TEXT 58
sri-hiranyakasipur uvaca
bala evam pravadati
sarve vismita-cetasah
jnatayo menire sarvam
anityam ayathotthitam
SYNONYMS
sri-hiranyakasipuh uvacaSri Hiranyakasipu said; balewhile Yamaraja in the form of a boy; evamthus; pravadatiwas speaking very philosophically; sarveall; vismitastruck with wonder; cetasahtheir hearts; jnatayahthe relatives; menirethey thought; sarvameverything material; anityamtemporary; ayatha-utthitamarisen from temporary phenomena.
TRANSLATION
Hiranyakasipu said: While Yamaraja, in the form of a small boy, was instructing all the relatives surrounding the dead body of Suyajna, everyone was struck with wonder by his philosophical words. They could understand that everything material is temporary, not continuing to exist.
PURPORT
This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (2.18). Antavanta ime deha nityasyoktah saririnah: the body is perishable, but the soul within the body is imperishable. Therefore the duty of those advanced in knowledge in human society is to study the constitutional position of the imperishable soul and not waste the valuable time of human life in merely maintaining the body and not considering lifes real responsibility. Every human being should try to understand how the spirit soul can be happy and where he can attain an eternal, blissful life of knowledge. Human beings are meant to study these subject matters, not to be absorbed in caring for the temporary body, which is sure to change. No one knows whether he will receive a human body again; there is no guarantee, for according to ones work one may get any body, from that of a demigod to that of a dog. In this regard, Srila Madhvacarya comments:
aham mamabhimanadi-
tva-yathottham anityakam
mahadadi yathottham ca
nitya capi yathotthita
asvatantraiva prakrtih
sva-tantro nitya eva ca
yathartha-bhutas ca para
eka eva janardanah
Only Janardana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is ever existing, but His creation, the material world, is temporary. Therefore everyone who is captivated by the material energy and absorbed in thinking I am this body, and everything belonging to this body is mine is in illusion. One should think only of being eternally a part of Janardana, and ones endeavor in this material world, especially in this human form of life, should be to attain the association of Janardana by going back home, back to Godhead.

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