changing bodies

Die means in this body we are creating some situation for the next life, and in order to accept... Just like one person-especially this Ajamila upakhyana-his ways of life was not ordinary; most abominable. So abominable, good or bad, in this life we are creating some situation so that we will get next life another body. Therefore there is death. That is material world. And as soon as there is death, there is birth. Death means we enter into the womb of a mother for, say, ten months. That ten months is considered as death. Not ten months, because the child within the womb of the mother returns his consciousness when the child is seven months old. This is human body. At that time he feels inconvenience within the womb of mother. Before that, he is unconscious, sleeping. Now, when the body grows within the mother's womb and it is seven months, then he returns consciousness. He feels inconvenient. And he is very eager to come out. Those who are advanced, they pray to God, "My Lord, somehow or other get me release from this condition. This life I shall devote for rendering You service so that I may be free from this condition." So similarly, at ten months, ten days, he comes out and..., but forgets. Svajanera kole. [Saranagati. Atmanivedana 2.4] Many relatives, mother, father, takes care, and he forgets that "I promised I shall become Krsna conscious this time." But on account of illusory energy, he thought that "I am very comfortably situated. My father is taking care. My mother is taking care. My relatives are taking care. So very happy life." This is called forgetfulness.    (More...)

Not only Ajamila, everyone, they are absorbed in certain type of consciousness. And what is due to it? How the consciousness develops? It is said, sneha-yantritaḥ. Sneha means affection. "By the..., affected by the machine which is called affection." So everyone is affected by this machine. This machine... This body is a machine. And it is being worked by the nature. And direction is coming from the Supreme Lord. We wanted to enjoy a certain way, and Krsna has given us a certain type of body, yantra. Just like you have got different makes of motorcar. You want... Somebody wants..., I want Buick car. Somebody says, "I want Chevrolet," some, "Ford." They are ready. Similarly, our body is also like that. Somebody is Ford, somebody is Chevrolet, somebody is Buick, and Krsna has given us the chance, "You wanted this kind of car, or body. You sit down and enjoy." This is our material position.    (More...)

Prabhupada: This is our hospital. We are therefore not interested with this kind of hospital. Our this hospital is treating the materially affected patient to get out of his four kinds of miseries: janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi [Bg 13.9]. One type of disease is to take birth; another, death; another, old age; another, disease. So we want to stop. This is not our normal condition of life. Because we living entities, soul, we are spiritual. Our identity is that we are eternal. It is not that because my body is annihilated, therefore I am finished. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg 2.20]. This is the instruction. The living entity, the soul, is not destroyed after the body being destroyed. The body is destroyed. It is being destroyed every moment. From scientific point of view we are changing our blood corpuscle and another body like the, what is called, film. One after another picture, one after, one after, one after; and when they are displayed, it appears one. But it is not one. There are so many pictures. They put into the machine, and when they work together, it appears that the man within the picture is moving. Actually, that movement is combination of many pictures. Similarly, we are growing. We are not growing, but we are changing body.    (More...)

Therefore Krsna says, dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha dehantara-praptiḥ [Bg 2.13]. We are becoming... We are seeing that "My child is growing." It is not growing; it is changing body just like the film spool. But because it is displayed in a very scientific way, we are seeing that "My child is growing." It is not growing. The actual fact is the child is a soul, and the soul is changing every minute the body. That is real understanding. Krsna says, authority says, dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha dehantara-pra... [Bg 2.13]. Dehantara-praptiḥ means accepting another body. So the child is speaking in one way now; so when he will get another body, a young man's body, he will speak in a different way. The dog is barking because it has got a different body, and a scientist speaking in a different way because he has got a different body. Similarly, every one of us, because we have got different types of body according to my desire, we are acting differently. So if we come back again to the spiritual platform, then we will not work differently. We shall work concomitantly. Everyone will agree with everyone. That is spiritual platform. But unless we come to the spiritual platform-we remain on the bodily platform-we shall speak differently. And as soon as we come to the spiritual platform, then we shall speak in one item only-how to serve Krsna. This is the process.    (More...)