Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 7.123

vastutaḥ pariṇāma-vāda — sei se pramāṇa

dehe ātma-buddhi — ei vivartera sthāna

SYNONYMS

vastutaḥ — factually; pariṇāma-vāda — transformation of the energy; sei — that; se — only; pramāṇa — proof; dehe — in the body; ātma-buddhi — concept of self; ei — this; vivartera — of illusion; sthāna — place.

TRANSLATION

"Transformation of energy is a proven fact. It is the false bodily conception of the self that is an illusion.

PURPORT

The jīva, or living entity, is a spiritual spark who is part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unfortunately, he thinks the body to be the self, and that misunderstanding is called vivarta, or acceptance of untruth to be truth. The body is not the self, but animals and foolish people think that it is. Vivarta (illusion) does not, however, denote a change in the identity of the spirit soul; it is the misconception that the body is the self that is an illusion. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not change when His external energy, consisting of the eight gross and subtle material elements listed in the Bhagavad-gītā (bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ, etc.), acts and reacts in different phases.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness