Prajāpati: When we feel pain or discomfort, that is covering also?
Prabhupāda: That is to the material. Soul has no pain. It is the material covering. Just like this chilliness. We are affected by the body, material body, not the soul. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. This pleasure and pain is due to the material covering. Otherwise soul is unaffected. Asaṅgo 'yaṁ puruṣaḥ: "This puruṣa, the soul, is unaffected by any material condition." The same example as I give, that you have a good car. You are identifying yourself. But you are not the car. You are affected if the car is smashed, because you have got absorption in the car that "This is my car." The other man is not affected. Similarly, due to our absorption, ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8), "It is my, it is mine," we are suffering.
Rūpānuga: The False ego.
Prabhupāda: False ego.
Rūpānuga: Very subtle.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Rūpānuga: This process of identification with the body. So we identify with the body...
Prabhupāda: Ahaṁ mameti janasya moho 'yam (SB 5.5.8). This is illusion. He is not that, but he is thinking, "I am this." That is animalism. The animal is always thinking that "I am this body."
Girirāja: So if somebody no longer identifies with the body, what is his perception of a painful condition?
Prabhupāda: He tolerates. He knows. Just like the same example. You are not the car . If your car is smashed, although you feel sorry, but you know that "I am not a car." That is the position.