Category:Accepting The Body As The Self
Theme Analysis
Śrīla Prabhupāda consistently identifies the acceptance of the material body as the self as the fundamental ignorance binding the living entity to the cycle of birth and death. This misconception, described as the root of all suffering, arises from the influence of the illusory energy, covering the soul's true eternal nature with layers of false ego. By misidentifying with the temporary physical vessel, the conditioned soul engages in futile activities centered on sense gratification and bodily maintenance, remaining oblivious to the spiritual reality that exists beyond matter.
- The Animalistic Mentality: Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently compares those who identify the body as the self to cows and asses, emphasizing that human life is meant for higher inquiry beyond mere eating, sleeping, mating, and defending.
- The Root of Suffering: The analysis reveals that fear, duality, and the tribulations of birth, death, old age, and disease stem directly from this misplaced identity; as long as one thinks they are the body, they remain subject to its inevitable destruction.
- False Ego and Maya: The mechanism of illusion is driven by false ego (ahankara), which dictates the "I and mine" mentality, causing the soul to claim ownership over the body, family, and land of birth.
- Societal and National Delusions: This bodily concept expands into broader illusions such as nationalism, altruism, and extended family attachment, which serve only to deepen the soul's entanglement in the material world.
- The Path of Knowledge: True liberation is defined as the awakening from this dreamlike state, achieved by understanding one's identity as a spirit soul and engaging in devotional service to the Supreme Lord.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Illusion of Accepting the Body as the Self.
Pages in category "Accepting The Body As The Self"
The following 121 pages are in this category, out of 121 total.
1
A
- A common man who considers the body the self is certainly comparable to an animal (yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke. .. sa eva go-kharah (SB 10.84.13)). But even a common man can understand that after death a person is gone
- A human being who identifies the body made of three elements as the self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, is to be considered like a cow or an ass
- A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, and who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, is to be considered as an ass or a cow. BG 1972 purports
- A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of birth worshipable, is to be considered like an ass or a cow
- A person who accepts his body as his self works very hard day and night for money to maintain his own body and the bodies of his wife and children. While working to maintain himself and his family, he may commit violence against other living entities
- Abandon identifying the self with the body and the home, and practice reading the revealed scriptures. Live in a secluded place and practice the process by which you can completely control your life air, mind and senses
- According to these leaders, the material body is the actual self, understanding everything that pertains to the body constitutes self-realization, and we have no more duty than satisfying the senses of the body and maintaining it by all means
- Actually we are standing on a false platform, understanding this body as the self, and in relationship with the body we are considering, "This country is my country. This man is my family man" or - my national man
- After bathing in the sea, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu returned to His residence with all the devotees. Then they all lunched on the remnants of food offered to Lord Jagannatha
- All conditioned souls working within the illusory energy of the Lord consider the body to be the self, and thus they continuously wander throughout the universe, taking birth in different species of life and creating more and more problems
- Although the living entity is constitutionally conversant with spiritual energy, or has the potency to understand spiritual energy, he is covered by the material energy and consequently identifies the body with the self
- Although the living entity is constitutionally conversant with the spiritual energy, or has the potency to understand it, he is covered by the material energy and consequently believes himself to be the body
- Although the soul is within the body, nevertheless, because of misunderstanding and animal propensities one accepts the body as the self
- Anyone who misunderstands this perishable body to be the self and who works for it in the name of sociology, politics, philanthropy, altruism, nationalism or internationalism, under the false plea of the bodily conception of life, is certainly a fool
- Apparently the queens continued lamenting for the dead body, the lump of matter, and would not allow it to be taken away for burning. This illustrates the strong grip of illusion among foolish persons who consider the body the self
- As a sleeping person acts according to the body manifested in his dreams & accepts it to be himself, so one identifies with his present body, which he acquired because of his past religious or irreligious acts & is unable to know his past or future lives
- As long as one is under the concept of the body as self, it is very difficult to understand the Supersoul or the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- As part of devotional service, Vaisnavas protect the body for the service of the Lord, but those who are gross materialists accept the body as the self
- As stated in a previous verse (SB 4.20.4), those with good intellect (sudhiyah) do not accept themselves to be the body. Being a creation of nescience, the body has two types of activities
B
- Because they (the living entities) are forgetful of their spiritual identities, they think the material bodies to be themselves
