Canto 12: The Age of DeteriorationChapter 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

svapnein a dream; yathāas; 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.

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