Canto 12: The Age of Deterioration | Chapter 5: Śukadeva Gosvāmī's Final Instructions to Mahārāja Parīkṣit |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.5.4
svapne yathā śiraś-chedaḿ
pañcatvādy ātmanaḥ svayam
yasmāt paśyati dehasya
tata ātmā hy ajo 'maraḥ
SYNONYMS
svapne — in a dream; yathā — as; śiraḥ — of one's head; chedam — the cutting off; pañcatva-ādi — the condition of being composed of the five material elements, and other material conditions; ātmanaḥ — one's own; svayam — oneself; yasmāt — because; paśyati — one sees; dehasya — of the body; tataḥ — therefore; ātmā — the soul; hi — certainly; ajaḥ — unborn; amaraḥ — immortal.
TRANSLATION
In a dream one can see his own head being cut off and thus understand that his actual self is standing apart from the dream experience. Similarly, while awake one can see that his body is a product of the five material elements. Therefore it is to be understood that the actual self, the soul, is distinct from the body it observes and is unborn and immortal.
Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari