Study a Verse

• Although one may say, “This is the light of the lamp,” there are innumerable rays of light being created, transformed and destroyed at every moment; and although one may speak of the water of the river, there is an ever-new supply of different water molecules passing by.
• In fact, however, the material body of a human being, just like the waves of a river or the radiation of a lamp, is merely a transformation of the three modes of material nature, the potency of the Supreme Lord.
• The real identity of a person is spirit soul, part and parcel of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but as Lord Kṛṣṇa proves in this verse, a conditioned soul is incapable of observing or understanding the subtle movements of time.

The purport's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Striving → Complete devotional trust. The Lord redirects Uddhava toward enduring loving service.

Chapters 21–29 of Canto 11: Spiritual practice culminating in bhakti-yoga. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 22: Enumeration of the Elements of Material Creation

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

From the death of one’s father and the birth of one’s son, a person can easily comprehend the rise and fall of his own body. The soul, who is the perceiver, is different from this body.