- Because we have forgotten our identities and are considering the body to be the self, we are afflicted by all the troubles of birth, death, old age and disease
- Because you have accepted this material body, you are foolishly thinking that you are not eternal. Otherwise, as God is eternal, you are also eternal
- By the false ego one thinks oneself the body and thinks in terms of "my body, my house, my family, my society, my nation" and so on
C
- Clouds and dust are carried by the air, but less intelligent persons say that the sky is cloudy and the air is dirty. Similarly, they also implant material bodily conceptions on the spirit self
- Concerning the offense of aham-mama-buddhi, or dehatma-buddhi (considering the body to be the self), Jiva Gosvami states -Those who are overly absorbed in the conception of the body and the bodily necessities are also called pasandis
- Conditioned souls consider the body to be the self, and because of this the jivas identify themselves as American, Indian, brahmana, ksatriya, man, woman, elephant and so forth
D
- Daksa, Nandisvara said, identified himself with the body like other materialistic persons and was trying to derive all kinds of facilities in relationship with the body
- Darkness means "I am this body, and to fulfill the necessities of the body is the highest perfection of my life"
- Devahuti has stated that false identification of the body with the self and attachment for possessions in relation to the body are also under the direction of the Lord
- Dhruva Maharaja said: Even those who believe that the body is the self, or those who are full of material desires, are also atmarama. When they associate with pure devotees, they give up their material desires & become perfect in the service of the Lord
- Doubts of duality begin from the misconception of the material body, which is accepted as the self by less intelligent persons
- During daytime in the autumn, the sun is very scorching, but at night, due to clear moonshine, people get relief from the day’s fatigue. Similarly, one who takes shelter of Mukunda can be saved from the fatigue of misidentifying the body with the self
E
- Every one of us is born foolish because we identify with this temporary body as myself. Therefore we are foolish. Everyone knows that the body does not exist, and still, everyone identifies himself with this body. This is called ignorance, or illusion
- Every one of us is under the impression that we are these bodies, but actually we are not. Accepting the body to be the self is called illusion, or maya. The third imperfection is that conditioned souls have a tendency to cheat
F
- False ego means accepting this body as oneself. When one understands that he is not his body and is spirit soul, that is real ego. Ego is there. False ego is condemned, but not real ego. BG 1972 purports
- Foolish persons are engaged in committing all sorts of sins due to the misconception of identifying the material body with the self. But one should be intelligent enough to understand to whom the body belongs
- For one who accepts the body - which is made of three elements - as his self, who has an affinity for intimate bodily relationships with his wife and children, who considers his land worshipable
- For those grossly engaged in identifying the body as the self, pious activity, or karma-yoga, is recommended. For those who identify the mind with the self, philosophical speculation, or jnana-yoga, is recommended
H
- He (a detached person) has no false ego because he does not accept the body as himself. Nor has he a desire to make the body fat and strong by accepting so many material things. Because he has no bodily concept of life, he is not falsely proud. BG 1972 p
- He (a living entity) takes the body as himself, his bodily expansions as his kinsmen, and the land from which his body is born as worshipable
- He (living entity) has a spiritual need to be eternally blissful and full of knowledge, but unfortunately he identifies himself with the body, sometimes as a human being, sometimes as an animal, a tree, sometimes an aquatic, sometimes a demigod, & so on
- He (Lord Krsna) is not as easily accessible to mental speculators, to those striving for self-realization by severe austerities and penances, or to those who consider the body the same as the self - SB 10.9.21
- He does not know that he himself is in the darkest region of craziness because of accepting his body as permanent
- How a living entity becomes a victim of the material condition is lucidly explained in this verse (SB 6.2.38). The beginning is to misidentify the body as one's self
- How this fighting spirit becomes developed? On account of illusion. What is that illusion? Accepting this body as self
I
- Identification of the body with the self is called false identification, or false ego. Lord Caitanya confirms this in His Siksastaka
- If one simply considers his body to be his self, as do the animals, he is not very sinful. If one needlessly commits sins to maintain his body, he is put into the hell known as Raurava. This is the opinion of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura
- Ignorant men think of the body as the self; bodily connections with others are accepted as kinsmanship; the land in which the body is obtained is the object of worship; and the formalities of religious rituals are considered ends in themselves. BG 1972 p
- In another part of SB, the acceptance of the body as oneself, the acceptance of others as kinsmen in relationship to this body and the acceptance of the land of one's birth as worshipable are declared to be the products of an animal civilization
- In his bewildered state, the living entity, accepting the body and mind to be the self, considers some people to be his kinsmen and others to be outsiders. Because of this misconception, he suffers
- In the conditioned state a living entity, accepting his body as himself, forgets his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and acts on the interest of his body
- In this body, there is an owner, and one should not consider the body to be the self. This is the first instruction to be assimilated by a devotee
