YSJ Master 2006

2 Your Secret Journey
Verse for Chapter
Chapter 1 avinäçi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaà tatam

vinäçam avyayasyäsya na kaçcit kartum arhati
“That which pervades the entire body you should know to be

indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable
soul.” (Bhagavad-gita 2.17)
Chapter Preview
In the modern times many educated people presume that life
must have originated from a primordial chemical soup, as if it
is proved by science. But in actuality, far from being a proven
fact, there is not even a coherent theory of the chemical origin
Your Divine
of life. This chapter scientifically establishes that life cannot
arise from nonliving matter. It then presents Vedic paradigm of
self-energy as the source of life.
Identity – Who am I? A Bag of Chemicals?
A Product of “You are now worth five and a half times more than you were
just a few years ago. The calcium, magnesium, iron and other
Chemicals? chemicals in an adult’s body were worth Rs 20 in the early part

of this decade; now they are worth Rs 110 according to Dr.
Harry Monsen, a professor of anatomy at Illinois College of
Medicine.” Says a release from the Associated Press.
“Most of the human body,” the article continues, “is water. In a

60 pound person, Dr. Monsen said, there are about 5 pounds of
calcium, 1½ pounds of phosphate, about 9 ounces of potassium,
a little more than six ounces each of sulfur and sodium, a little
more than an ounce of magnesium, and less than an ounce each
Your Divine Identity – A Product of Chemicals? 3 4 Your Secret Journey
Contemporary world-view Vedic world-view of iron, copper and iodine.” Calcium, phosphate, potassium,
sulfur - Now does that sound like you? Is this the essential stuff
Everything originated from a God created everything and of our identity?
big bang; there is no God everyone.
whatsoever.
Life results from chemical Chemical combination can
Most people understand intuitively that their life is deeply
combination; there is no soul. never cause life; the source of meaningful and not at all trivial; they certainly do not consider
life is the soul. themselves to be a lump of chemicals. Yet this is the world-
Life arises at birth due to some The life source, the soul, is view that results from accepting the current scientific theories,
chemical combination and is eternal. It enters the body at especially the evolution theory. The contemporary world-view
finished at death. birth and is transferred to and the Vedic world-view are diametrically opposite.
another body after death.
Your ancestors were apes who Your ancestors were socially, In the first three chapters we will examine the validity of the
gradually evolved into primitive politically, religiously civilized contemporary world-view and in the subsequent chapters we
stone age men and finally the and cultured humans, created by will understand in depth the Vedic world-view.
most advanced modern man. God.
There is no meaning to life; it is Both the cosmos and the life in
just a chance event, “a lucky it are meaningful and Theory of Evolution
accident” in the history of the purposeful.
cosmos
The goal of life is the pursuit The goal of life is to realize the
and attainment of material self and God. This brings
T he theory of evolution, as is currently prevalent, teaches
that the first living organism developed from non-living
matter. Then, as it reproduced, it is said to have changed into
comforts and pleasures. unlimited bliss and makes
material comforts and pleasures different kinds of living beings, producing ultimately all forms
seem insignificant. of life that have ever existed on earth, including humans. And
You are not accountable for You are accountable for your all of this is believed to have been accomplished without
whatever you do; you can get every act; the law of karma is an intelligent direction.
away from the consequences if infallible justice.
you are clever enough. In this chapter, we will study the scientific possibility of life
Leads to ‘eat, drink and be Leads to a life of inner emerging from inert matter. In the next chapter, we will analyze
merry’ philosophy, which satisfaction, which is in whether simple living beings actually evolved into all the
results in exploitation and harmony with nature and the complex variety of species seen today.
disharmony. maker of nature, God.
Fuels immorality, greed, Inspires a life of principles like
corruption etc. morality, satisfaction, honesty
etc.
How did lifeless chemicals suddenly come alive? Then according to Dawkins’ description, “a particularly
remarkable molecule was formed by an accident” - a molecule
that had the ability to produce itself. Though admitting that
E xplaining how lifeless chemicals suddenly came alive has
been a formidable problem for all evolutionists. When
Charles Darwin advanced his theory of evolution he conceded
such an accident was exceedingly improbable, he maintains that
it must nevertheless have happened. Similar molecules
that life may have been “originally breathed by the Creator into clustered together, and then, again by exceedingly improbable
a few forms or into one” But present-day evolutionary theory accident, they wrapped a protective barrier of other protein
generally eliminates any mention of a Creator. Instead, the molecules around themselves as membrane. Thus it is claimed,
theory of the spontaneous generation of life, once repudiated, the first living cell generated itself.
has been revived in a somewhat altered form.
At this point a reader may begin to understand Dawkins
Belief in a form of spontaneous generation can be traced back comment in the preface to his book: “This book should be read
for centuries. In the 17th century even respected men of almost as though it were science fiction”. But readers on the
science, including Francis Bacon and William Harvey, accepted subject will find that his approach is not unique. Most other
the theory. However by the 19th century Louis Pasteur and books on evolution also skim over the staggering problem of
other scientists had seemingly dealt it a deathblow having explaining the emergence of life from nonliving matter.
proved by experiments that life comes only from previous life.
Nevertheless, out of necessity, evolutionary theory assumes that The recent explosive increase of knowledge has only served to
long ago microscopic life must somehow have arisen magnify the gulf between nonliving and living things. Even the
spontaneously from nonliving matter. Let us see how this is oldest known single-celled organisms have been found to be
supposed to have happened. incomprehensibly complex.
The Theory of Spontaneous Generation Nevertheless let us analyze the possibility of the occurrence of
the events as proposed by the spontaneous generation theory.
In his book, ‘The Selfish Gene’, Richard Dawkins speculates The principal steps involved are:
that in the beginning, the earth had an atmosphere composed of • Presence of the right primitive atmosphere
carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and water. Through energy • Formation of an ‘organic soup’ i.e., concentration in the
supplied by sunlight, and perhaps by lightning and exploding oceans of ‘simple’ molecules necessary for life.
volcanoes, these simple compounds were broken apart and then • Emergence of proteins and nucleotides in the soup
they reformed into amino acids, accumulated in the sea and • Formation of a cell with a membrane
combined into protein-like compounds. Ultimately, he says, the • Development of a genetic code and replication.
ocean became the “organic soup,” but still lifeless.
The Primitive Atmosphere not their formation. But if they are outside the water, they
would be immediately decomposed by the cosmic rays.
Problem I: Was oxygen present in the earth’s primitive Solution: Amino acids have to be in water for reaction and
atmosphere? further combination to occur. But that very water inhibits
Explanation: With oxygen present, simple compounds further combination. So the organic soup just can’t be formed.
(originally present in the primitive atmosphere) wouldn’t “In other words,” evolutionist Francis Hitching says, “the
combine to form amino acids. Without oxygen, the amino acids theoretical chances of getting through even this first and
formed would be immediately decomposed by the cosmic rays. relatively easy stage (getting amino acids) in the evolution of
Solution: Oxygen is clearly necessary for amino acids to be life are forbidding.” This means there would be no
preserved for the next stage in the spontaneous generation of accumulation of organic soup. Biochemist George Wald
life, yet the presence of oxygen prevents the formation of believes this to be “the most stubborn problem that confronts us
amino acids. There is no solution to this problem. (evolutionists).” (Scientific American, “The Origin of Life”, by
George Wald, pp.49, 50).
Problem II: Was energy (supplied by sunlight or lightning or
volcanoes) present or not? Problem IV: How did specific amino acids form in the organic
Explanation: If energy was not present, simple compounds soup?
would not have split and no formation of amino acids would Explanation: There are over 100 amino acids, but only 20 are
take place. If energy was present, that energy would needed for life’s proteins. Moreover, they come in two shapes:
immediately decompose any amino acids formed into simpler some of the molecules are “right-handed” and others are “left-
compounds. handed”. Should they be formed at
Solution: Amino acids just can’t be formed without energy and random, as in the theoretical organic
with energy they can’t survive. There is no way spontaneous soup, it is most likely that they would be
generation can proceed beyond this stage. half right-handed and half left-handed.
And there is no known reason why
Formation of the Organic Soup either shape should be preferred in
living things. Yet, of the 20 amino acids
Problem III: Did the amino acids stay inside the water or used in producing life’s proteins, all are
outside it? left-handed! How is it that at random,
Explanation: After the amino acids formed in the atmosphere only the specifically required kinds
it is assumed that they somehow managed to reach the ocean in would be united in the soup?
the same area so as to form an organic soup. Now if the amino Solution: Physicist J.D. Bernal
acids stay inside the water they would not combine to form acknowledges, “We may never be able
proteins because water favors breaking up of big molecules and to explain it”.
Formation of Proteins Solution: Any event that has once chance in just 10^50 is
dismissed by mathematicians as never happening. So even the
Problem V: How did the right proteins form? probability of one in 10^113 is a mathematical impossibility.
Explanation: The proteins needed for life have very complex An idea of the odds, or probability involved is seen in the fact
molecules. 20 specific left-handed amino acids need to combine that the number 10^113 is larger that the estimated total number
in a specific sequence to form a protein useful for life. What of all the atoms in the universe!
chance is there that the correct amino acids would come
together to form a protein molecule? It could be likened to And one chance in 10^40,000 is “an outrageously small
having a big, thoroughly mixed pile containing equal numbers probability,” astronomer Fred Hoyle asserts, “that could not be
of red beans and white beans. Over 100 different varieties of faced even if the whole universe consisted of organic soup.”
beans. Now, if you plunged a scoop into this pile, what do you
think you would get? To get the beans that represent the basic Formation of the Genetic Code
components of a protein, you would have to scoop up only red
ones - no white ones at all! Also, your scoop must contain only Problem VI: Which came first - proteins or DNA?
20 varieties of the red beans and each one must be in a specific, Explanation: The old puzzle of ‘the chicken or the egg’ rears
pre-assigned place in the scoop. In the world of protein, a it’s head relative to proteins and DNA. Hitching says: “Proteins
simple mistake in any one of these requirements would cause depend on DNA for their formation. But DNA cannot form
the protein that is produced to fail to function properly. Would without preexisting protein.” Which came first: the protein or
any amount of stirring and scooping in our hypothetical bean the DNA?
pile have given the right combination? No. Then how could it Solution: Hitching asserts “The answer must be: they
have been possible in the hypothetical organic soup? developed in parallel.” In effect, he is saying that “the chicken”
and ‘the egg’ must have evolved simultaneously, neither one
What is the chance of even a simple protein molecule forming coming from the other. Does this strike you as reasonable?
at random in an organic soup? Evolutionists acknowledge it to
be only one in 10^113 (1 followed by 113 zeroes). This is just a sample of the kind of intractable problems
involved in the spontaneous generation theory. There are also
Some proteins serve as structural materials and others as problems in the formation of the cell membrane, the emergence
enzymes. The latter speed up needed chemical reactions in the of nucleotides and the replication mechanism, which are
cell. Without such help the cell would die. Not just a few, but equally, if not more, formidable.
2,000 proteins serving as enzymes are needed for the cells
activity. What are the chances of obtaining all of these at Is It Scientific?
random? One chance in 10^40,000.
If a spontaneous beginning for life is to be accepted as
scientific fact, it should be established by the scientific method.
This has been described as follows: observe what happens; Regarding the question of how life originated, astronomer
based on those observations, form a theory as to what may be Robert Jastrow said, “To their chagrin (scientists) have no
true; test the theory by further observations and by experiments; clear-cut answer, because chemists have never succeeded in
and watch to see if the predictions based on the theory are reproducing nature’s experiments on the creation of life out of
fulfilled. nonliving matter. Scientists do not know how that happened.”
In an attempt to apply the scientific method, it has not been Hitching says, “To put it at its mildest, one may question an
possible to observe the spontaneous generation of life. There is evolutionary theory so beset by doubts among even those who
no evidence that it is happening now, and of course no human teach it. … It fails to explain some of the most basic questions
observer was around when evolutionists say it was happening. of all: how lifeless chemicals came alive?”
No theory concerning it has been verified by observation.
Laboratory experiments have failed to repeat it. Predictions Based on the evidence, the spontaneous generation of life
based on the theory have not been fulfilled. With such an theory appears better to fit the realm of science fiction than
inability to apply the scientific method, is it honest science to scientific fact.
elevate such a theory to the level of fact?
Dilemmas Over Complex Organs
Not all Scientists Accept It
Biologist Edwin Conklin said, “The probability of life

originating from accident is comparable to the probability of
T he difficulty does not stop with the origin of life. Consider
such body organs as the eye, the ear, the brain. All are
staggering in their complexity - far more than the most intricate
the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a man-made device. A problem for evolution has been the fact
printing shop.” that all parts of such organs have to work together for sight,
hearing or thinking to take place. Such organs would have been
Astronomer Chandra Wickramsinghe said, “From my earliest useless until all the individual parts were completed.
training as a scientist I was very strongly brainwashed to
believe that science cannot be consistent with any kind of So the question arises: Could chance that is thought to be a
deliberate creation…. For life to have been a chemical accident driving force of evolution have brought all these parts together
on earth is like looking for a particular grain of sand on all the at the right time to produce such elaborate mechanisms?
beaches in all the planets in the universe – and finding it.” In Darwin acknowledged this as a problem, “To suppose that
other words, it is just not possible that life could have the eye could have been formed by evolution, seems, I freely
originated from a chemical accident. confess, absurd in the highest degree.” More than a century
has passed since then. Has the problem been solved? No. On
the contrary, since Darwin’s time what has been learned about
There are however no life symptoms visible when all these

chemicals are combined. Even without taking so much trouble
to synthesize all these chemicals, scientists can actually isolate
the necessary chemicals from an already living body and then
recombine them. If life were a chemical combination, scientists
could actually make life in the test tube by assembling all these
important chemicals. But they cannot do this.
Despite great scientific discoveries and achievements, the

bright hope for understanding life in molecular terms seem to
be losing ground and many prominent scientists in various
fields are beginning to doubt the validity of this concept. In the
book ‘Biology Today’, Nobel-prize-winning chemist Albert
Szent Gyorgyi remarked, “In my search for the secret of life, I
ended up with atoms and electrons, which have no life at all.
the eye shows that it is even more complex than he understood
Somewhere along the line, life ran out through my fingers. So,
it to be. Thus Jastrow said, “The eye appears to have been
in my old age, I am now retracing my steps…”
designed; no designer of telescopes could have done better.”
Chemicals do not Produce Life, Life Produces Chemicals
Limitations of the Scientific Approach
Many instances show that life
Why not Produce Life? produces matter, but there are
no evidences of dead matter or
An easy way to lend some credibility to the theory of evolution chemicals producing life. An
is to produce some form of life in the laboratory by chemical ordinary lemon tree endowed
reactions. with life produces hundreds of
lemons. The juice from all
Practically speaking, at this stage of scientific knowledge most these lemons produces tons of
of the important chemicals found in the living cell including the citric acid. Thus it is easy to see
gene can be synthesized in the chemical laboratory. And those that life produces chemicals.
in the forefront of microbiology and biochemistry have made a But once the tree is dead, can
vigorous effort to put all the necessary chemicals together and one revive it by injecting any amount of chemicals? So
prepare the first synthetic life in the test tube. chemicals do not produce life; rather life produces chemicals.
Eminent Mathematician Jagadish N Srivastava, CNS Research

