Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 20.118
Material Rewards Are Not Liberation
“In the material condition, the living entity is sometimes raised to higher planetary systems and material prosperity and sometimes drowned in a hellish situation. His state is exactly like that of a criminal whom a king punishes by submerging him in water and then raising him again from the water.
What the purport teaches
- The eternally liberated living entity, called nitya-mukta, never forgets Kṛṣṇa as his master. His only attempt is to serve Kṛṣṇa.
- One who forgets his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa comes under material conditions. Without the Lord’s transcendental loving service, he is subjected to the reactions of fruitive activity.
- Material nature sometimes rewards the living entity with prosperity and sometimes punishes him with distress. Both conditions belong to material existence.
Try this today
Reflect on one recent success or difficulty, and remind yourself that your eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa matters beyond either condition.
Ask yourself
Do I mistake material prosperity for freedom from material conditions?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.