- In this material world, everyone is a pasu, an animal, because of the bodily conception of life. A human being who identifies the body made of three elements as the self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen
- In this verse (SB 4.20.1) the word atmanam is very significant. It is a custom among yogis and jnanis to address one another (or even an ordinary man) as one's self, for a transcendentalist never accepts a living being to be the body
- It is not wonderful for persons who have accepted the transient material body as the self to engage always in deriding great souls. Such envy on the part of materialistic persons is very good because that is the way they fall down
- It is said here that desire and greed are the products of false identification of oneself with the body. When one becomes free from this contamination, then his mind and consciousness also become freed and attain their original state
L
- Living in a conditional atmosphere, one suffers the results of the activities of the body by identifying himself (in ignorance) with the body. It is ignorance acquired from time immemorial that is the cause of bodily suffering and distress. BG 1972 pur
- Lord Siva never accepts any luxurious dress, garland, ornament or ointment. But those who are addicted to the decoration of the body, which is finally eatable by dogs, very luxuriously maintain it as the self
- Lord Sri Krsna is soothing for both the gopis and the mundane man in illusion, who accepts the body as the soul
M
- Ma ya: "What you are accepting, that is false." This is called maya. So we are accepting, "I am this body," "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am Christian," "I am Hindu," "I am black," "I am white," "I am thin," "I am fat." So this is maya
- Materialistic person, the so-called scientist, philosopher, they know this body - the self. They do not know that the body is the cover of the self. This real self, the real person, goes to Krsna to live forever
- Misguided persons, who are interested in the mundane affairs of philanthropic and altruistic work under the misconception of the body as the self, could better take advantage of the Mahabharata
- Most dangerous of the dirty things within our hearts is this misidentification of the body as the self. Under the influence of this misunderstanding, one thinks, "I am this body. I am an Englishman. I am an Indian. I am an American. I am Hindu, Muslim"
O
- Of course, everyone in this material world is interested in maintaining the body for sense gratification, but by cultivating knowledge one should gradually understand that the body is not the self
- One attains liberation when one gives up the false idea that the body is the self and when one resumes his actual position of service to the Lord (muktir hitvanyatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih) - SB 2.10.6
- One should not accept the body as the self and thus, like the animals, kill the bodies of others. This is especially forbidden by saintly persons, who follow the path of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- One who accepts this body as the self is in the line of the animals. The animals . . . the dogs are thinking, "I am dog," and he's barking. So similarly, if I think, "I am Indian," "I am American," where is the difference between the dog and me?
- Only when a conditioned soul accepts the body as himself does he feel the effects of chastisement or praise. Then he determines one person to be his enemy and another his friend and wants to chastise the enemy and welcome the friend
- Our material senses of perception and action are moving because we are identifying the self with the material body, and that the superior principle of Superself is guiding and supplying us according to our desire
R
S
- Sannyasis who first consider that the body is subject to death, when it will be transformed into stool, worms or ashes, but who again give importance to the body and glorify it as the self, are to be considered the greatest rascals
- SB 10.84.13 states: A human being who identifies his body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of his body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of his birth worshipable, is to be considered like an ass or a cow
- Since the soul is actually a spiritual particle, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, it is due to illusion (vivarta-vada) that a human being, like an animal, identifies the body with the self. This is a proper example of vivarta, or illusion
- Some of them (people who misunderstands this perishable body to be the self) are above the modes of ignorance and passion and are situated in the mode of goodness, but mundane goodness is always contaminated by tinges of ignorance and passion
- Srimad-Bhagavatam has condemned those who think the body to be the self as bhauma ijya-dhih. Bhauma means earth, and ijya-dhih means worshiper
- Such a person is either a cow or an ass who is identifying this body as self. This body is a bag of bones and flesh, blood and urine. So I am not this body. I am within this body. But people are identifying with this body
T
- The animal does not know that there is soul. A dog thinks, "I am this body." Therefore Krsna instructs first this thing. Everyone is acting on the conception of body as self
- The atheists generally think that the body is the self and that everything is therefore ended with the end of the body. Thus they want to enjoy material life as far as possible during the existence of the body
- The basic principle of civilization - accepting this body as the soul - is the beginning of all problems. The great philosophers, scientists, theologists and thoughtful men, they do not know what is the defect
- The body is material, but within the body is the soul. This is spiritual understanding. Unfortunately, one who is in ignorance, under the spell of material illusion, accepts the body to be the self. He cannot understand that the body is matter
- 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