The Tiny World of Material Science Professor, Colorado State University, therefore comments,
“Spirituality is the Reality of our existence. Physics lives
Evolutionists have attempted to explain the origin and inside it only.”
development of life without first defining what life actually is.
More fundamentally, science fully depends on the prior
existence of consciousness, and therefore of life itself. A
Difference Between Living and Non-living Things
scientist cannot perform scientific activity unless he is alive and
conscious. The Changing body and the Constant Self
So long as there is life
Material scientists hope to make a complete description of all
within the body, the body
types of activities, and then explain all activity in terms of
exhibits six phases of
natural, physical law. But human beings perform a wide range
change which biologists
of activities - personal, interpersonal, cultural, aesthetic and
cannot explain in terms of
spiritual. Can all of these or for that matter any of these be
the laws of physics and
explained in scientific terms? Will, for example, a neurologist
chemistry: (1) conception
do a brain scan of his wife when he finds that she is upset with
(2) growth (3)
him?
maintenance (4)
reproduction (5) aging and
(6) death. Moreover
although an individual’s
outer qualities change with
time, the factual existence
of the conscious individual
does not change. I can
remember when “I” was five, “I” was ten, “I” was fifteen. The
bodies that I had at those times have completely disappeared
and yet “I” remain and remember quite vividly the experiences
I had previously. Thus there is an essential difference between
body and the self – the body changes but the self remains
constant.
The Mystery of Consciousness body, because they are blind to see anything beyond chemicals.
The Vedic texts, which are the most ancient body of knowledge
Your loved ones can, just by their presence, make love spring available to man, give a clear-cut understanding about the
in your heart. A programmed computer, on the other hand, can universally observable differences between living body and
say, “I love you” a million times but even a fool will not dead matter.
consider reciprocating with the so-called love of the computer.
Why? Because your loved ones are conscious whereas the The conscious awareness with which we do our activities
computer is not. indicates the presence of a form of energy, which is not
manifest in inert systems of dead matter. The Vedic texts state
While machines perform certain activities that could duplicate that this energy is the self-energy (also known as the soul or the
those of a human being, all the actions of the machine are atman). As long as the self-energy is present in the body, the
reducible to a mechanistic explanation. But in the case of a body is alive. When the self-energy leaves the body, the body is
human being endowed with conscious awareness, such a termed ‘dead’.
mechanistic approach fails. Even Thomas Huxley pointed out
the irreducible nature of consciousness, “I understand the main External Functions of Self-Energy
tenet of materialism to be that there is nothing in the universe
but matter or force … It seems to me pretty plain that there When self-energy is present in the body, we interact with the
is a third thing in the universe, to wit, consciousness, world in three special ways:
which… I cannot see to be matter or force, or any
conceivable modification of either.” (1) Perception: We perceive the characteristics of the world of
matter through the senses.
Erwin Schrodinger, a Nobel Laureate and pioneer in quantum (2) Mental Ability: Thinking, feeling and desiring; We think
physics, has also pointed out the distinction between the self about the different qualities of the world; we have feelings
and our world of experience, “So, in brief, we do not belong to in relation to our perceptions and thoughts; and we desire to
this material world that science constructs for us. We are not in perform different activities.
it, we are outside. We are only spectators. The reason why we (3) Purposeful Activity: We act through the hands, legs, power
believe that we are in it… is that our bodies are in the picture. of speech etc., in order to achieve our desired goals.
Our bodies belong to it.”
Internal Qualities of Self-Energy
The Vedic Paradigm – Self-Energy Besides interacting with the world around us, we also have
three inner dimensions of existence:
M aterial scientists are unable to clearly differentiate
between matter and spirit, or a dead body and a living
(1) Non-temporal, fishes having learning ability, feelings, moods and other sense
Individual Self- reactions.
Existence: Internally we
experience our sense of Relationships, The Basis of Self-Existence
“I-ness” persisting
Relationship is the basis
through time. Externally
of the three inner qualities
every person acts as an
of self-existence. We
individual. We consider
understand and
others as individual. We
experience our individual
generally think it right,
identity in terms of
proper and natural to
relationship with the
protect the self-
world around us.
existence of ourselves
Relationship is the basis
and others. Each individual person has his or her own
on which we expand our
individual mode of perception and of mental and physical
knowledge and
activity.
awareness, for we
(2) Knowing Awareness: We have factual information about the
understand something
world around us, and we also have the experimental
new by examining its
knowledge of, for example, standing, walking, riding a
relationship with what we
bicycle or skating. Not only do we have knowledge and
already know. Similarly,
experience, but we like to increase them. We also like to
relationship is the
think of ourselves as being knowledgeable and experienced.
principle underlying our
(3) Satisfaction: We could not tolerate being alive without
satisfaction, for we find satisfaction and happiness in
some degree of satisfaction. Satisfaction expands into
relationship with people, objects and ideas.
happiness, bliss and ecstasy. We are always trying to
increase our own happiness. On the whole, we also respect
If material scientists are to give a physical explanation for the
others’ happiness, and if possible we act so that they can
properties of living systems, they must be able to explain how
also become happier.
matter could develop the capacities for perception, mental
ability and purposeful activity, how it could acquire an intuitive
These three internal qualities of self are the basis of our daily
sense of non-temporal, individual self-existence, knowing
existence. These internal qualities are evident, not only in
awareness and satisfaction and how it could develop the ability
human beings, but also in animals, although in a more covered
to perceive and respond to relationships. But there is no
way. Biologists have reported cases of mammals, birds and
prospect of such an explanation. Because not only do
molecules, atoms, and electrons lack life symptoms, but also believes there is a soul,” he
the chemical view of life fails to correspond with life’s thought the time had come
observed subtleties – human being’s unique feeling, willing “to take the mystery out of
and thinking capacities, for example. Self-energy is therefore this and find out what it is.”
a form of energy that is quite distinct from material energy.
Bigelow was a member of a
panel which appeared
Soul Research
before the Essex County
Medical-Legal Society to
I n 1972, a distinguished panel met in Windsor, Ontario,
Canada, and discussed “problems associated with attempts to
define the exact moment of death.” Panel members included
discuss problems associated
with attempts to define the
exact moment of death. The
world-famous heart surgeon Dr. Wilfred G. Bigelow, Mr. question has become vital in
Justice Edson L. Haines of the Ontario Supreme Court, and J. the age of transplants of
Francis Leddy, president of the University of Windsor. Dr. hearts and other organs in
Bigelow upheld the existence of the soul and urged systematic cases when the donors are inevitably dying.
research to determine what the soul is and where it comes from.
Dr. Bigelow’s and other panelists’ comments were later The Canadian Medical Association has produced a widely
published in the Montreal Gazette. When the article came to the accepted definition of death as the moment when the patient is
attention of Srila Prabhupada, he wrote a letter to Dr. Bigelow in coma, responds to no stimulus of any kind, and brain waves
offering substantial Vedic knowledge of the science of the soul recorded on a machine are flat. The other members of the panel
and suggested a practical method for scientifically were Mr. Justice Edson L. Haines of the Ontario Supreme
understanding it. The Gazette article and Srila Prabhupada ‘s Court and J. Francis Leddy, president of the University of
response follow. Windsor.
Gazette Headline: Bigelow, elaborating on points he had raised during the

discussion, said in an interview later that his thirty-two years
Heart Surgeon Wants to Know What a Soul Is
as a surgeon had left him no doubts that there is a soul.
WINDSOR–A world-famous Canadian heart surgeon says he “There are certain cases where you happen to be present at the
believes the body has a soul, which departs at death and moment when people pass from a living state to death, and
theologians ought to try to find out more about it. some mysterious changes take place. One of the most
noticeable is the sudden lack of life or luster to the eyes. They
Dr. Wilfred G. Bigelow, head of the cardiovascular surgery unit become opaque and literally lifeless. It’s difficult to document
at Toronto General Hospital, said that “as a person who
what you observe. In fact, I don’t think it can be documented boyhood, from boyhood to youth, and then to advanced old
very well.” age. Then the change called death takes place when we change
to a new body, just as we change our old dress to a new dress.
Bigelow, who became world renowned for his pioneering work This is called transmigration of the soul.
in the “deep freeze” surgical technique known as hypothermia
and for his heart valve surgery, said “soul research” should be When a soul wants to enjoy this material world, forgetting his
undertaken by theology and allied disciplines within the real home in the spiritual world, he takes this life of hard
university. struggle for existence. This unnatural life of repeated birth,
death, disease, and old age can be stopped when his
Some sections of a reply written by the founder-acharya of consciousness is dovetailed with the supreme consciousness of
ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada, are given below: God. That is the basic principle of our Krishna movement.
Srila Prabhupada Gives the Vedic Evidence As far as heart transplant is concerned, there is no question of
success unless the soul is there in the heart. So the presence of
My dear Dr. Bigelow: the soul has to be accepted. In sexual intercourse, if there is no
soul, there is no conception, no pregnancy………..
Please accept my greetings.
Recently I have read an article in the The undertaking of “soul research” would certainly mark the
Gazette by Rae Corelli entitled advancement of science. But advancement of science will not
“Heart Surgeon Wants to Know be able to find the soul. The soul’s presence can simply be
What a Soul Is,” and it was very accepted on circumstantial understanding. You will find in the
interesting. Your comments show Vedic literature that the dimension of the soul is one ten-
great insight, and so I thought to thousandth the size of a point. The material scientist cannot
write you on this matter. …… measure the length and breadth of a point. Therefore it is not
possible for the material scientist to capture the soul. You can
Undoubtedly the soul is present in simply accept the soul’s existence by taking it from authority.
the heart of the living entity, and it What the greatest scientists are finding, we’ve explained long
is the source of all the energies for maintaining the body. The ago.
energy of the soul is spread all over the body, and this is known
as consciousness. Since this consciousness spreads the energy As soon as one understands the existence of the soul, he can
of the soul all over the body, one can feel pains and pleasures in immediately understand the existence of God. The difference
any part of the body. The soul is individual, and he is between God and the soul is that God is a very great soul, and
transmigrating from one body to another, just as a person the living entity is a very small soul; but qualitatively they are
transmigrates from babyhood to childhood, from childhood to
equal. Therefore God is all-pervading, and the living entity is Kovoor to prove his statement that life originates from chance
localized. But the nature and quality are the same. biochemical combinations. ISKCON publicly offered
Dr.Kovoor Rs 5,00,000 ($60,000) if he could create any form
…….There is a bona fide method for the attainment of spiritual of life – a mouse, a cat, a mosquito or any other plainly visible
perfection by the spiritual spark of soul, and if he is properly creatures – from inert chemicals. The ‘Sunday Times’ ran this
guided then he is very easily sent back home, back to Godhead, story:
wherefrom he originally fell.
“The high priest of Sri Lanka rationalists, Dr. Abraham T.
It will be a great contribution to human society if this Kovoor, who has been challenging people for decades to prove
authorized information from the Vedic literature is presented to the existence of God, the soul and rebirth, is now on the
the modern world on the basis of modern scientific receiving end. ISKCON has now challenged Dr. Kovoor to
understanding. The fact is already there. It simply has to be prove his contention that life originated from matter.”
presented for modern understanding.
“‘We, the members of the Hare Krishna movement are openly
Yours sincerely, challenging him to produce any form of life, even a mosquito,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami by mixing chemicals together. If he cannot substantiate his
theory, he should remain silent forever’ say the ISKCON
A Challenge to an Atheist members.”
“They will be waiting for Dr. Kovoor at the Ramakrishna

T he Rationalist Association is an organization especially
dedicated to disproving the existence of God and the soul.
On August 14, 1977, the Colombo (Sri Lanka) ‘Sunday Times’
Mission Hall on September 20, at 6:30 pm. Admission will be
free to the public.”
published an article by Dr. Abraham T. Kovoor, president of Having been challenged to demonstrate that he could create life
the Sri Lanka branch of the Rationalist Association, entitled, “Is at a public meeting, Dr Kovoor declined to attend, saying that
There Life After Death?” In this article, Dr. Kovoor maintained he would not feel obliged to demonstrate that he could create
that life is merely a complex chemical activity and that the soul life unless God Himself were to appear in person to
cannot survive death, since there is actually no such thing as the demonstrate the same thing. The ‘Times’ reported this with the
soul. This article led to a heated debate, both in the ‘Sunday headline “Flummoxed Kovoor Passes the Buck.”
Times’ and in correspondence between Dr. Kovoor and
members of the Sri Lanka branch of the International Society Suggested reading: The Appendix of the book ‘Life comes from
for Krishna Consciousness. Life’ entitled “The Challenge”.
After the ‘Sunday Times’ had printed a few exchange of
articles, the Hare Krishna movement publicly challenged Dr.
Verse for Chapter
Chapter 2 sarva yonishu kaunteya murtayah sambhavanti yah

tasam brahma mahad yonir aham bija pradah-pitah
“It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti,

are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am
the seed-giving father.” (Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-gita 14.4)
Chapter Preview
Evolution is today portrayed as a scientific fact through books
and exhibits, making creation appear to be an outdated
sentimental belief. This chapter however presents the actual
verdict of the final court of appeal, the fossil record. It presents
the evolution theory for what it actually is, stripped off all the
bombastic word jugglery that it takes shelter of, so that the
Your Glorious
intelligent reader can decide for himself whether evolution is
anything more than a biological mythology.
Ancestors - The theory of evolution teaches that the first living organism
developed from non-living matter. Then, as it reproduced, it is
A Pack of Apes? said to have changed into different kinds of living beings,
producing ultimately all the forms of life that have ever existed
on earth, including humans. And all of this is believed to have
been accomplished without intelligent direction.
Creation as opposed to evolution is the conclusion that the

appearance of living beings can only be explained by the
existence of an Almighty who designed and made the universe
and all the basic kinds of life in it.
In the previous chapter, we saw how there is no evidence of life

emerging from dead matter. In this chapter we will study
Your Glorious Ancestors - A Pack of Apes? 29 30 Your Secret Journey
whether the evolution of with front limbs changing into bird wings, back limbs changing
species from lower life into legs with claws, scales changing into feathers and mouths
forms to higher actually changing into horny beaks.
took place.
If living beings came into being by an act of creation, there
If evolution of species is to would be no partial, unfinished bones or organs in the fossil
be a scientific concept, it record. All fossils would be complete and highly complex, as
must stand the test of the living beings are today.
scientific method:
In addition, if living beings were created, they would be
expected to appear suddenly in the fossil record unconnected to
anything before them. And if this was found to be true, what
1) Are there exact details about which forms
then? Darwin frankly admitted, “If numerous species…
evolved into which new forms in the past? have really started into life at once, the fact would be fatal
to the theory of evolution.”
F ossils are the remains of ancient forms of life preserved in

the earth’s crust. These may be skeletons or parts of them
such as bones, teeth or shells. A fossil also may be some trace
How Complete Is the Record?
of the activity of what was once alive such as an imprint or a However, is the fossil record complete enough for a fair test of
trail. Living beings on earth today are not seen to be evolving whether it is a creation or evolution that finds support? Over a
into something else. Instead, they are all complete in form and century ago, Darwin did not think so. What was “wrong” with
distinct from other types. It was felt that at least fossils would the fossil record in his time? It did not contain the transitional
provide the confirmation that the theory of evolution needed. links required to support his theory. The fossil record in
Darwin’s day proved disappointing to him.
What to Look For
Darwin attempted to explain these huge problems by attacking
If evolution were a fact, the fossil evidence would surely reveal the fossil record. He said, “I look at the geological record as a
a gradual changing from one kind of life into another. Also, if history of the world imperfectly kept, imperfect to an extreme
evolution were founded in fact, the fossil record would be degree.” It was assumed by him and others that as time passed
expected to reveal beginnings of new structures in living things. the missing fossil links surely would be found.
There should be at least some fossils with developing arms,
legs, wings, eyes and other bones and organs. For instance, Now after well over a century of extensive digging, vast
there should be fish fins changing into amphibian legs with feet numbers of fossils have been unearthed. Is the record still so
and toes, and gills changing into lungs. There should be reptiles “imperfect”? Smithsonian Institution scientist Porter Kier adds,
“There are a hundred million fossils, all catalogued and never be filled.” (Synthetische Artbildung (The Synthetic
identified, in museums around the world.” Hence, A Guide to Origin of Species) by Heribert Nilson)
Earth History declares, “By the aid of fossils palaeontologists
can now give us an excellent picture of the life of past ages.” What Fossil Record Says about the
After all this time and the assembling of millions of fossils, Origin of Living Things
what does the record now say? Steven Stanley states that these On Insects:
fossils “reveal new and surprising things about our biological “The fossil record does not give any information on the origin
origins”. What is it that is so “surprising” about the fossil of insects.” – Encyclopaedia Britannica
record? What has confounded evolutionary scientists is the fact
that the massive fossil evidence now available reveals the very “There are no fossils known that show what the primitive
same thing that it did in Darwin’s day: basic kinds of living ancestral insects looked like.” – The Insects
beings appeared suddenly and did not change appreciably for
long periods of time. No transitional links between one major On Fish:
kind of living thing and another have ever been found. So what “To our knowledge, no ‘link’ connected this new beast to any
the fossil record says is just the opposite of what was previous form of life. The fish just appeared.” – Marvels and
expected. Mysteries of Our Animal World
Professor of Natural Science John N. Moore reported, “…some On Reptiles Becoming Mammals:
120 scientists, all specialists, prepared 30 chapters in a “There is no missing link (that connects) mammals and
monumental work of over 800 pages to present the fossil record reptiles.” – The Reptiles
for plants and animals divided into about 2500 groups. Each
major form or kind of plant and animal is shown to have a
separate and distinct history from all the other forms or kinds!
Groups of both plants and animals appear suddenly in the fossil
record…. Whales, bats, horses, primates, elephants, hares,
squirrels, etc., are all as distinct at their first appearance as they
are now.”
Swedish botanist Heribert Nilsson after 40 years of his own

