Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 16
Kṛṣṇa’s Impending Departure; Uddhava’s Surrender; King Yadu and the Avadhūta’s Twenty-Four Gurus
Beginnings
सोऽहं ममाहमिति मूढमतिर्विगाढ- स्त्वन्मायया विरचितात्मनि सानुबन्धे । तत्त्वञ्जसा निगदितं भवता यथाहं संसाधयामि भगवन्ननुशाधि भृत्यम् ॥ १६ ॥
so ’haṁ mamāham iti mūḍha-matir vigāḍhas tvan-māyayā viracitātmani sānubandhe tat tv añjasā nigaditaṁ bhavatā yathāhaṁ saṁsādhayāmi bhagavann anuśādhi bhṛtyam
噢薄伽梵！我实愚昧，因为我的意识深陷于由您幻力所造的身躯与诸种关系之中，遂生“我即此身”“此皆我有”之念。故求主垂教，训示您这卑微仆人：我当如何轻易成就您所宣示的教诲？
It is very difficult to give up false identification with the material body, and thus we remain attached to our so-called bodily relations such as wife, children, friends, and so on. Bodily attachment causes intense pain within the heart, and we are stunned by lamentation and hankering. Śrī Uddhava, a pure devotee of the Lord, here speaks like an ordinary person showing how to pray to the Personality of Godhead. We practically see that many sinful persons enter the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and after preliminary purification become most repentant for their previous illicit activities. They are shocked when they realize how they gave up the personal association of God to pursue the useless forms created by māyā; therefore they wholeheartedly pray to the spiritual master and Lord Kṛṣṇa to be engaged eternally in transcendental devotional service. Such a repentant, eager mentality is most auspicious for spiritual advancement. The Lord certainly answers the prayers of a repentant devotee desperate to escape the clutches of illusion.
FAQs
This verse states that the notions “I am this” and “this is mine” arise from delusion—identification with a self constructed by the Lord’s māyā—and they bind the soul through attachments.
Uddhava admits his deep entanglement in false identity and attachment and therefore prays to Krishna, his Lord, to guide him so he can realize the truth exactly as Krishna teaches.
Practice seeing possessions and roles as temporary, reduce “mine-ness” through gratitude and service, and regularly hear/reflect on spiritual instruction so identity shifts from ego-based labels to devotion and truth.