- The body is not the self. The self is different. If you analyze this body, what you will find? Suppose we are breathing. What is this breathing? It is air only. Now, when the breathing is stopped, a man is dead
- The body is not the self; we are different from the body, and therefore there is no question of friends, enemies or responsibilities in terms of the bodily conception of life
- The conditioned soul considers his body to be his self and considers everything in relationship with the body to be his. Because he has this wrong conception of life, he is subjected to dualities like praise and chastisement
- The conditioned soul must become illusioned. This happens when he continually mistakes one thing for something else. For example, we accept the body as the self. Since I am not this body, my acceptance of the body as my self is an illusion
- The conditioned soul, being in the bodily conception of life, considers his body to be his self and considers everything in relationship with the body to be his
- The Darwin's theory simply bewilders one into thinking this body is the self
- The demonic principle is they do not give stress on the soul. They are bodily conscious that, "I am this body." And as soon as one is such foolishly conceiving body as self, his activities will be demonic
- The first engineer of this universe, Lord Brahma, he comes from Krsna. Not directly Krsna, but from Garbhodakasayi Visnu
- The five kinds of ignorance are (1) accepting the body to be the self, (2) making material sense gratification one's standard of enjoyment - The teachings of Lord Caitanya eradicate these five kinds of ignorance
- The last class of egoistic conditioned souls - those in the mode of ignorance - are misguided by identification of the gross body with the self. Thus, all their activities are centered around the body only
- The materialistic world, based on the conception of the material body as the self, is ignorant of the science of God. The materialist is busy working for the welfare of the body, not only his own but also those of his children, kinsmen and communitymen
- The mistake is that we are accepting this body as ourself. I am thinking Indian, you are thinking Australian, he is thinking American, thinking Muhammadan, thinking Hindu. Because we are thinking different way, we have got difference of opinion
- The scriptures say that whoever accepts this body as the self and accepts the bodily relations of wife, children and family as his own, is illusioned
- The symptoms of the self-realized person are given herein (BG 5.20). The first symptom is that he is not illusioned by the false identification of the body with his true self. He knows perfectly well that he is not this body. BG 1972 purports
- The tenth offense is to be attached to the misconception of possessing something, or to accept the body as one's self, while executing the process of spiritual cultivation
- The whole world, living entity, conditioned soul, they're bewildered by this maya, yaya sammohito jiva atmanam tri-gunatmakam (SB 1.7.5), thinking this body as self, foolish, rascal
- The world or the cosmic creation is not false, as maintained by the Mayavada school. It simply has no permanent existence. A nonpermanent thing cannot be called false altogether. But the conception that the material body is the self is certainly wrong
- They are accepting this bag of skin and bones as self. You see? This is a bag made of skin and bone, and this... Is spirit soul so cheap thing that it is a bag of skin and bone and some stools and urine, combination? That is nonsense
- This asuric public, they do not know which way their destination is. They say it is self-interest, but these rascals, they do not know what is the self-interest, because their very beginning of life is mistaken. They are thinking this body is the self
- This body is a machine that we are accepting as self - "I am this machine." Whole world is accepting - I am this body, I am Hindu, I am Muslim, Christian, I am American, Indian, I am black, I am white. No. Therefore Krsna says: You are not this body
- This is conditional life. Everyone is thinking, "I am this body." Everyone is committing mistake. Illusion and mistake
- This misconception in materialistic life (considering the body to be the self) continues unless and until one comes to understand his relationship with Krsna. The happiness sought by the conditioned soul is certainly only illusion
- This position of rightly understanding oneself cuts the knot of material attraction. Due to false ego, or false identification of oneself with the body and the material world, one is entrapped by maya
- This process of chanting is so nice that it cleanses the heart, misunderstanding that "I am this body. I belong to this nation. I belong to this community. I belong to this religion." No. "I belong to Krsna," that's all
- To not know actual facts and thus to mistake one thing for another (as, for example, to accept the body as oneself) is called vivarta-vada
U
- Unless one is very much advanced in knowledge, one thinks his body to be his self, his family members to be his own, and the land of his birth to be worshipable
- Until we reach the stage of reestablishing our lost relation with Krsna, the illusion of accepting the body as the self will prevail, and thus fearfulness will also prevail
W
- We are undergoing a struggle for existence with this mind and the senses under the false conception of identifying this body as self
- We can make experiment, that every one of us at the present moment is illusioned. How it is? I am not this body, but I am accepting this body as - I am
- We may be proud of our academic education, but if asked what we are, we are not able to say. Everyone is under the conception that this body is the self, but we learn from Vedic sources that this is not so
- When a child is born, maya, or the illusory energy, is so strong that he is immediately overpowered into considering his body to be his self
- When a living entity forgets the constitutional nature of his relationship with God, he is at once overwhelmed by the external energy. This is the cause of his false ego, his false identification of the body with the self