research described: “The fossil material is now so complete that
… the lack of transitional series cannot be explained as due to
the scarcity of material. The deficiencies are real, they will
On Apes: the newer layers. In instances where there genuinely has been
“Modern Apes, for instance, seem to have sprung out of movement of one layer over another, the junction between the
nowhere. They have no yesterday, no fossil record.” – Science two strata consists of a layer of fractured and ground rock. In
Digest many of the cases where strata are, according to evolutionists,
in the “wrong order”, the layers are several kilometers thick and
From Ape to Man: the junction between the layers has sharp contact and shows no
“No fossil or other physical evidence directly connect man to sign at all of movement. For example, at the strata at Glarus,
ape.” – Science Digest Switzerland, ‘ancient’ fossils are found above ‘recent’ fossils.
‘Wrong order’ fossil sequences clearly contradict the theory of
Fossils Appear in ‘Wrong’ Order evolution of species. Is it logical to maintain belief in a theory
that so directly contradicts the evidences from the fossil record?
The problems with the fossil record do not stop there.
According to evolution theory, species should appear in the Record of the Rocks Contradict Darwin’s Theory
fossil record roughly in the order in which they evolved. The
oldest forms should appear in The date of origin of modern man according to Darwin is
the lowest rock strata and the 40,000 years. But the record of the rocks show the origin of
most recent forms should appear modern man several million years ago. Anamolous evidence
in the highest layers. There are concerning human remains raises major questions about the
hundreds of examples all over evolution theory.
the world of fossils appearing in
the wrong order. “Fossils of According to the conventional speculative view, hominids, or
many-celled animals appear manlike creatures, began to evolve from apelike ancestors in
before remains of single-celled Africa about 4 million years ago. The early hominids from this
animals in the fossil record.” period (4-2 million years ago) are known as
(Moore, 1964). This indicates ‘australopithecenes’, beings with manlike bodies and apelike
that many-celled animals did not heads. There is further development of ‘australopithecenes’ to
evolve from single-celled ‘homo habilis’, which appeared about 2 million years ago.
animals. Supposed “ancestors” ‘Homo erectus’ evolved from ‘homo habilis’ about 1.5 million
appear in rocks which are higher years ago and migrated to Europe and Asia.
up than their supposed
“descendents”. About 2,00,000 to 3,00,000 years ago, the very first
representatives of ‘homo sapiens’ appear, but these are not
Evolutionists attempt to explain quite like modern human beings. From this species, about
that the oldest layers slid over 100,000 years ago Neanderthal man develops and spreads
throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. About 40,000 disappears from the scene. The rudiments of modern
years ago fully modern man is thought to have evolved in the civilisation begin 10,000 years ago.
Near East or Asia. Called homo sapiens sapiens, the new
species then enter Europe and replaces Neanderthal man, who According to the standard accounts, this whole development
took place in the Old World. The only humans ever to have
existed in the New World are fully modern men who migrated
there from Asia no earlier than 30,000 years ago.
This is the standard scenario, yet much evidence has turned up

that challenges it. We shall now review some of this evidence
and examine how scientists have responded to it.
At Border Cave in South Africa paleontologists have made

fossil discoveries. They have concluded, “anatomically
modern homo sapiens (homo sapiens sapiens) originated at
some as yet uncertain time prior to about 110,000 years
before the present” (South African Journal of Science,
Vol.74). This differs substantially from the standard
version, with its date of 40,000 years ago for the origin of
modern man in Asia or the Near East.
In 1962, archaeologist Cynthia Irwin-Williams excavated stone

artifacts, including spearpoints, representative of a technology
usually associated with fully modern (Cro-Magnon) man in
Europe at an archaeological site at Valsequillo in Southern
Mexico. In 1972 and 1973 a team of dating experts, including
geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey, using several
independent dating techniques, found that the layers in
which the artifacts were found were about 250,000 years
old.
The Valsequillo artifacts thus present a far greater challenge to

the accepted view of human evolution than the Border Cave
finds. The date is twice as old.
species, which we may call “breeding species” and “evolution

Fossil Record is the Final Court of appeal species”. “Breeding species” are always very similar in bodily
form to the parent species, and the two breeding species are
Thus the fossil record of various species shows that while there often physically indistinguishable. Breeding produces
was great variety within each species, these had no links to variations but not new species. Scientists have tried to keep
evolutionary ancestors before them. Nor did they have any changing various animals and plants indefinitely by
evolutionary links to different kinds of living beings that came crossbreeding. They wanted to see, if, in time, they could
after them. develop new forms of life. ‘On Call’ reports, “Breeders usually
find that after a few generations, an optimum is reached beyond
Zoologist Coffin stated, “To secular scientists, the fossils, which further improvement is impossible, and there has been
evidences of the life of the past, constitute the ultimate and no new species formed. Breeding procedures, therefore, would
final court of appeal, because the fossil record is the only seem to refute, rather than support evolution.”
authentic history of life available to science. If this fossil
history does not agree with evolutionary theory – and we have Genetic mutation produces variations but not new species
seen that it does not – what does it teach? It tells us that plants
and animals were created in their basic forms. The basic facts Evolutionists say that various changes inside the nucleus of the
of the fossil record support creation, not evolution.” cell play their part. And foremost among these are the
Astronomer Carl Sagan candidly acknowledged in his book “accidental” changes known as mutations. How do mutations
‘Cosmos’, “The fossil evidence could be consistent with the originate? It is thought that most of them occur in the normal
idea of a Great Designer.” process of cell reproduction. But experiments have shown that
they also can be caused by external agents such as radiation and
2) Is there any clear, direct evidence that one
species changes into another?
N o one has seen one species change into another. The fossil
record also fails to give direct evidence for the gradual
change of one species into another. Species are stable
permanent forms.
Breeding is not Evolution

Evolutionists sometimes claim to have observed or caused the
appearance of new species (Ridley, 1982) but their claim
depends on the confusion between two different kinds of
chemicals. Mutations are likened to “accidents” in the genetic

machinery. But accidents cause harm, not good.
Since the early 1900’s scientists have exposed millions of fruit

flies to X rays. Mutations never produced anything new. The
fruit flies had malformed wings, legs and bodies, and other
distortions, but they always remained fruit flies. And when
mutated flies were mated with each other, it was found that
after a number of generations, some normal fruit flies began to
hatch. Genetic mutation in flies produces variations but not new
species. Hence, this example of “new species” appearing has
nothing to do with evolution, because “evolution species” must
necessarily have quite distinct bodily forms (Newell, 1982).
The dog family has many varieties, but dogs always remain
dogs either by breeding or by mutation. Thus ‘Scientific
American’ also observes, “Living beings are enormously
Suppose we are discussing the species intermediate between a
diverse in form, but form is remarkably constant within any
mammal and its supposed ancestor among the fishes. Evolution
given line of descent: pigs remain pigs and oak trees remain
theory would require a regular progression of bodily form
oak trees generation after generation.”
between the fish and the mammal. Therefore when talking
about the evolution of species, we are not concerned with
mating preferences, but with bodily form. If by breeding we
produce dogs of different variety, color or shape they still
belong to the same species.
3) Can a mechanism be specified by which one

species could change into another?
N o one knows a mechanism, if at all there is, by which one

species could change into another. Geneticists and
molecular biologists are unable to say what produces biological
form. Hence, they are not at all able to say what could produce
new biological forms. Evolutionists generally assume, and thus
the lay public also accepts, that all biological form is governed
by genes. There is no evidence that this is so.
Geneticists have studied the inherited characteristics in animals

and plants, and have concluded that the patterns of inheritance
are due to entities which they call ‘genes’. These studies tell us
about variations in biological structures which already exist, but
do not tell us what caused the structures to come into being in
the first place. For instance, we may find that genes determine
the color of eyes, but that does not tell us about the origin of the
eyes themselves (Elsasser, 1975, 120).
Genes control the production of specific proteins in a living cell,
but what organizing principle arranges the proteins to make
working cells? And what organizing principle arranges cells to
produce living organisms?
Evolutionists imagine that genetic mutation could produce the
whole range of biological forms. But experience shows that genes
only control details in a particular biological form. A genetic
mutation, or change in the genetic code, only produces variations
within the species.
Haeckel’s Fraudulent Charts
Recapitulation Theory
“Recapitulation” (also called the ‘biogenetic law’) is the
evolutionary theory that, at different stages in your embryonic
development in your mother’s womb, you had the organs of
your forebears. But this speculation has been repeatedly shown
to be untrue by reputable scientists.
The scientific evidence available does not agree with the

theory. First, if the developing embryo is supposed to reenact
the stages in the evolutionary history of the race, why are so
few stages included? Why would we find some of them and Huxley were thrilled by Haeckel’s detailed illustrations
appearing in the wrong order? For example the human heart comparing embryonic development in various animals and
passed through a worm, fish, frog and reptile stage before man. They thought that someone had, at last, come forward
reaching its final form. It is true that at one stage or another the with some actual evidence for evolution.
heart in the human embryo has one chamber (as in the worm),
two chambers (as in the fish), three chambers (as in the frog), Haeckel developed his charts and used them, not only in lecture
and four chambers with the connection of the two sides (as in halls, but in books as well. In his book ‘Natural History of
the reptile). Creation’ Haeckel stated that the ova and embryos of different
animals–and also man–are, at certain periods in their
But it should be noted that the heart in human beings starts out development perfectly identical. In proof of this assertion, he
with two chambers, which fuse into one for a time. This placed, on page 242, three woodcuts that were indeed identical!
sequence actually reverses the stages of supposed evolution. If One was purported to be the ova of man, the second monkey,
‘biogenetic law’ is true, why should we not find thousands and the third a dog, each enlarged 100 times. The three
of steps instead of only a few? Why does the embryo go woodcuts were totally identical. What a striking evidence this
through some stages that could not possibly have been was to anyone who saw it!
included in the history of the animal? How can such stages
as the egg, larva, pupa, and adult of a butterfly be explained? Uncovering the fraud
So the facts as we know them lend no support to the theory of
recapitulation. “The shortcomings of this theory have been Yet it was fake. Haeckel prepared a woodcut, and then had the
almost universally pointed out by modern authors, but the idea printer print it, one above the other, three times in a column! In
still has a prominent place in biological mythology”, says Paul this book, Haeckel mentioned the sources from whence he
R Erlich in ‘Process of Evolution’. prepared his woodcuts. This greatly added to the credibility of
the woodcuts. But, of course, any scientist could check his
The Fraud sources. Rutimeyer and Hiss did just that and Haeckel was
exposed.
Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) had an overmastering obsession to
convince people that evolution was true. Like certain men after Disgusted with Haeckel’s ‘cheating tricks’, Rager said,
his time, he was willing to go to any length in providing “Haeckel was not prudish in the selection of tools for his fight.
supposed substantion for the theory. Haeckel’s theory, known In order to prove the validity of the law of biogenesis, he
as the “Law of Recapitulation” and the “Biogenetic Law” was published several figures, the original and legends of which
first suggested by Meckel (1781-1883). Karl von Baer (1792- were faked up. There are a number of other figures, the
1876) saw the error in Meckel’s idea and wrote against it. But it originals of which were changed by Haeckel in order to
was Haeckel that elevated it to the supposed status of a “law” demonstrate that human ontogeny successively passes through
and proclaimed the theory as widely as he could. Both Darwin stages of development…. This is not the first time that
Haeckel’s fake has been revealed. The well known zoologist, about the origins of animals. The Just-So Stories (1902) are
Ludwig Rutimeyer protested against it….. The law of fanciful explanations of how…the camel got his hump (rolling
biogenesis has to use cheating tricks in order to fit data to the around in lumpy sand dunes). Modeled on the folktales of tribal
theory.” peoples, they express humor, morality or whimsy in
‘explaining’ how various animals gained their special
Michael Pitman, a doctorate of science said, “To support his characteristics.
case Haeckel began to fake evidence. Charged with fraud by
five professors and convicted by a university court at Jena, he “Not long ago”, writes science historian Michael Ghiselin,
agreed…. drawing were forgeries; he was merely filling in “Biological literature was full of ‘just-so’ stories and pseudo-
and reconstructing the missing links when the evidence was explanations about structures that had developed ‘for the good
thin, and he claimed unblushingly that hundreds of the best of the species’. Times have not changed; in fact the things are
observers and biologists lie under the same charge.” getting worse. Darwin’s book was full of just-so explanations,
and modern theorists continue in the tradition…”
But Evolutionists keep publishing them
Several scientists protested against Haeckel’s fakeries, but it When they are written for little people, they are called fairy
was all to no avail. Evolutionists gleefully keep reprinting tales; but when prepared for big people, they are called “the
Haeckel’s charts over and over again. Even after 1960, they frontiers of evolutionary science.” Gather around and listen
were still being printed in reputable science textbooks! Here are closely, for only the gullible could find them believable! For
several of them: Edward Dodson, ‘Evolution’ (1960), William the purpose of comparison, the first and third stories will be by
Bloom and Carl, ‘General Biology’ (1962), Tracy and Robert, Uncle Charlie and the second will be by Rudyard Kipling. See
‘General Zoology’ (1965), Tracy, Robert and James, ‘Elements if you can tell the difference.
of Zoology’ (1968), Richard, ‘Illustrated Origin’ (1971).
1) Where the Whale Came From
Fairy Tales for Big People Charles Darwin explains in his book ‘Origin of Species’ (1964
edition, page 184) how the “monstrous whale” originated:
T he facts of nature cannot be explained by the simplistic

theories of evolutionists, but the evolutionists keep trying.
Here are some of the funniest stories you have ever heard. But
“In North America the black bear was seen by Hearne
swimming for hours with wide open mouth, thus catching like a
you are not supposed to laugh. For this is evolutionary whale, insects in water. Even in so extreme a case as this, if the
“science”. supply of insects were constant, and if better adapted
competitors did not already exist in the country, I can see no
Rudyard Kipling, in addition to his journalism and adventure difficulty in a race of bears by natural selection, more and more
stories is remembered for a series of charming children’s tales
3) How The Giraffe Got Its Long Neck

The giraffe used to look just like other grazing animals in
Africa, but while the other animals were content to eat the
grasses in the field and leaves on the lower branches, the giraffe
felt that the survival of his fittest depended on reaching up and
plucking leaves from still higher branches. This went on for a
time, as he and his brothers and sisters kept reaching ever
higher. Only those that reached the highest branches of leaves
survived. All the other giraffes in the meadow died from
starvation, all because they were too proud to bend down and
aquatic in their structure and habits, with larger and larger eat the lush vegetation that all the other animals were eating. So
mouths till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale.” only the longest-necked giraffes had enough food to eat. All the
other giraffes starved to death. Sad story; don’t you think? But
that is the story of how giraffe grew its long neck.
2) How The Elephant Got Its Long Nose
We have slipped one story in here that was written for children, Picture the tragic tale: Dead
not for adults. But, really now, there isn’t much difference. giraffes lying about in the
grass while the short-necked
Once a baby elephant was not staying close to his mamma as he grazers such as antelope
was supposed to. Wandering away, he saw the bright shiny walked by them, having
river and stepped closer to investigate. There was a bump plenty to eat. Were there
sticking out of the water; and, wondering what it was, he leaned necks too long by that time
forward to get a closer look. Suddenly that bump – with all that to bend down to eat grass?
was attached to it – jumped up and grabbed the nose of the little No; every giraffe has to
elephant. bend its neck to get water to
drink. Darwin’s giraffes died
Kipling continues the story: “Then the elephant’s child sat back of starvation, not thirst. That
on his little haunches and pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and is how the giraffe acquired
his nose began to stretch. And the crocodile floundered toward its long neck, according to
the bank, making the water all creamy with great sweeps of his the pioneer thinkers who
tail; and he pulled, and pulled, and pulled.” – Rudyard Kipling, gave us our basic
Children’s story (1983) evolutionary theories.
And that is how the elephant got its long nose.
“So under nature with the nascent giraffe, the individuals which experts knew of any fossil evidence proving that any fish had
were the highest browsers and were able to, during dearths, to ever grown legs and feet and began walking on land!
reach even an inch or two above the others, will often have
been preserved… By this process long-continued…combined 5) When The Whale Got Back Into The Water
no doubt in a most important manner with the inherited effects
of increased use of parts, it seems to me almost certain that any Adapting Darwin’s theory that a land animal, the bear, changed
ordinary hoofed quadruped might be converted into a giraffe.” - itself into a whale, evolutionists went ahead and made it an
Charles Darwin, ‘Origin of Species’, p.202. even more complex fish story. With serious face, they declare
that after that fish got out of water and began walking, it then
changed itself into a land animal. But this one stepped back into
Biologist Luther D. Sunderland compares the tall tale with
the water and became a whale!
scientific information in ‘Darwin’s Enigma’ (1988), p.83-84,
“It is speculated by neo-Darwinists that some ancestor of the
This story is even more stretched than Kipling’s story about
giraffe gradually got longer and longer bones in the neck and
the crocodile stretching the elephant’s nose. A mammal walked
legs over millions and years. If this were true one might predict
into the ocean and – instead of drowning – continued to live for
that there would be fossils showing some of the intermediate
the rest of its life as it swam around in the ocean! That is really
forms or perhaps some living forms today with medium-sized
a fish story! Gradually it and its offspring made changes so that
necks. Absolutely no such intermediates have been found
they could get about easier in the ocean. But how did it survive
among the fossils. Evolutionists cannot explain why the giraffe
until those changes were made?
is the only four-legged creature with a really long neck and yet
everything else (without the long neck) survived. Many short-
“Particularly difficult to accept as chance processes are those
necked animals, of course, existed side by side in the same
prolonged changes which lead to a new life-style, such as the
locale as the giraffe. Darwin even mentioned this possible
evolution of birds from reptiles or – perhaps odder – the return
criticism in ‘The Origin’ but tried to ignore it.”
of mammals to a life in the sea, as in the case of dolphins and
whales.” - G.R. Taylor, ‘Great Evolution Mystery’ (1983),
4) How The Catfish Learned To Walk p.160.
There is a fish or two known to walk on land for a short
distance, and then jump back into the water. But there are none Even Gould classifies them as children’s stories, “What good is
that stay there and change into reptiles! Several paleontologists half a jaw or half a wing…These tales, in the ‘Just-So Stories’
were interviewed about the great evolutionary “fish story” – the tradition of evolutionary natural history, do not prove
first fish that began walking on land–which then became the anything... concepts salvaged only by facile speculation do not
grandpa of all the land animals. Although this is a basic appeal much to me.” – Stephen Jay Gould, “The Return of
teaching of evolutionary theory, none of the interviewed Hopeful Monsters,” 1977.
Creation or Evolution?
Mutations: net result beneficial; Mutations harmful to complex life; Small mutations harmful, large
Language evolved from simple Language contemporaneous with Language contemporaneous with
Life evolved from nonlife by chance Life comes only from previous life; 1) Life comes only from previous
1) sudden appearance of complex
No new kinds gradually appearing,

no
incompletely formed bones or
2) No way to form complex genetic
2) each new kind separate from
ones lethal; never result in
Civilisation appears with man; any

man; cave dwellers were contemporary
animal sounds into complex man; ancient languages complex man; ancient ones often more
previous kinds; no linking forms
W hen we compare what has been found in the real world to
varieties;
Facts as Found in
what evolution predicted and to what creation predicted,

