The Definition of “Life”

DR. SINGH. I have noticed a disagreement within the scientific community over the definition of living and nonliving. Some say that if a being can reproduce, it is alive. Therefore, they claim to have created life because certain large DNA molecules14 produced in the laboratory can replicate themselves; that is, they can reproduce other chains of molecules by their own power. Some scientists say these DNA molecules are living, and others say they are not.

SRĪLA PRABHUPADA. Because somebody is saying one thing and somebody is saying another, their knowledge must be imperfect.

DR. SINGH. Can we define living as "containing consciousness" and nonliving as "without consciousness"?

SRĪLA PRABHUPADA. Yes, that is the difference. As Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, avinasi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam: "That which is spread all over the body is indestructible." Anyone can understand what is spread all over a living body; it is consciousness. According to our consciousness at the time of death, we are awarded a particular bodily shape. If you have a dog's consciousness, you will get a dog's body, and if you have a godly consciousness, you get a demigod's body.15 Krsna gives everyone the freedom to take whatever body he wants:

yanti deva-vrata devan

pitṝn yanti pitr-vrataḥ

bhūtani yanti bhūtejya

yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam

"Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me." (Bg. 9.25)