
How does remembering the soul’s eternity change my view of bodily change?
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.