The Real World
it is apparent which model fits the facts and which one conflicts
complex then modern

with them. The evidence from the world of living beings
life in great variety; around us, and from the fossil record of things that lived long
many
code by chance
with civilisation
ago, testifies to the same conclusion: Life was created; it did
Fossils show:
anything new
not evolve. Life did not get its start in some unknown primeval
although
“soup”. Humans did not get here by way of apelike ancestors.
organs
Instead, living beings were created in abundance as distinct
originally created by an intelligent life
family types. Each could multiply in great variety within its

suddenly
New kinds arising gradually; No new kinds gradually appearing;

beginnings of incomplete bones no incomplete bones or organs, but
2) gaps separating major kinds; no
own “kind”, but could not cross the boundary separating

different kinds. That boundary, as can be clearly observed in
do not result in anything new
living things, is enforced by sterility. And the distinction
and organs in various transitional all parts completely formed
with
Creation Model
appearing in great variety;
between kinds is protected by each one’s unique genetic

Predictions of
forms
machinery.
complex to begin with
Fossils should show:
arising out of crude, brutish Contemporaneous
However, there is much more that testifies to a Creator than just

complex
and complete
linking forms
the facts fitting the predictions of the creation model. The

Origin of civilisation gradual, Civilisation
evidence is not just the bunch of bones dug from earth but the
Creator
marvels of the whole awesome universe down to the intricate

designs in the microscopic world.
1)
linking
1) simple life forms originating
Evolution: A Biological Mythology
W hen the theory of evolution is stripped off the bombastic

Evolution Model
forms
Predictions of
word jugglery by which evolutionists try to cover its

generate new features
Fossils should show:
reality, what does it actually say?

chemical evolution
modern languages
“Long ago and far away, there was a pile of sand by the
transitional
previous ones
seashore. It looked just like regular sand, and so it was. Water

beginnings
was lapping at the shore. It looked just like regular water, and
gradually;
so it was. Then a storm arose and lightning flashed. Nothing

stages
2)
ran for cover, for nothing was The well-known evolutionist Loren Eiseley therefore conceded,
alive. Then the bolt of lightning “After having chided the theologian for his reliance on myth
hit the water–and a living and miracle, science found itself in the unenviable position of
creature came into existence. It having to create a mythology of its own: namely, the
swam around for a time, had assumption that what, after long effort, could not be proved to
children and later, descendants. take place today, had, in truth, taken place in the primeval
Thousands of years later it past.”
gradually figured out how to
invent various organs necessary How Does Evolution Theory Matter for You?
for survival (such as heart and kidneys). And they eventually
learned how to reproduce and bear young ones.”
The story would only work for children below six. Above that,
I n the previous two chapters we have discussed a few of the
many inherent fallacies in the theory of evolution. A question
may arise: What is the relevance of all this discussion about the
they would reply, “Come on, now, you’re just fibbing!” A validity or invalidity of a scientific theory to our day-to-day
competent geneticist would die laughing. Yet this is essentially lives? In this section we will discuss how evolutionary theory
what evolutionary theory teaches. and the social philosophy resulting from it are primarily
responsible for the immorality, degradation, violence and
Concern not yourself with foolish prattle by men of science overall chaos that the world is experiencing today.
about DNA and amino acid codes, concentrated chemical
compounds, continuing need for energy, food requirements, Before the rise of modern science, religion played a leading
necessity for complex male and female reproduction systems, role in guiding society. The mass of people understood that the
cell contents, bone construction, hormones, gastrointestinal principles governing the universe were subtle and
system, brain, heart, nerves, circulatory system, lymphatics, and supramundane. Understanding that the universe had a divine
all the rest. Be content with the tale as it reads: “Lightning hit origin and purpose, they accepted the values and teachings of
some seawater and changed into a living organism, and then the religious texts given by God and lived accordingly. Such a
that organism had enough brains to continually redo its DNA civilization teaches one how to remain satisfied with the gifts of
coding so it could gradualy change into transitional forms and nature, live in harmony with God and inquire about the purpose
make itself into ever-new species.” Ignore the fact that it never of life. But in the modern times, enamoured by the glitter of so-
happens today, and no evidence is available that it has ever called technological progress, people have relegated religion to
occurred in the past. Those enamored with the story give no the background. Science and technology determine the values,
thought to scientific facts which forbid it. assumptions and goals of modern society. While blaming
religion for propagating blind faiths, atheistic modern scientists
propagate theories like the evolution theory, which demand
unreasonable faith in speculations that are unverified and often

unverifiable. And most importantly evolution floods the schools and the
media with its message. Science textbooks nearly always
Evolutionary theory declares that man is but an animal and it promote the evolutionary viewpoint. The student is rarely, if
teaches that the most successful animals are those, which are ever, exposed to opposite arguments. In fact, arguments against
the first to attack and overcome others. It thus implies that evolution are prevented from appearing in school textbooks. In
savage competition and warfare are the highest good and the the magazine ‘American Laboratory’ a biochemist wrote about
best source of development. Evolutionary theory implies that his children’s schooling, “The child is not presented with
there is no God; it thus makes atheists out of people. Atheism evolution as a theory. Evolution is presented as reality, not as a
naturally breeds immorality; what is there in an atheist’s concept that can be questioned. Subtle statements are made in
worldview to inspire him to stick to morality in his pursuit of science texts as early as the second grade. The authority of the
pleasure? Evolutionary philosophy has entered every sphere of educational system then compels belief.” Regarding
life in the modern world – right from interpersonal behavior to evolutionary teaching in higher grades, he said, “A student is
business and government. The vicious principles taught by not permitted to hold personal beliefs or to state them; if the
Darwinism have thus loosed a flood of immorality and student does so, he or she is subjected to ridicule and criticism
degradation upon the world. by the instructor. Often the student risks academic loss because
his or her views are not ‘correct’ and grade is lowered.” It is
At this point a question may arise: If evolution is a fallacious only due to such intellectual tyranny that evolutionary theory
theory and it has such disastrous social consequences, why is it continues to have a hold in society today.
so widely accepted in the world?
This is primarily because evolution is portrayed as “a science”.

And most people, not having been trained to work with
scientific tools, feel themselves incompetent to successfully
reply to “science”. Yet evolution is “a false science”; it is a
concept founded on confused speculations and nonexistent
scientific facts.
Moreover it is made to appear as if all scientists support the

evolutionary theory. But as we have seen that is far from the
truth. Many reputed scientists have openly spoken against it
and there are many more scientists who do not agree with the
theory, but who fear to speak up, lest they lose their jobs.
Your Glorious Ancestors - A Pack of Apes? 57
At an individual level, a spiritual aspirant, based on the

philosophical understanding, is convinced that he is not the
body, but the soul and that there is a God who has created
everything. In the modern times, people often think that
concepts such as the soul and God are “unscientific”. But the
previous two chapters show how scientific evidence strongly
confirms the existence of a soul that animates the body and of a
God who has created all living beings.
And at a social level, if ethics, morality and a genuine purpose

to living are to be brought back, there has to be a return to faith
in God. As we have seen, evolution theory is one of the main
misconceptions that has caused people to lose their intuitive
and inherent faith in God as the Supreme Creator. Therefore a
thorough scientific refutation of the evolution theory is
absolutely essential for society to return to sanity, morality,
peace and harmony.
Verse for Chapter
Chapter 3 ascarya-vat pasyati kascid enam

ascarya-vad vadati tathaiva canyah
ascarya-vac cainam anyah srnoti
srutvapy enam veda na caiva kascit
“Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as
amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even
after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all.”
(Bhagavad-gita 2.29)
Chapter Preview
Your Cherished
Modern Mechanistic Science holds that a human being is
nothing more than a highly complex machine built from
molecular components. A representative of this view would say,
Emotions - A “It would make life simpler for us if you would in the future
say, ‘My C-fibres are firing’ instead of saying, ‘I’m in pain’.
Biophysical
No wonder that philosopher Herbert Feigl, director of
Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science, remarked,
“Scientific psychology, as the well known saying goes, having
Brain Function? first lost its soul, later its consciousness, seems finally to lose
its mind altogether.” This chapter presents startling evidences
of people with consciousness without brain. It then explains
how the Bhagavad-gita paradigm of the soul as the conscious
perceiver within the body resolves the mystery of
consciousness.
In the previous chapters, we discussed how life does not arise

from a bunch of chemicals and how one physical form does not
evolve into another. In this chapter we will discuss whether
there is a difference between a human being and a sophisticated
robot.
Your Cherished Emotions - A Biophysical Brain Function? 61 62 Your Secret Journey
Once a TV program showed a robot

performing an aratik ceremony for Lord
Balaji; the robot was rotating an incense
stick with one hand while ringing a bell
with the other. Seeing it a few
uninformed people were enamored
thinking that science has created a
human being. But an engineer would
hardly be impressed as such a system is
no more than a combination of
mechanical servomotors run in
conjunction with a microprocessing
device. When a living person performs
aratik ceremony for Lord Balaji, he is
conscious of it and he offers the
paraphernalia with love, whereas a
robot lacks any such feeling; it is just like an automobile
which moves but does not itself experience motion.
Who is the Perceiver of Pain or Pleasure?

Am I a robot?
L et us try to understand the phenomenon of pain. Pain is
experienced when a stimulus damages or threatens to
L et us consider the example of a machine that when exposed
to a red light would say, “I see red light”. Such a machine
could be built by connecting a photocell with a red filter to an
damage body tissue. When agents harmful to the system
stimulate the tissues, the nerve endings (nociceptors) produce
some chemicals that generate an electric impulse, which is then
amplifier. When triggered, the amplifier would turn on a tape
transmitted through the nerve fibres. There exists an undoubted
recorder that plays back the message, “I see red light.”
“experience” which occurs when we are subjected to painful
Although the machine declares that it ‘sees’ a red light, no one
stimuli, resulting secondarily into a specific behavioral pattern
in his right mind would imagine that it is actually ‘seeing’
like reflex withdrawal of hand on pin-prick etc. The description
anything. If the filter were changed from red to blue and the
of passage of pain says nothing about the conscious perception
remaining setup kept the same, the machine would declare, “I
of the pain. Also the conduction of impulses right upto the
see red light” on ‘seeing’ blue light!
neuronal cells in the pain centers in the subcortical region does
not reveal the actual experience of sadness and feeling of hurt makes it any different from the machines used to record the
due to pain. The description of brain even if elaborated in experimental data from the brain? The fact, however, is that a
greatest possible details, would consist of nothing more than a machine cannot feel pain while for an individual, pain is a
list of statements about electrochemical states of brain cells. reality he cannot deny. In case of human beings endowed with
Such data might have some relevance on patterns of behavior, conscious awareness, physical description is inadequate to
but they cannot explain consciousness because they do not even describe his personal experience.
refer to it.
The Bhagavad-gita affirms the presence within the body of
The reality of our conscious perception is undeniable and our distinct entity, the conscious self and establishes it as an
understanding of all other aspects of reality depends on this irreducible individual quantum or atom of consciousness. The
primeval fact. We all feel by direct perception that we have conscious self is superior to the brain and its functions. The
consciousness and it is the cause for our perception of all other situation of this conscious self can be compared to that of a
stimuli including pain. There are innumerable examples pilot flying an airplane on instruments. Since the sensory
showing how conscious awareness is entirely different from the apparatus of the body is composed of matter, this apparatus can
physical behavior associated with it. provide information only about the configuration of material
energy and their transformations and not about the soul.
For example what happens when a person accidentally strikes
his thumb with a hammer? Certain specific patterns of behavior
The Conscious Perceiver Inside the Bodily
result - the person may shout, wave his hand etc. The study of
the body’s reaction may reveal several kinds of electro- Machine
chemical changes like higher concentration of impulse
generating chemicals and so on. While these measurable effects
are part of the event, they are C onsider what happens when a person reads a book. On
reading a particular section, he may burst into tears or he
may feel joy. He becomes aware of higher-order abstract
distinct from the experience of
the pain itself. Although properties of the patterns of ink on paper that are not directly
everyone readily understands present in these physical structures. Yet none of these abstract
the sensation of pain because it properties actually exists in the book itself, nor would we
is a common conscious imagine that the book is conscious of what it records. As shown
experience it cannot be defined in figure, to establish a correlation between the book on the one
in physical terms. hand and conscious awareness of its contents on the other, there
must be a conscious person with intelligence and senses who
If brain is no more than an can read the book. Similarly a sophisticated machine may go
information processing device through various states. But the machine is not conscious of the
of these impulses, then what
state that it goes through; there Is the Brain the Seat of Consciousness?
has to be a conscious observer to
read the states of that machine.
The material body is like a M odern scientists regard the brain as the seat of
consciousness. They understand the brain to consist of
many different kinds of cells, each a molecular machine. Of
machine. As discussed above,
the bodily machine cannot be these, the nerve cells or neurons, are known to exhibit
conscious no matter how electrochemical activities roughly analogous to those of the
developed it is, because it needs logical switching elements used in computer circuitry.
Conscious awareness Although scientists at present understand the brain’s operation
the presence of another
of the plot and only vaguely, they generally conjecture that these neurons form
conscious person within the imagery of the story
body to experience things. One an information-processing network equivalent to a computer’s.
can then ask how the Thus they think that thoughts, sensations, and feelings must
consciousness of ‘this’ person inside the body is to be correspond to higher levels of brain activity, which resemble
explained. This objection presupposes that an explanation of the higher organizational levels of a complex computer
consciousness must be mechanistic. An infinite regress of this program. Just as the higher levels of such a program are
kind is in fact unavoidable unless we either give up the effort to abstract, these higher levels of brain activity must also be
understand consciousness or posit the existence of a sentient abstract.
entity that cannot be reduced to a combination of insentient
parts. The Bhagavad-gita regards conscious personality as Majority of the scientists insist that all mental phenomena are
fundamental and irreducible, and thus the ‘infinite regress’ functions of the physical
stops with the ‘atma’ or soul. This atma is endowed with brain and nothing more. One
thinking, feeling, consciousness and intentionality. of their most common
objections to the idea that
The Bhagavad-gita provides us with an account of the nature the mind could be
of the conscious being that takes us far beyond the conceptions fundamentally different
of the mechanistic worldview. While supporting the idea that from the brain is that if you
the body is a machine, this account maintains that the alter the brain the mind is
essence of conscious personality is to be found in a non- also altered. It has been
physical entity that interacts with this machine but is observed that when the
wholly distinct from it. Furthermore, one can know the true speech center of the brain is
nature of this entity only in an absolute context completely damaged, a person may
transcending the domain of machines. become unable to speak, and
that by injecting drugs into
the body, mood changes and hallucinations may result, etc. Who or what is the consciousness itself? Who sits at the brain
People therefore frequently conclude that the mind must be switch board to turn it off and on, as it were? Who starts
manifested from the physical brain, for otherwise brain states thought? Who perceives phenomena or sensations and
would not affect mental states. transforms them into ideas? The Bhagavad-gita explains that
all mental, emotional and physical life emanates from the
This is not the only possible interpretation. Such a correlation ‘atma’ or soul, the non-material entity or personality, but it
could be due to a nonphysical mind using the brain to carry out courses through the brain and the entire nervous system for
various functions, in a manner similar to an operator using a expression and manifestation. This is not a fantastic
computer. This view was held by renowned neurosurgeon proposition. The facts presented below will substantiate it.
Wilder Penfield, whose extensive investigation of brain
functions led him to conclude that, “it is, in a sense, the mind Consciousness Without Brain – Startling Facts
with its mechanisms that programs the brain” (Epilepsy,
Neurophysiology and Brain Mechanisms).
The mind may become seemingly dependent upon the brain,

