Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvadasha Skandha, Shloka 7
Ātmā’s Unborn Nature and Fearlessness at Death
Parīkṣit’s Final Instruction
स्नेहाधिष्ठानवर्त्यग्निसंयोगो यावदीयते । तावद्दीपस्य दीपत्वमेवं देहकृतो भव: । रज:सत्त्वतमोवृत्त्या जायतेऽथ विनश्यति ॥ ७ ॥
snehādhiṣṭhāna-varty-agni- saṁyogo yāvad īyate tāvad dīpasya dīpatvam evaṁ deha-kṛto bhavaḥ rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-vṛttyā jāyate ’tha vinaśyati
Như ngọn đèn chỉ là ngọn đèn khi có dầu, bình, tim và lửa hợp lại, cũng vậy đời sống vật chất do chấp thân mà thành, sinh và diệt bởi vận hành của ba guna: sattva, rajas và tamas।
FAQs
This verse explains that material existence arises and is destroyed due to the ongoing functions of rajas, sattva, and tamas—when their activity continues, samsara continues; when it ceases, the body-based condition ends.
He uses it to show that the body and its experience of worldly life are not permanent realities—like a lamp that ‘exists’ only while its components remain combined, the sense of embodied existence persists only under certain conditions.
Recognize the temporary, conditioned nature of bodily identity and cultivate steady devotional and spiritual practice that lifts consciousness beyond the modes—reducing impulsive passion and dull ignorance while not becoming attached even to goodness.