I s it possible to think without using the brain? The Bhagavad-
gita answer is - yes. How? It is possible to think without
using the brain, but not necessarily without using mind. The
just as a businessman engaging a computer for inventory mind, thus, must be understood as something completely
calculation may rely on the computer for his work. Should the different from the brain. The Bhagavad-gita explains that the
computer become damaged, the businessman would certainly non-material conscious entity, the soul, is covered by a gross
become impaired in his ability to function; and if the section of and subtle covering. The gross covering, the body of flesh and
the computer memory dealing with inventory reports is wiped bones, is made up of earth, water, fire, air and ether. The subtle
out, he would be entirely unable to review his stock. If the brain covering is made up of mind, intelligence and false ego. This is
is such a computerlike instrument, then in cases of brain just like the outer coat and the inner shirt a person wears.
damage or chemical disturbance we would expect to see an
impairment of the mind’s functional capacity even though the Here the mind acts as a storehouse of thoughts, feelings,
mind is an entirely separate entity. previous experiences, unfulfilled desires and is different from
the brain. When the soul leaves one body and moves on to
Both the existence and the nature of the consciousness then another body, the subtle body also travels with the soul. Thus it
neither wholly depend on nor necessitate the presence of a is clear that the brain pertains to one physical body and is
functioning nervous system. The brain, then, is only an finished at the death of that body, whereas the mind travels
instrument with which to start thought, a sort of intellectual with the soul life after life. Both the gross and the subtle
switch board the tuning of which permits the flowing in of coverings upon the soul are material, whereas the soul is a non-
movements and life, and the closing of which checks the material being that transcends the material world. He uses these
manifestation of both sensation and ideas.
coverings in the material world only to interact with the objects stimuli.” There was no indication that the baby was abnormal
of this world. until autopsy was performed when it was discovered that the
cranial cavity contained only fluid.
In this section, we will now see actual examples of persons
who, with their brains either partially or wholly destroyed, (3) That memory remains unaffected despite brain destruction
continued to live and think normally. Many of these examples is demonstrated in the case of a man reported by Dr Gould and
are taken from the article of Vincent H. Gaddis, “With Brain Dr Pyle.
Destroyed They live & Think” in the summer issue of FATE
magazine, Vol. 1, No.2, 1948. He suffered from a cerebral tumor that ultimately caused his
death. Autopsy revealed a cavity in the brain at least five inches
(1) The first startling case is that of Phineas Gage, a railroad in length. The patient, nevertheless, not only had his sense and
foreman who, while charging a exist hole with powder locomotor muscles in perfect control up to the instant of death,
preparatory to blasting, suffered the accident of having a but also revealed excellence of memory retention by steadily
tamping - bar, three and a half feet long, driven completely memorizing poems to within two weeks of his passing.
through his skull. The bar “passed through the left anterior lobe
of the cerebrum - and made its exit at the junction of the (4) Sometimes surgical removal of brain substance, instead of
coronal and sagittal sutures, fracturing the parietal and frontal producing the expected impairment of mental functions,
bones and breaking up considerable portion of the brain.” actually brings about the opposite effect.
Removal of the bar left a hole three and a half inches in
diameter. The American Psychiatric Association reports the case of a
woman who, after one operation involving the extirpation of
Gage did not lose consciousness. In fact he walked a the entire right prefrontal lobe and most of the left lobe, became
considerable distance for medical aid. He remained completely more even-tempered, more retentive in memory and more
rational until recovery and lived normally for many years powerful in concentration.
afterward.
How did these persons manage to retain their intellectual
Today, the original bar, together with a cast of the patient’s faculties, despite the widespread and sometimes complete
skull, is on exhibition in the Harvard University Medical destruction of their brains?
Museum.
An amoeba, brainless as it is, is yet able to react to stimulation,
(2) The next startling case is that of a male infant born at St. as if it were aware or conscious of its environment. It is clear
Vincent’s Hospital, New York City, in 1935. He lived 27 days from the abovementioned events that the brain is not the control
without a brain, “but defied all orthodox concepts of center for all our thoughts, feelings and desires; rather the brain
physiology by eating, crying & reacting to pain and other
is a dead material substance that is used by the soul as a tool for Richard Rorty of Princeton states that a representative of this
perceiving phenomena or sensations and transforming them view would say to someone, “It would make life simpler for us
into ideas. All mental, emotional and physical life emanates if you would in the future say, ‘My C-fibres are firing’ instead
from the soul, the non-material entity or personality, but it of saying, ‘I’m in pain’.” The philosophers, however, are
courses through the brain and the entire nervous system for merely following the lead of modern science, which from its
expression and manifestation. very beginnings has been mechanistic.
It is thus becoming more and more evident even to positivistic Convinced about the new technology of artificial intelligence
scientists themselves that the brain is only a secondary organ research or ‘cognitive engineering’, scientists proceed on the
directed by a deeper, more subtle, non-physical source, the assumption that digital computers of sufficient speed and
soul. complexity can in fact produce all aspects of conscious
personality. Professor Arthur Harkins, director of the Graduate
The Big Scientific Dogma Futures Program at the University of Minnesota, said that “by
the year 2000, people will be getting married to robots and
society will begin to ponder the definition of ‘human’.” Such a
A strictly mechanistic approach to life cannot satisfactorily
explain consciousness. But researchers in the life sciences
now almost universally assume that a living being is nothing
boldly made blind statement did not become true by 2000, nor
will it ever become true in a million years. This vision of a
more than a highly complex machine built from molecular future humanoid computer may appear titillating, but how well
components. In the fields of philosophy and psychology, this does it tally with what it really means to be human? Our
assumption leads to the inevitable conclusion that the mind thoughts, feelings and desires lie at the very heart of what we
involves nothing more than the biophysical functioning of the all call the human experience. In their hasty dash to equate
brain. According to this viewpoint, we can define in entirely sophisticated machines with human beings, many philosophers,
mechanistic terms the words we normally apply to human psychologists and scientists have trampled upon the
personality like consciousness, perception, meaning, purpose fundamental distinctions between the two.
and intelligence.
The Dogma Bites Man
“Scientific psychology, as the well known saying goes, having
first lost its soul, later its consciousness, seems finally to lose
its mind altogether” wrote philosopher Herbert Feigl, director
of Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science. He thus
A nd what is the social consequence of equating humans
with machines? Conscience, morality ethics and values are
all thrown to the winds in the pursuit of immediate pleasure. “If
summarizes one of the most fundamental trends in modern I am going to live only once and who knows for how long, then
thought – the reduction of all spiritual and mental phenomena why wait? Beg, borrow, steal, kill, but enjoy.” The current
exclusively to biochemical brain functions. Philosopher
Your Cherished Emotions - A Biophysical Brain Function? 73
chaotic world scenario is thus a result of the misconception

propounded by science about human identity.
Thus the attempt of mechanistic science to equate human

beings with machines is both scientifically invalid and
socially disastrous. On the other hand, the Bhagavad-gita
understanding that a living person is a combination of a bodily
machine and a conscious soul is rational and logical.
Understanding that we are souls different from the body and

that we are accountable for our right and wrong acts, naturally
makes us responsible. Realizing that life in this body is no more
than a time-bound journey and that one has to change over to
another situation inspires people to naturally be moral, selfless
and compassionate. Such a God-centered life is full of purpose
and joy and eventually culminates in return to the kingdom of
God.
Body, Soul and Transmigration
P lease read the conversation between Srila Prabhupada and

Mike Robinson given in the book ‘Science of Self
Realisation’ chapter entitled, ‘Reincarnation and beyond’, page
25. Divide the class into groups and discuss the salient points
you learnt from their conversation.
Verse for Chapter
Chapter 4 väsäàsi jérëäni yathä vihäya

naväni gåhëäti naro ‘paräëi
tathä çaréräëi vihäya jérëäny
anyäni saàyäti naväni dehé
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the

soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old
and useless ones.” (Bhagavad-gita 2.22)
Chapter Preview
Reincarnation is not a ‘belief system’, a theory, or a
psychological device for escaping the fear of death, but a
Where precise science that explains our past and future lives.
Besides presenting quotes of eminent scientists and
Reincarnation and
philosophers supporting reincarnation, this chapter gives a
sensational real case history of a past-life memory studied by
a recognized scientist. It also investigates various suspicions
Science Intersect and provides scientific refutations for them, thus showing that
reincarnation is the only logical explanation for such past-life
memories. The chapter concludes by explaining the relevance
of reincarnation in our lives.
Matter and Spirit
T ry the following simple exercise. Sit alone and perform

the contemplation exercise and share your realizations
with two more friends after finishing the exercise:
Where Reincarnation & Science Intersect 77 78 Your Secret Journey
Contemplation I – The Present Contemplation III – The Future

• Sit quietly and comfortably with as little distraction as • Now project your thoughts into the future. Imagine
possible. Focus your attention on different parts of your yourself to be 80 years old. Your body is weak, your face
body and ask the following questions to yourself: wrinkled, hairs white, teeth fallen, hands and knees
• Am I the nose? Am I the hand? Am I the legs? paining due to arthritis. You are holding a stick. Now you
• If I am the body, then why do I not know details about my are going to seek admission for your grandson in an
own body? engineering college.
• Do I know how many hairs are there on my head? Do I • Try to imagine your body when it is dead: what will
know how my nails grow? happen to it, what your relatives and friends will be doing,
• Do I know how the food I eat turns into blood on one hand how arrangements will be made to carry your body to the
and stool-urine on the other? grave yard.
• I am only able to see the superficial skin and other parts of • Imagine the body being eaten by insects or animals.
the body. Imagine flames consuming it.
• Do I know everything that is happening inside my body at
the current moment? Contemplation IV – Ownership
• How is the body related to me? Is it not just a vehicle on
which I am seated? • Scan over all the previous phases of your meditation and
consider who owns the body when it is in the womb, at
Contemplation II – The Past
school, at work, at home with family, in the hospital or
• Try to remember when you were 15 years old. What was buried in the ground.
your body like then? • At what point am I ever the owner of “my” body?
• Go back further to when you were 10 years old and then to • My body has changed from childhood to youth; and is now
when you were 5 years old. changing from youth to old age.
• Try to remember a few specific instances, which stay • I can observe three things: “Although my body is getting
clearly illuminated in your memory. old and dwindling, I am always young and fresh in my
• Now try to imagine what you did when your body was 1; consciousness”, “My body is undergoing changes without
when you were making your first attempts to walk. my control or willingness”, “I am just a witness observing
• Create a mental picture of yourself within the womb of these happenings with no control over them.”
your mother - what kind of body did you possess then? • I can observe, “When I came out of my mother’s womb, I
• Note the continuous sense of identity throughout all these came out with a naked body with nothing in my hands.
bodily changes – try to see yourself as only the witness to When I die I will leave behind my home, my room, my
all these changes and events. table, my suitcase, my computer, my car, my bank balance
and cheque-book, my degree certificates, my relatives and understanding of ourselves as an eternal conscious distinct
friends etc.” Do I own all these things? Do I own all these entity, apart from the body
people?
Reincarnation: Views Of Scientists and
The above contemplation will help us to understand we Philosophers
possess a dimension of existence, which transcends all
material conditions, both gross and subtle. In fact, we do not
‘possess’ a spiritual identity; rather we are that spiritual
identity. I do not possess a soul. I am the soul who has a body,
T hrough the centuries, a surprising number of intelligent,
non-fanatical thinkers have believed in reincarnation. “I
am confident,” said Socrates, “that there truly is such a thing
mind, intellect and ego.
as living again, that the living spring from the dead, and that
the souls of the dead are in existence.”
We can sometimes replace a lost organ with an artificial one
capable of doing much the same work as its predecessor.
Ralph Waldo Emerson agreed. “The soul,” he wrote, “comes
Douglas Bader, the airman who lost both his legs, remained
from without into the human body, as into a temporary abode,
very much a complete person, and his artificial legs never
and it goes out of it anew…it passes into other habitations, for
checked his adventurous spirit. Suppose a kidney is
the soul is immortal.”
transplanted from someone else’s body into mine. Do I
experience a little of the other person’s nature mingling with
Moving on to the 20th century, ‘The San Francisco Examiner’
my own? When a person has cornea transplant he still remains
of August 26, 1928 quoted: “I adopted the theory of
the same person though seeing through a different lens. Like a
reincarnation when I was twenty-six.” This surprising
pair of spectacles, the eyes may enable sight but they do not
announcement by Henry Ford put him in the ranks of a select
themselves see.
group of 18th-, 19th-, and 20th- century Americans – Thomas
Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Tom Paine, Henry David
Once Socrates observed a cobbler using his hammer, his
Thoreau, and Walt Whitman, among others – who believed
working instrument. On observing him, Socrates thought,
that the soul, the energy that animates the body, goes on to a
“The tool of my trade is my voice. As the cobbler’s hammer is
new body when the present body dies.
an instrument that he uses, similarly my vocal chords are
instruments that I use. Therefore, I am different from my
In his classic novel of the search for spiritual truth,
body.”
Siddhartha, Nobel laureate Herman Hesse wrote, “He saw all
these forms and faces in a thousand relationships to each
The conclusion we reach is that it is “my arm, my leg, my
other....None of them died, they only changed, were always
kidney”, not “me leg, me liver”, and so on. Thus we gain an
reborn, continually had a new face: only time stood between
one face and another”.
Harvard biophysicist D. P. Dupey writes, “We may lead

ourselves down a blind alley by adhering dogmatically to the
assumption that life can be explained entirely by what we
know of the laws of nature. By remaining open to the ideas
embodied in the Vedic tradition of India, modern scientists
can see their own disciplines from a new perspective and
further the aim of all scientific endeavor: the search for truth”.
In 1814, former U. S. President John Adams, wrote to another

ex-president, “the sage of Monticello”, Thomas Jefferson
about the doctrine of reincarnation, “After revolting against
the Supreme Being, some souls were hurled down to the
Numerous scientists and psychologists have believed in regions of total darkness. They were then released from
reincarnation as well. One of the greatest modern prison, permitted to ascend to earth and migrate into all sorts
psychologists, Carl Jung, used the concept of an eternal self of animals, reptiles, birds, beasts, and men, according to their
that undergoes many births as a tool in his attempts to rank and character and even into vegetables, and minerals,
understand the deepest mysteries of the self and there to serve on probation. If they passed without reproach
consciousness. “I could well imagine that I might have lived their several graduations, they were permitted to become cows
in former centuries and there encountered questions I was not and men. If as men they behaved well.... they were restored to
yet able to answer; that I had to be born again because I had their original rank and bliss in Heaven.” (Letter to Thomas
not fulfilled the task that was given to me,” said Carl Jung. Jefferson, March 1814, Correspondence of John Adams)
One of the West’s most influential artists, Paul Gauguin,
Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer often spoke of past
wrote during his final years in Tahiti that when the physical
lives, rebirth, and the immortality of the soul. He said, “There
organism breaks up, “the soul survives”. It then takes another
is no death. How can there be death if everything is part of the
body, “degrading or elevating according to merit or demerit.”
Godhead? The soul never dies and the body is never really
alive.” Thus reincarnation is attracting the minds of intellectuals and
the general public in the West. Films, novels, popular songs
One of the most celebrated scientists, Benjamin Franklin, and periodicals now treat reincarnation with ever-increasing
wrote, “Finding myself to exist in the world, I believe I shall, frequency.
in some shape or other, always exist.”
Scientific Proof For Reincarnation Ducasse (1961) and Broad (1962,1971) have taken the subject
of reincarnation very seriously and have researched and
defended it. Over a 100 books and several research
P eople sometimes ask, “Who knows what is going to
happen after death? Who has seen whether we are born
again? Just forget this afterlife business and enjoy life now.”
dissertations have been written on the subject of reincarnation
since the late nineteenth century.
The sublime truths are learnt by hearing not by seeing. All
religious scriptures abound with quotes on rebirth. We have Dr Ian Stevenson’s research of childhood reincarnation cases
cited so many quotations and convictions of famous scientists spans some 30 years. Many of the children he has worked with
and philosophers about their faith in reincarnation, but people are from India and Sri Lanka, others are from the Middle East,
are still dull to understand. Here we will cite a practical proof Europe, Africa and the Americas. As of 1987, Stevenson had
for reincarnation based on the research work done in the field accumulated over 3000 cases of this type in his files and over
of spontaneous past-life memories in children. half of these were of the “solved” type (that is the child’s past
life experience had been determined beyond reasonable
Of course, there is no tool or methodology available in science doubt). In the 64 such solved cases from India, Sri Lanka,
to “prove” that reincarnation is a fact. For that matter, science Lebanon, Turkey, Thailand and Burma – about which he has
can never actually “prove” anything. Through science, all we written extensively – the children’s parents or relatives were
can do is gather data as carefully as possible and then try to able to recall up to 60 statements made by the child that were
explain them in the most consistent and reasonable way. And mostly capable of verification and which helped identify his or
when the body of data grows, our explanations have to grow her past life.
with it. This is what is done in science and this we can apply
in the case of reincarnation also. Thanks to Stevenson’s work, thousands of cases “suggestive
of reincarnation” have now seen their way into print, and his
There have been many researchers, psychiatrists and hypno- related work is published in such prestigious academic
therapists who began with little or no sympathy for journals as ‘The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease’,
reincarnationist perspectives, but their research unavoidably ‘The Journal of the American Medical Association’, and ‘The
pointed in this direction, and so, like it or not, they proceeded International Journal of Comparative Sociology.’ Dr Harold
with their findings. The work of Dr. Ian Stevenson, Carlson Lief, one of Stevenson’s colleagues, describes him as
Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, is meticulous, thorough, methodical, and objective. “If anyone
particularly representative of this approach. can discover the truth of reincarnation without bias,” says
Lief, “it will be Stevenson.”
Apart from Dr Ian Stevenson, many other researchers like
Satwant Parischa, Gabriel Delanne (1924), Shirley (1932), B When someone seems to have truthful memories of a former
L Atreya (1957), Parrinder (1976), McTaggart (1915), life, Dr Stevenson interviews him, the people around him, and
if possible the people of the life apparently remembered, Sri K. N. Sen Gupta, Sukla’s father, talked about the matter
looking for a more ordinary, normal way to explain things. He with some friends. He also mentioned it to one of his railway
looks for fraud - stories with holes in them and conflicting, co-workers, Sri. S. C. Pal, an assistant station master. Sri. Pal
unreliable reports. Only when there is no other possible lived near Bhatpara and had two cousins there. Through these
explanation does he conclude that a case appears to be quite cousins he learned that Bhatpara indeed had a district called
strong in establishing reincarnation. Rathtala. He also learned of a man there named Khetu. Khetu
had had a sister-in-law named Mana who had died several
A Real Case History Of Reincarnation years before, in 1948, leaving behind an infant daughter
named Minu. Sri Sen Gupta decided to investigate further.
With the consent of that family, he arranged for a visit to
T he case history of Sukla, a little girl from West Bengal is
one of the 3000 in the files of Dr Ian Stevenson. When
Sukla Gupta was a year and a half old and barely able to talk,
Rathtala. Sukla said that she could show the way to the house.
So, in 1959, when Sukla was a little more than five, Sri Sen
she used to cradle a pillow and address it as “Minu”. Minu, Gupta and five other
she said, was her daughter. Sukla, over the next three years, members of his family
recollected her previous life events, which show that Minu journeyed with her to
actually was her daughter in a previous life. Bhatpara. When they
arrived, Sukla took the
Sukla was the daughter of a railway worker in Kampa, a lead. Avoiding various
village in West Bengal. Sukla often talked not only about her possible wrong turns, she
daughter, Minu, but also about her husband, “the father of brought them straight to
Minu” (a good Hindu wife avoids speaking of her husband by the house of Sri
name). She also talked about his younger brothers Khetu and Amritalal Chakravarty,
Karuna. They all lived, she said, at Rathtala in Bhatpara. allegedly her father-in-
law in her past life.
Sukla’s family, the Guptas, knew Bhatpara slightly - it was a
city about 11 miles south, but they had never heard of a place As the party approached,
called Rathtala, nor of the people Sukla had named. Yet Sukla Sri Chakravarty
developed a desire to go there, and she insisted that if her happened to be out on
parents didn’t take her she would go alone. the street. When Sukla
saw him, she looked
down shyly, following
the usual custom for a
young woman in the
presence of an older male relative. But when Sukla went to influenced to believe anything, and it is well known that
enter the house she was confused. She didn’t seem to know children are highly impressionable as well.
the right entrance. Her confusion however made sense; after
the death of Mana (Sukla’s name in previous life) the entrance Refutation 1
had been moved from the main street to an alley on the side.
The “cases of the reincarnation type” studied by Stevenson
And the party soon found that Sukla recognized not only the were not isolated incidents but were varied cases studied in
house, but also the people in it, including those she said were depth by Stevenson over a period of 30 years from the 1960s
her mother-in-law, her brothers-in-law, her husband, and her into the 1990s. He and his colleagues found that in about half
daughter. Inside Amritalal Chakravarty’s house, Sukla found of over 3,000 cases in his files, the “other people” that these
herself in a room with some 20 or 30 people. When she was children “pretended to be” were often historically specific
asked, “Can you point out your husband?”, she correctly people who had died before the children were born.
indicated Sri Haridhana Chakravarty. Further when Sukla
went to Mana’s room, she showed the cot she used previously Moreover in certain cases, the children who remembered their
as Mana. And tears came to Sukla’s eyes, when she saw her past lives profoundly were just beginning to learn their native
old sewing machine, the one that Mana had previously used. tongue in this life. Still they were able to speak fluently the
language of their past life, a language with which they had no
Sukla and Haridhana Chakravarty were to meet again several contact whatsoever in this life.
times, and Sukla always longed for these meetings. When he
was to visit her house, Sukla told her family to make him a Suspicion 2: Cryptomnesia (hidden memory)
meal with prawns and buli. She said that this was his favorite Psychologists know that our minds record more than we
food. Her family did what she said and later found that she consciously remember. Under hypnosis, an old man may
had chosen correctly. Sukla behaved toward Haridhana vividly describe his fifth birthday party, an event for which his
Chakravarty like a perfect Hindu wife. After he ate his meal, normal consciousness has lost all the details. So the hypothesis
she would eat whatever food was left on his plate, as a of cryptomnesia supposes that what appears to be memories of
devoted Hindu wife would do. But she never ate food from the a past life are merely memories of something one had heard or
plate of anyone else. read earlier in this life but has now consciously forgotten. This
may in fact be the best explanation for many of the “past-life
Suspicion 1 - Imagination regressions” now becoming popular in journeys through
Spontaneous speech of small children of around 6 could be hypnosis.
due to their overactive imagination, as they often like to
“pretend to be” someone else. Young children can be easily
Refutation 2 their lives. She would also have to be selective about what her
psychic radar picked out, so that she would “remember”, for
Sukla is a girl less than five years old. And her recollections example, the location of her father-in-law’s house but be
of a past life took place not under hypnosis but as part of unaware that the entrance had changed, since that took
her usual waking consciousness. Moreover, Sukla did not place after Mana’s death. And then, for purposes yet
just recall information - she actually recognized people, unknown, Sukla would have to mold what she learned into a
people who in this life were complete strangers. drama in which she immersed herself in the role of the
departed Mana.
She recognized Mana’s mother-in-law from a group of 30
people. She pointed out Mana’s brother-in-law Kshetranath, Most dramatic in Sukla’s case were her strong maternal
and she knew his nickname, “Khetu”. She also recognized emotions towards Minu. From babyhood Sukla had played at
another brother-in-law, whose nickname was “Kuti”. But she cradling Minu in her arms, and after she learned to talk she
identified him correctly by his given name, Karuna, which spoke of her longing to be with Minu. Sukla’s meeting with
even his neighbors did not know. She also said that her first Minu had all the appearances of a tearful reunion between
child, a son, had died while still an infant. This was true for mother and daughter. Once Mana’s cousin tested Sukla by
the life of Mana. And Sukla tearfully recognized Mana’s falsely telling her that Minu, away in Rathtala, was ill with a
daughter, Minu, and showered her with affection. What more high fever. Sukla began to cry frantically and it took a long
is required? time for her family to reassure her that Minu was actually
well. Dr Stevenson remarks, “Although Minu was twelve
Suspicion 3: ESP (Extra Sensory Perception): and Sukla was only five, within this limitation, Sukla
Research has clearly shown that there is such a thing as ESP. exactly acted the role of a mother towards a beloved
In rigidly controlled experiments, the late Dr J B Rhine and daughter.”
other parapsychologists have shown persuasive evidence for
telepathy (the ability to read another person’s thoughts) and Thus after taking many other possibilities into account, Dr
clairvoyance (the ability to perceive objects and events Stevenson submits that this case can be understood only by
without using your senses). And experiments have shown that taking reincarnation into consideration.
both telepathy and clairvoyance can work over long distances.
If we have lived before, why don’t we
Refutation 3 remember it?
If ESP is to be applied to Sukla’s case, then this five-year-old
girl should not only have incredible psychic powers, but she
would also have to use them to zero in one on a specific I t is our nature to forget. For example, hardly any of us can
remember what we had for lunch exactly ten years ago,
though it is a certain fact that we did have lunch. So our not
family in an unfamiliar city and learn intimate details of
being able to remember an event is not the proof that it never our past lives? For example, we might have ruthlessly
happened. The impressions of that event are stored in our murdered someone in a previous life, or we might ourselves
subconscious memory and can be evoked by special means have met an excruciatingly painful death in a ghastly car
like hypnotic regression. But consciously we can’t even accident, or we might have been a dumb animal, helplessly
remember many things about our childhood in this very life. Is slaughtered by a merciless butcher and so on.
it then a surprise that we can’t remember our past lives?
If all these memories are not suppressed, how much pain will
In the ‘Pistis Sophia’, Jesus speaks of the soul as drinking they inflict on our mind? As it is, there are enough painful
from a cup “filled with the water of forgetfulness.” This idea memories from this very life, which keep agonizing us
is illuminated in the 10th book of Plato’s ‘Republic’. There, we periodically. If all the painful memories of all our past lives
are introduced to the valiant Er, who informs us that each are added to them, we would be so much haunted by them that
individual has the ability to choose the circumstances of his there would be no question of any enjoyment at all. Therefore
next incarnation. After they make their choice, Er tells us, they material nature arranges to provide us forgetfulness about our
drink from the River Lethe (Greek for “forgetfulness”), life previous lives so that we may not be prevented from going
unimpeded. “Body”, wrote the Greek philosopher Plotinus, “is ahead with our desires for enjoyment.
the true river of Lethe; for souls plunged into it forget all.”
Modern medicine can also be credited with discovering a
The Vedic texts explain that the souls come to this world to try possible explanation for the cosmic amnesia of the soul: a
to enjoy separate from God. And in order to be able to enjoy it hormone called oxytocin, which controls a pregnant woman’s
is necessary that we forget what we did in our previous lives. rate of labor contractions, also controls a person’s
Why forgetfulness is necessary for enjoyment can be forgetfulness of traumatic events.
understood from an example. If a near and dear member of our
family has just passed away and, if, at that time, a friend of Relevance Of Reincarnation In Our Life
ours calls us for a movie, will we go? We will be too much
grief-struck to even consider the idea of enjoyment.
Similarly if we were to remember all the dangerous activities

M ost people feel that reincarnation, even if it is a reality,
has little or no relevance to their lives. And even most
of those interested in reincarnation study it out of idle
and painful experiences of all our past lives, it would cause us
curiosity, treating it as a mysterious subject meant for
so much anguish that we would be rendered incapable of all
titillating their minds and intellects. But reincarnation has a
activity and enjoyment. Leave alone the past lives, if we were
great and immediate relevance to the life of each one of us.
to remember completely even all the sins we committed and
the pains we suffered in this very lifetime, we would be put Imagine goats standing in a queue in a slaughterhouse being
into a state of utter bewilderment and would not be able to act chopped one after another. Though these goats are about to be
normally. What then to speak of the sins and sufferings of all killed, they are satisfied simply with the little green grass
being fed to them. Even if you warn a goat, “Hey! Just see. Suppose you are faced with an unfamiliar but complex
Your turn is next. You are going to be chopped. Forget the machine. You can observe it and try to figure out how it
grass. Run for your life.”, it doesn’t even want to hear you. It works. You can monkey with the thing and see what happens.
just goes on eating the grass with eyes closed and head You can call in friends and get their ideas of what the pulleys,
nodding. And very soon it gets slaughtered. gears, and wires are supposed to do. And maybe you’ll figure
it out. Maybe. But the sure way to understand the machine
Similarly, the whole world is like a slaughterhouse where is to learn about it from the person who built it. Similarly
everyone is being killed one after another. Yet, like the foolish the vast universe around is like a massive machine. The direct
goats, most people get intoxicated simply by getting a little way to understand the machinery of the universe - including
sense gratification and do not think about their impending the subtle mechanism of reincarnation - is to learn about it
death. Even if warned by spiritualists they pay no heed. And from the person behind it - God. One should therefore, learn
one not-so-fine morning they are forced to quit the body to the truth from the authorized scriptures, which are directly the
which they are very attached. They thus die a miserable death word of God. In the next chapter we will therefore find out
repenting at not having utilized the valuable human form of what the various world religions say about reincarnation.
life.
On the other hand, an intelligent person tries to understand the
meaning of life by asking questions like – Is death the end of
everything or is there life after death? If reincarnation is a
reality, can I decide my future body? And most importantly, if
I am eternal, do I have to keep dying and being reborn again
and again, or can I attain eternal life? If yes, how?
Perhaps one day scientific investigation will come up with

answers to these questions. Because of the work of Dr
Stevenson and other researchers, there is now a considerable
body of data suggesting that reincarnation is a fact. But before
science even begins to figure out what’s going on,
reincarnation may happen to us - perhaps countless times. And
death and rebirth are traumatic events, involving immense
suffering. Is there no way immediately available to know the
truth and to avoid all this suffering? There is.
Verse for Chapter
Chapter 5 jatasya hi dhruva mrtyur

dhruvam janma mrtasya ca
tasmad apariharye ‘rthe
na tvam sochitum arhati
“One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one
is sure to take birth again. Therefore in the unavoidable
discharge of your duty, you should not lament.” (Bhagavad-
gita 2.13)
Chapter Preview
Everyone wants to know about their future and if the future is
You Never Die: going to bring about any suffering, they want to know a way to
escape from it. If one is serious about it, then one must
understand reincarnation and how it works. This chapter
The Verdict of All explains what reincarnation is and from whom to hear about
it. It also shows, through specific quotes and instances, how
Religions
the principle of reincarnation is common to all the leading
world religions like Sanatana dharma or Hinduism, Ancient
Greece, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
What Is Reincarnation?
A n intelligent person wants to know why in the first place

he must suffer helplessly, die unwillingly and lose
everything, despite the best wishes and efforts of doctors,
friends and relatives, and his own desperate urge to survive.
You Never Die: The Verdict of All Religions 97 98 Your Secret Journey
Most of the population is absorbed in solving day-to-day the Bhagavad-gita, the essence of Vedic knowledge and one
problems and is hardly interested to know what happens after of the most important Upanishads. Since time immemorial it
death. But when they come across the death of some near and has been appreciated by many world-renowned men of
dear ones, it shakes them and gives them an opportunity to wisdom for its authoritative knowledge. Albert Einstein, the
inquire about life and death. Some think that death is the end outstanding scientist of his times, said, “When I read the
of everything and others believe in heaven and hell. Still Bhagavad-gita, I ask myself how God created the universe.
others hold that this life is only one of many we have lived Everything else appears to be superfluous.” The Bhagavad-
and will live in the future. gita is targeted at people of this day and age who have
difficulty grasping the imports of the complex and often
From whom to hear about Reincarnation? esoteric Vedic hymns. It has been tried and tested by millions
Most of the reincarnation literature available in the market of spiritual practitioners as Lord Krishna Himself informs us:
today is highly speculative, superficial and inconclusive. ‘bahavo jnana tapasa puta mad bhavam agatah’ ‘many
Although such books make for interesting reading and have persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me, and
stimulated the ever widening public interest and belief in thus they all attained transcendental love for Me’ (Bhagavad-
reincarnation, none of these popular works explain the gita 4.10)
fundamental facts about reincarnation, such as the simple
process by which the soul eternally transmigrates from one Definition of Reincarnation
material body to another. Authors present their own self-styled In this and subsequent chapters, we will learn what
theories about how and in which particular cases reincarnation reincarnation actually is and its relevance to our lives. Re- =
occurs, as if only some special or gifted living beings ‘again’ in = ‘into’ carn = ‘flesh’ -ate = ‘cause’ and –ion =
reincarnate and others do not. This type of presentation does ‘process’. ‘Reincarnation’ literally means “the process of
not deal with the science of reincarnation but leaves the reader coming into flesh again.” This implies that there is something
with scores of unanswered questions. that is separate from the flesh or body that returns after death.
The word ‘Transmigration’ is often used interchangeably with
So many books now clutter our shelves and minds. Many reincarnation. Trans = ‘across’ migr = ‘to go or move’ and -
Westerners, in order to gain a deeper understanding about ation = ‘process of causing or becoming’. Transmigration is
reincarnation, are turning to the original sources of knowledge “process of moving across, from one to the other.”
about past and future lives. Among all available literatures, the
Sanskrit Vedas of India are the oldest on earth and present the The Vedic scriptures give us information regarding the nature
most comprehensive and logical explanations of the science of of matter and spirit. The fundamental knowledge taught is that
reincarnation, teachings that have maintained their viability we are not these bodies; we are souls. The body of the soul is
and universal appeal for more than five thousand years. The made of sat-cit-ananda (eternity-knowledge-bliss) and it is
most fundamental information about reincarnation appears in called the spiritual body. The material body is made up of
matter: the five gross elements - earth, water, fire, air and and return back to the kingdom of God, from which he
ether and the three subtle elements - mind, intelligence and originally came here.
false ego. Originally the soul is a spiritual being, but when he
desires to enjoy this material world, he is sent down from the Reincarnation: View of Different Religions
spiritual world. When the soul is sent to this material world,
he has to be covered by a material body so that he may get Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism:
acclimatized to matter, just as one wears winter clothes when
one goes abroad, to a cold atmosphere. The soul first accepts In India, the ancient holy land of Krishna, Rama, Buddha, and
a body that is human in form, but gradually, due to his countless incarnations of the Lord, reincarnation is a reality as
degraded activities, he falls into lower forms of life - into the self-evident to a humble farmer as it is to a learned scholar or
animal, plant, aquatic forms etc. By the gradual process of a saintly person. Several references could be cited from the
evolution, the soul again attains the body of a human being Atharva Veda, the Manu Samhita, the Upanishads, the Vishnu
and is given another chance to get out of the process of Purana, the Bhagavata Purana, the Mahabharata, the
transmigration. This simple process by which a soul Ramayana, and many other texts. This vast body of Vedic
transmigrates from one body to another is known as wisdom that explains the subtleties of life in minute details is
Reincarnation. the foundation that leads to the unshakeable acceptance of
reincarnation in the follower of Sanatana dharma. A few direct
Direct experience, inference, logic, religious faith and empiric examples will make this clear:
observation all concur: some sort of conscious self energy
exists within the body. The body is an instrument; the O learned and tolerant soul, after roaming in waters and
conscious energy, soul is the user of that instrument. Say, I use plants, a person enters the womb and is born again and again.
a bicycle to travel from one place to another. My brain or O soul, you are born in the body of plants, in trees, in all
nervous system is as much different from ‘me’ as the bicycle I created animate objects, and in waters. O soul, blazing like the
ride. If an instrument is destroyed, the user is not necessarily sun, after cremation, having reached the fire and the earth for
destroyed as a consequence. Analogically, if my body is rebirth, and residing in the belly of your mother, you are born
destroyed, I am not necessarily destroyed with it. If my cycle again. O soul, having reached the womb, again and again, you
is destroyed, I would have to get another one to ride – or I lay in your mother’s body, as a child sleeps in her mother’s
would have to stop using bicycle altogether. But I exist apart lap. (Yajur Veda, 12.36-37)
from the bicycle, and my longevity does not depend upon the
longevity of my instrument. One bicycle may breakdown, but The ‘Brihadaranyaka Upanishad’ (4.4.1-4) goes still further
I can get a new one. In the same way, the soul assume millions in outlining just how reincarnation occurs:
of births one after another, to fulfill his unfulfilled desires or
can purify himself, escape from the cycle of birth and death
(At the time of death) the area of his (the soul’s) heart considered by many to be the most authoritative and complete
becomes lit and by that light the soul departs either through source of information on the subject of reincarnation. To give
the eye, the head, or through other apertures of the body. And but one small example, the Bhagavata Purana, considered the
when he departs, the pranas (various life airs) follow him to essence of Indian holy books, offers an elaborate explanation
his next destination… His knowledge and his deeds follow of the development of consciousness from fetus to death:
him, as does his previous wisdom…. Just as a caterpillar,
when it reaches the end of one blade of grass, and after having Having gone through all the miserable, hellish conditions and
properly approached another one, draws itself together toward having passed in a regular order through the lowest forms of
the new blade, so the soul, after having thrown away the prior animal life prior to human birth, and having thus been purged
body and its ignorance, draws itself together, and latches onto of his sins, one is reborn again as a human being on this earth.
the new body. And as the goldsmith, taking a piece of gold, (3.30.34)
turns it into another, more beautiful shape, even so does this
soul, after having thrown away the old and useless body, Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to
makes unto himself newer and, hopefully, better bodies, the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to
according to his previous actions, ability and desires. enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male
semen to assume a particular type of body. (3.31.1)
The ‘samsara view’ is the matured Hindu explanation of
death, the culmination of the Vedic and Puranic concepts. On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth
‘Samsara’ teaches that, immediately after death, the soul is night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it
reborn into the material world and continues the cycle over develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually
and over again till he achieves purified consciousness, free turns into a lump of flesh. (3.31.2)
from material desires. At that time, the purified soul returns to
the spiritual realm, the spawning ground from which all souls In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of
originally come. There, one resumes one’s natural, two months the hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the
constitutional life in the company of God. Contemporary end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hair, bones
Hinduism, as well as Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and a host of and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and the other
other popular East-Indian traditions, hold this perspective, apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth
seeing it as the essential truth of all previous teachings. and anus. (3.31.3)
The complexity of these subjects and the immense detail Within four months from the date of conception, the seven
afforded by Vedic texts and commentaries are staggering. essential ingredients of the body, namely chyle, blood, flesh,
Related ideas, such as life in the womb, are explained so fat, bone, marrow and semen, come into existence. At the end
completely that the Vedas – by sheer volume of data – are of five months, hunger and thirst make themselves felt, and at
the end of six months, the fetus, enclosed by the amnion, “When the upper point of a
begins to move in the abdomen – on the right side if the child hair is divided into one
is a male and on the left side if female. (3.31.4) hundred parts and again each
of such parts is further
Although compiled thousands of years ago by sages, the divided into one hundred
aforementioned details conform to modern scientific research. parts, each such part is the
The ‘Bhagavata’ goes on to explain that while the womb is a measurement of the
safe, nurturing place for the newly embodied soul, this same dimension of the spirit soul.”
soul must also experience various types of pain in the womb,
and that the trauma of this experience allows the soul to forget The fact that the atomic soul
its previous lives. is within the body of a
gigantic animal, in the body
Five Steps to Enlightenment of a gigantic banyan tree, and
also in the microbic germs,
All the sages and devotees alike have summarized ancient millions and billions of
India’s process of liberation from ‘samsara’ as a movement which occupy only an inch of
through five basic steps to enlightenment: space, is certainly very amazing. Men with a poor fund of
knowledge and men who are not austere cannot understand the
(1) Each of us is a living soul within a material body wonders of the individual atomic spark of spirit. Owing to a
gross material conception of things, most men in this age
Our consciousness is spread all over our body. Everyone is cannot imagine how such a small particle can become both so
conscious of the pains and pleasures of the body in part or as a great and so small.
whole. This spreading of consciousness is limited within one’s
own body. The pains and pleasures of one body are unknown Since every living entity is an individual soul, each is
to another. Therefore, each and every body is the embodiment changing his body every moment, manifesting sometimes as a
of an individual soul, and the symptom of the soul’s presence child, sometimes as a youth, and sometimes as an old man.
is perceived as individual consciousness. This soul is Yet the same spirit soul is there and does not undergo any
described as one ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of change. This individual soul finally changes the body at death
the hair point in size. The Shvetashvatar Upanishad (5.9) and transmigrates to another body; and since it is sure to have
confirms this: another body in the next birth – either material or spiritual –
there is no cause for lamentation when someone dies. We
bälägra-çata-bhägasya çatadhä kalpitasya ca, acquire a new body according to our desire and karma – this
bhägo jévaù vijïeyaù sa cänantyäya kalpate
constitutes our “means” for establishing future states of species of which there are 400,000 varieties. While being born
existence. and reborn several times as humans with various levels of
consciousness, the soul can either accrue fresh karma that
(2) Souls first devolve, then evolve, through the species continues its transmigration or can learn his lessons and
become liberated. The purpose behind this rotation in various
The soul, desiring to be the lord of its own domain, leaves the births is the latter - to awaken the soul to its original
spiritual realm, where God is Supreme, and becomes an constitutional position of servitorship to the Lord and prepare
angelic being in Brahma’s world (Satyaloka, the highest for returning to His kingdom.
heavenly planet). From there, a small quantity of souls may
return to their original spiritual state. The majority, however, The soul may make specific sacrifices to attain specific
due to unlawful passion and desires associated with the body, heavenly planets and consequently reach them. When the
fall to the lowest species of life, in lower planets, and merit of sacrifice is exhausted, the living entity descends to
gradually go through each of the 8,400,000 forms. The Vedic earth in the form of rain, then takes on the form of grains, and
literature describes 8,400,000 species of life: aquatics, plants, the grains are eaten by man and transformed into semen,
insects, reptiles, birds, four-legged beasts and various kinds of which impregnates a woman, and thus the soul once again
human beings. The soul eventually evolves to the human attains the human form. Again he performs fresh good and bad
acts and achieves results accordingly. In this way, the soul
perpetually comes and goes on the material path.
(3) Actions we perform in

this body determine
our next body
The soul is transmigrating

from one body to another
just as a person changes
his dress. This change of
dress is due to his
attachment to material
existence. As long as he is
captivated by this false
manifestation, he has to
continue transmigrating
from one body to another. Due to his desire to lord it over are the same in quality, the atomic soul is captivated by the
material nature, he is put into such undesirable circumstances. fruits of the material tree, while the Supersoul is simply
Under the influence of material desire, the soul is born witnessing the activities of His friend. bird. Although they are
sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as a human being, friends, the Supersoul is still the master and the atomic soul is
sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a the servant. Forgetfulness of this relationship by the atomic
saintly man, as a bug. And in all cases the soul thinks himself soul is the cause of his changing his position from one tree to
to be the master of his circumstances, yet he is under the another, or from one body to another. The atomic soul is
influence of material nature. struggling very hard on the tree of the material body, but as
soon as he agrees to accept the other bird as the supreme
(4) One must know the two souls that pervade the body spiritual master – as Arjuna agreed to do by voluntary
surrender unto Krishna for instruction – the subordinate bird
The Vedic texts explain that there are two souls within every immediately becomes free from all lamentations. Both the
material body. The first is the atomic soul (the jiva-atma i.e. Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.2) and Shvetashvatar Upanishad
souls like you and me), who has acquired the body as per his (4.7) confirm this:
past desires and activities. And the other is the Supersoul (the
Paramatma), who is an expansion of the Supreme Lord and samäne våkñe puruño nimagno
who accompanies the atomic soul as his guide throughout his ‘néçayä çocati muhyamänaù
journey through various bodies in the material world. The juñöaà yadä paçyaty anyam éçam
atomic soul is conscious of only his body, whereas the asya mahimänam iti véta-çokaù
Supersoul is conscious of all
bodies of all living beings. “Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is
fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of
The Vedas, like the Mundak the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his
Upanishad, as well as the face to his friend who is the Lord and knows His glories – at
Shvetashvatar Upanishad , once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties.”
compare the soul and the
Supersoul to two friendly birds (5) The soul can escape rebirth by cultivating consciousness
sitting on the same tree. One of of God
the birds (the individual atomic
soul) is eating the fruit of the tree, The Supersoul is the dearest friend of the living being –
and the other bird (the Supersoul) escorting him, sanctioning his desires, maintaining him and
is simply watching His friend. Of eventually sending him a genuine guru who can teach him the
these two birds – although they intricacies of spiritual life. Studying scripture in the
association of other the doctrine of reincarnation and faith in karma remains as one
aspiring devotees, under of the most pervasive common denominators in the tradition
the guidance of a of Sanatana dharma.
qualified preceptor, is the
fundamental Vedic ANCIENT GREECE
program for
enlightenment. The results
of such training are
‘ruchi’ (taste for spiritual
A mong the ancient Greeks, Socrates, Pythagoras and Plato
may be numbered among those who made reincarnation
an integral part of their teachings. In the ‘Phaedo’, Socrates
life) and ‘vairagya’ (the goes to great lengths to explain that the soul is invisible,
sense of detachment always the same, and eternal; that the soul is immortal and
necessary to sustain does not cease to exist after death.
spiritual practices); and
eventually ‘prema’ (love One of the best known references to Pythagoras’s belief in
of God), which guarantees reincarnation is found in a statement by Xenophanes: “And
freedom from repeated once, they say, passing by when a puppy was being beaten, he
birth and death. pitied it, and spoke as follows: ‘Stop! Cease your beating,
because this is really the soul of a man who was my friend. I
One thus situated in transcendence no longer hankers or recognized it as I heard it cry aloud.’” Pythagoras claimed he
laments for anything, but lives in this world simply in service could remember his past lives.
to God. Although he is in the realm of matter, he resides in the
spiritual kingdom of God. He enjoys unlimited bliss by Plato presented detailed accounts of reincarnation in his major
remembering the Lord and by engaging in His service. Such works. Scholars summarize the Greek philosopher’s complex
devotees have unlimited compassion for less evolved souls version of the doctrine in ten steps: (1) divine origin of the
and devote their lives to helping them acquire a similar soul; (2) the soul’s fall; (3) duration of a cycle of births; (4)
elevated state of spiritual consciousness. With this single- address to souls awaiting reincarnation; (5) inevitability of
minded determination to work on behalf of the Lord, they are transmigration; (6) possibility of release from cycle after three
freed from the reaction to all karma, and at the end of this life, virtuous lives; (7) judgement in an underground realm; (8)
they do not return to this world but, instead, go to reside with judgement and condemnation of the wicked; (9) reward of the
the Lord of their heart. pious; (10) an ordered scale of human lives. In many of these
ideas, Plato’s contribution was to give a rational dimension to
Regardless of social status, caste, creed, age, gender – among reincarnationist thinking so that its truth could be perceived
the wide diversity of sects, sub-sects, philosophical schools, even by those who were vehemently opposed to it.
BUDDHISM acknowledged the existence of the soul and the process of

rebirth, even though detractors wrongly accused the Buddha
of teaching otherwise, the Theravada “no-soul” doctrine. One
B uddhism arose in India 2,500 years ago as a reaction to a
fanatical priestly class (brahmanism) who saw in Vedic
texts an exhortation to animal sacrifice. The path of the
school of thought has it that early Buddhists, reacting to Hindu
orthodoxy, concocted the no-soul doctrine, hoping to establish
Buddha was therefore viewed as a heterodox tradition, Buddhism as a tradition theologically distinct from Hinduism.
although it shares much in common with its parent faith, This pride in their philosophical autonomy was prominent
Hinduism, including its own Buddhistic interpretation of among early Buddhists, who were just beginning to wean their
reincarnation. Buddhism, in fact, came to emphasize the religion from its Hindu parentage.
teaching of “rebirth”, which holds, according to early
Buddhist thinkers that one’s primary thought at the time of In the recently published ‘Concepts in Transmigration’,
death becomes the very Professor P.D. Premasiri, citing orthodox sources such as the
image that infuses the core Pali Suttapitaka, the Milindapanha, the treatises of
of one’s new existence in a Abhidhamma, Buddhaghosh, and so on, argues that Theravada
subsequent body. This Buddhism, contrary to popular belief, embraces
reincarnationist view, of reincarnationist doctrine as a necessary one. He writes that the
course, is borrowed from idea of rebirth is as important to this tradition as is “the belief
earlier Hindu teachings. in God in monotheistic religions.”
Unfortunately there is Let us consider the four Noble Truths – the foundation of
debate and confusion Buddhistic thought: (1) suffering exists and is all pervasive,
about what the Buddha (2) truth of the origin of suffering, (3) the truth of the way
himself actually taught leading to the end of suffering, (4) all life and action in this
regarding soul and world is ultimately suffering. All of these focus on the
reincarnation. The idea of inherent desire and consequential suffering of material
rebirth is implicit in existence, thus pointing squarely to the laws of karma and
Buddhism; the enlightened rebirth. Early Buddhism taught that a living entity may be
state (buddi) say the born into one of five levels of existence: the inhabitants of
Buddhists, cannot be hell, brute creatures, ghosts, human beings or heavenly beings.
achieved in one lifetime As in conventional Hinduism, desire and karma determine
but takes many thousands selection and the process continues repeatedly until one either
of years. From attains Buddhahood and enters “the great void” or devolves
Buddhism’s inception, it into animal species. Therefore the Buddhists say that other
species far outnumber humans. This clearly indicates the idea evolved souls who incarnate again and again to help others
of reincarnation. attain enlightenment. Because of belief in this reincarnation
cycle, birthdays are considered unimportant in Tibet, even for
Further evidence of belief in reincarnation is found in ‘The Lamas themselves. This is because a birthday is not seen as
Jataka Tales’ (“Birth Stories”) which, according to tradition, something unique but rather as something each of us
were originally told by the Buddha himself – 547 stories of the experiences millions of times.
Enlightened One’s past incarnations. The tales recount how
the Buddha incarnated as a god (deva), as an animal, even as a As far as authentic Chinese Buddhism is concerned, there is
tree in order to help souls in various conditioned states attain an ancient scripture known as the ‘Prajna Paramita Sutra’,
liberation. Reincarnation plays a central role in nearly all of written on wooden blocks, which according to tradition,
the 547 Jataka tales. contain the Buddha’s own words (The Chinese were the first
to write them down). Encoded on these greatly revered blocks
When the Dalai Lama – the pre-eminent representative of are esoteric truths that directly point to reincarnation.
Tibetan Buddhism – visited the United States in 1981, he said, Buddhists who support the doctrine of rebirth regard these
“According to the Theravada school of thought, when a scriptures highly, not only because they are clear about the
person reaches Nirvana then there is no more person, he validity of reincarnationist teachings but because they
completely disappears, but according to the higher school reputedly contain the Buddha’s own words.
of thought, the person still remains, the being itself still
remains.” The idea of rebirth in Mahayana Buddhism is symbolized in
its emblematic Bhava Chakra - the Wheel of the Law. The
Mahayana tradition is found in Tibet, China, Japan and Korea. wheel is divided into six compartments representing the six
This school is much more sympathetic to reincarnation states of being. The upper portion of the wheel is divided into
(perhaps because it is more indebted to original Indian three compartments: the first represents the lokas, the highest
Buddhism), which is particularly apparent in the Tibetan form abode of the gods; the second, the abode of the demigods; and
of the religion, where the doctrine of rebirth remains a central the third, the abode of humankind. The lower three
teaching. compartments represent the state of animals, the dwelling of
ghostly beings and ‘naraka’ or hellish existence. Mahayana
Tibet was originally known as Ti-Boutta - Ti, in Chinese, Buddhism holds that after death, the living being
means “deity” and Boutta, which comes from the Sanskrit transmigrates, according to its pious or impious acts, into one
buddha, means “wisdom”. So Tibet is known as the Land of of these six compartments. If virtuous, the soul may go to the
the Wisdom Deity or Incarnations of Wisdom, referring to the abode of the gods, where it enjoys heavenly pleasures until its
successive incarnations of the two highest Lamas, the Dalai good karma has run out. If evil, the soul goes to ‘naraka’,
and the Panchen. Only the highest monks are called Lamas, where it will stay for time commensurate with its demerits. If
accepted throughout the Buddhist community as highly
one lives an average life of virtue and sin, one is immediately JUDAISM
reborn as a human.
Northern Buddhism teaches that one can only attain the

ultimate state of enlightenment while in the human form.
R eincarnation is not directly mentioned in the Hebrew
Bible, yet belief in an afterlife is evident in many biblical
laws. Job 1:20-21 tells us that he came naked from his
Nirvana, the supreme state in Buddhistic thought, is not
mother’s womb and that he would return to the womb in the
represented by any form within the precincts of the wheel, but
same way. This is a reference to rebirth.
is shown by two figures outside the wheel. This signifies that
the personalities who have the virtue of true Nirvana have Jewish scholars acknowledge that certain references are
transcended the wheel. However, a small figure of the Buddha difficult to understand without turning to reincarnation. For
can be noticed in each of the six parts of the wheel; this example, karmic law and reincarnation seem to be implied by
represents His manifestation as the Bodhisattva of Solomon in Ecclesiasticus 41:9, “Woe be unto you, ungodly
Compassion, who takes birth in the world of matter in all men, which have forsaken the law of the most high God! For
spheres of life to enlighten others and bring them to when you are born, you shall be born to a curse.” Solomon
perfection. also speaks of his own previous merit that resulted in his birth
as the son of a king, “For I was a wise child, and possessed a
It is important to note that the entire wheel with its six parts good mind. Yea, rather, being good, I came into an undefiled
represents the illusion of material life. The condition of being body” (Wisdom: 8:19-20).
a god, a human, a beast, or whatever, is merely part of the
same illusion of bodily existence. The only absolute reality is The Kabbalah is said to be the mystical, secret wisdom of the
Buddhahood, which transcends the ordinary world of three Torah and is meant for those Jews who are already
dimensions. However the very axis of the wheel of illusion is accomplished in their spiritual practices. The Kabbalists
composed of three creatures representing stupidity, anger and realised that not all righteous individuals in this world receive
lust; this indicates all species of life are bound to fall short of their due rewards. Some suffer, even though they observe the
true Buddhahood. Until these three creatures are defeated, one commandments of the Torah. Reincarnation seemed a
remains the victim of ego and bodily identification and plausible answer to this ‘injustice’. Kabbalists also used
transmigrates through the six compartments of illusory reincarnation to explain odd or unusual occurrences of human
existence. Buddhism, while teaching the doctrine of rebirth, characteristics. They asked, for example, why some
points to the ever-flowing progression of existence, wherein individuals act like animals. Many of the early Kabbalists felt
one ultimately breaks free and swims in the immortal nectar of that reincarnation was clearly supported by the Hebrew
reality. scriptures, which declare that unless one perfectly follows the
613 commandments of the Torah, one cannot secure his place
in the world-to-come.
Hints of reincarnation are also common in the history of toward evil, certain souls come into bodies, first of men; then
Judaism and early Christianity. Information about past and through their association with the irrational passions, after the
future lives is found throughout the Kabbalah. In the Zohar, allotted span of human life, they are changed into beasts, from
one of the principal Kabbalistic texts, it is said, “The souls which they sink to the level of plants. From this condition they
must reenter the absolute substance whence they have rise again through the same stages and are restored to their
emerged. But to accomplish this, they must develop all the heavenly place.”
perfections, the germ of which is planted in them; and if they
have not fulfilled this condition during one life, they must We cite a few incidents from the Bible to substantiate
commence another, a third, and so forth, until they have reincarnation:
acquired the condition which fits them for reunion with God”.
(1) According to the view of most Christian theologians, the
CHRISTIANITY prophet Malachi, in the final lines of the Old Testament,
predicted what was to happen in the days immediately
preceding the advent of Jesus Christ: “Behold, I will send you
T he Bible does not
explicitly
reincarnation.
teach Elias, the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful
day of the Lord.” Malachi wrote these words in the fifth
Conventional history century BC, prophesizing the re-appearance of Elias some 400
relates that it was only years after the time of the historical Elias. This in itself is
small mystic groups and indicative of belief in reincarnationist doctrine.
isolated free-thinkers in In the first book of the New Testament, Matthew refers to this
the Church who prophecy on several occasions. In all, the Gospel writers make
supported the teaching of use of this Elias prophecy no less than ten times. From these
transmigration, but it is and other New Testament verses it becomes clear that the
now coming into focus writers of these books believed that Elias would indeed “come
that Christendom embraced reincarnationst teaching from its back” as John the Baptist, and that other ancient Hebrew
very inception. This continued to be the case until the Second prophets would ostensibly be reincarnated as well.
Council of Constantinople (AD 553), when ecclesiastical
authorities had determined that reincarnation was an When Jesus came to the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, he asked
“inappropriate concept”. his disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man,
am?’ And they said, ‘Some say that you are John the Baptist;
In the 3rd century A.D., the theologian Origen, one of the some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the other
fathers of the early Christian Church, and its most prophets.’ (Matt. 16:13-14)
accomplished Biblical scholar, wrote, “By some inclination
And his disciples asked him, saying, ‘Why then say the scribes (3) Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians can be seen as pointing to
that Elias must first come?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Elias reincarnation as well, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
truly shall first come, and he shall restore all things. But I say also reap” (6.7). One life is clearly insufficient to reap all that
unto you that Elias has come already, and they knew him not, one sows. In addition, it should be remembered that Galatians
but have done unto him whatever they listed. Likewise shall 6:5 emphasizes the karmic or causal responsibility of our
also the Son of Man suffer by their hands.’ Then the disciples actions. In this same section, right after asserting that one must
understood that Jesus was speaking to them of John, the reap what one sows, St. Paul clarifies further the way in which
Baptist (who had already been beheaded by Herod). such reaping manifests (6:8), “If one sows of the flesh, one
(Matt.17:9-13) reaps of the flesh as well” (that is, one does not reap results in
some incorporeal purgatory, but in another earthly existence).
Verily I (Jesus) say unto you, ‘Among those that are born of
women there have been none greater than John, the Baptist….. (4) Many early Church Fathers, such as Clement of
And if you can understand what I say, he is actually Elias, Alexandria (AD 150-220), Justin Martyr (AD 100-165), St.
who was predicted to appear. He who has ears to hear, let him Gregory of Nyssa (AD 257-332), Arnobius (fl.290) and St.
hear.’ (Matt. 11:10-11, 14-15) Jerome (AD 340-420), were advocates of reincarnationist
thinking. In his ‘Confessions’, St. Augustine himself seriously
When John, the Baptist, was approached by the priests from entertained the possibility of reincarnation as an aspect of
Jerusalem, he denied to reveal his identity out of humility. Christian reality, “Did my infancy succeed another age of
Belief in Jesus’s words lay at the basis of Christian doctrine, mine that died before it? Was it that which I spent within my
and since he had already confirmed Elias’s identity with John, mother’s womb?…And what before that life again, O God of
his conclusion must override the word of John, the Baptist my joy, was I anywhere or in any body?”
himself.
Emperor Justinian (fl. AD 527-565), for his own purposes
(2) In another biblical episode, Jesus again seems to endorse wanted to rally his subjects around Christianity, the popular
reincarnationist thinking. When he and his disciples happened creed of his empire. With the reincarnationist sects, the
upon a man who was congenitally blind, the disciples inquired emperor felt that Christians might become lax, thinking that
from their master, “Was this man born blind because of his they had more than one life with which to attain perfection. If
sins or because of his parents’ sins?” (John 9:2). The very fact people felt they had the time afforded them by many lives to
that Jesus’s primary followers asked such a question become serious about their spiritual practices, many would
presupposes a belief in pre-existence and reincarnation. They indeed procrastinate adherence to their religion. This would
accepted, implicitly, that the blind man had existed in another debilitate Justinian’s use of Christianity as a political tool. If
body prior to his birth. Otherwise, how could a man who was they thought they had only one life after which they would be
born blind have possibly sinned to cause his own condition? subjected to an eternal heaven or hell, Justinian reasoned, then
they would again become serious about the goal. And no ISLAM
doubt he could use that earnestness for his own political
purposes. Using religion as an opiate with which to unite
people was not a new idea, even in Justinian’s time. But he
went so far as to manipulate certain doctrines and beliefs just
M ohammed himself
affirmed that the
Quran had an esoteric
to gain secular power. foundation: it was “sent
in seven dialects; and in
He banned the teachings of pre-existence of the soul from the every one of its
Roman Catholic Church. During that era, numerous sentences there is an
Church writings were destroyed, and many scholars now external and an internal
believe that references to reincarnation were purged from meaning… I received
the scriptures. ‘Give them one life only’, he said, ‘and then from the messenger of
give them heaven or hell.’ Justinian was sure that this God two kinds of knowledge: one of these I taught…if I had
would hasten the Christian resolve to be good “Christians” taught them the other it would have broken their throats
and thus good citizens, loyal to their emperor. (meaning: it would have put them in utter confusion)” The
inner meaning of many texts included a reincarnation
The Gnostic sects, although severely persecuted by the church,
sensibility, but this was lost over the course of time. The
did, however, manage to keep alive the doctrine of
Koran says, “And you were dead, and He brought you back to
reincarnation in the West. (The word ‘gnostic’ is derived from
life. And He shall cause you to die, and shall bring you back
the Greek ‘gnosis’ meaning ‘knowledge’). During the
to life, and in the end shall gather you unto Himself.” (Surah
Renaissance, a new flowering of public interest in
2:28)
reincarnation occurred. One of the prominent figures in the
revival was Italy’s leading philosopher and poet Giordano In a series of articles, “Reincarnation – Islamic Conceptions,”
Bruno, who was ultimately sentenced to be burned at the stake M. H. Abdi, a Muslim scholar, points to the specific events
because of his teachings about reincarnation. In his final that led to the expulsion of reincarnation as a doctrine in
answers to the charges brought against him, Bruno defiantly mainstream Islam: “The position adopted by the successive
proclaimed that the soul “is not the body”, and that “it may be luminaries who followed Mohammed was to affirm the
in one body or in another and pass from body to body”. belief in reincarnation but not to propagate it as a teaching
Because of such suppression by the Church, the teachings of for the masses. This attitude was due to psychological
reincarnation then went deeply underground, surviving in reasons. The emphasis in Islamic teachings has throughout
Europe in the secret societies of the Rosicrucians, Freemasons, been on the purity of action…. Another factor to remember is
Kabbalists etc. that the defensive wars, which have been described as Jehad
or holy wars, which the Muslims fought in the early days and
the wars of conquests (therefore not holy), which the Muslims I died as a plant and rose to animal,
fought in later days…gave a different shift to Islamic I died as animal and I was man.
teachings. Philosophical, mystical, and ethical teachings Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
received an impetus in the first phase but they had a subdued (R.A.Nicholson, Rumi, Poet & Mystic. London: Allen &
existence in the later phase. During this phase the republican Unwin, 1950)
character of the State was changed into monarchy and
supremacy no more belonged to the saints and philosophers. A Like other Western traditions, Islam keeps reincarnation in the
subject like reincarnation demands a subtle mental attitude. It background, often considering belief in it to be at worst
entails understanding of the higher planes of consciousness, heretical and at best a subject for mystics and other eccentrics.
the laws of cause and effect, and the workings of the laws of However, a careful study of Islam’s various traditions and
evolution. The monarchs had no interest in such subjects. Like theological writings reveals that reincarnation is an integral
so many other teachings, reincarnation was confined to the part of its fundamental message to the world.
study and attention of the outer and inner students of
Sufism….” Eternal Damnation In Hell
After One Sinful Life?
Islamic historian E. G. Browne, in his classic three-volume
work, ‘The Literary History of Persia’, while discussing the
more esoteric schools of Islam, outlines three forms of
transmigration accepted by classical Muslim thinkers: (1)
A common misconception dispelled by the clear logic of
reincarnation concerns religious dogma claiming that
everything rests on our performance in this one life time only,
Huhul, the periodical incarnation of a saint or prophet (2)
warning that if we lead a immoral life, we will be condemned
Rijat, the immediate return of an Imam or any other important
to eternal damnation in the darkest regions of hell- without a
spiritual leader after death; and (3) Tanasukh, the ordinary
prayer of emancipation. Understandably, sensitive, God-
reincarnation of all souls. The Ismailis even claim that the
conscious people find such a system of ultimate justice to be
Hindu God Krishna incarnated as the Buddha and then as
more demoniac than divine. Is it possible that man can show
Mohammed, while others within the same sect believe that
mercy or compassion toward others, but God is incapable of
great teachers repeatedly incarnate for the benefit of
such feelings? Such unreasonable teachings ignore the eternal
successive generations.
bond of love that exists between God and His intimate
expansions, the living beings. By definition (man is made in
Among the followers of Islam, the Sufis especially believe
the image of God), God must possess all qualities to the
that death is no loss, for the immortal soul continually passes
highest degree of perfection. One of these qualities is mercy.
through different bodies. Jalaluddin Rumi, a famous Sufi poet,
The notion that after one brief life a human being can be
writes:
consigned to suffer eternally in hell is not consistent with the
I died as a mineral and became a plant,
conception of a supreme being possessing infinite mercy.
Even an ordinary father would give his son more than one “the latest survey on reincarnation indicates more than 58
chance to make his life perfect. percent of Americans believed in reincarnation.” According to
a recent survey published in ‘World Statistics’ (July, 1996),
The Vedic literatures, which give the most clear understanding “more Americans believe in reincarnation than ever before.”
of the principles of reincarnation, repeatedly extol the In the East, four out of five people surveyed embrace the
magnanimous nature of God. Krishna is merciful to even those doctrine with full conviction. In total, this accounts for well
who openly despise Him, for He is situated within everyone’s over half the world’s population.
heart and gives all living beings the opportunity to realize their
dreams and ambitions. Actually the Lord’s mercy knows no By understanding how the concept of reincarnation is an
end. The Lord loves each and every living being so much that integral part of the teachings of every religion, we can
He repeatedly gives him opportunities to transcend the cycle
of birth and death, even if he may not deserve such • Form genuine friendly relationships that promote
opportunities due to his sinful activities. understanding between ourselves and members of other
religions.
According to the doctrine of reincarnation, Krishna, the • Understand that all humans, nay, all living beings, are
Supreme Personality of Godhead, recognizes and preserves working towards that ultimate perfection of becoming free
even a small amount of good done by an otherwise evil from materialistic conceptions and returning back to
person. It is rare to see anyone who is 100% sinful. Therefore, spiritual realm, which is the ultimate goal of life.
if a living being makes some slight degree of spiritual progress
in his present life, then in his next life he is allowed to
continue from that point. The soul may thus develop his
inherent spiritual qualities through many lives, until he no
longer has to reincarnate in a material body, until he returns to
his original home in the spiritual world.
Reincarnation - Modern Outlook
R eincarnation was thought of to be a Hindu belief at one

time. In 1969, a Gallup Poll found that nearly 20 percent
of the American public believed in life after death. A similar
survey in 1981 revealed that 23 percent of all Americans
believed in reincarnation – almost one quarter of the
population. In 1989, research analyst Walter Martin wrote that
Verse for Chapter
Chapter 6 paras tasmät tu bhävo ‘nyo

‘vyakto ‘vyaktät sanätanaù
yaù sa sarveñu bhüteñu
naçyatsu na vinaçyati
“Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is

transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is
supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is
annihilated, that part remains as it is.” (Bhagavad-gita 8.20)
Chapter Preview
Based on the timeless Vedic wisdom, this chapter explains the
Your Lost Home – extraordinary qualities of the soul, which animates the material
body. It gives vivid descriptions of the higher dimensional
world – the kingdom of God, the realm to which all of us
The Kingdom of originally belong. It explains how the Lord is the reservoir of
divine mellows and how all living beings are related to Him in
God
loving service. The chapter concludes by explaining the
misconceptions that cause and perpetuate our downfall through
lucid examples and a heart-rending story.
In the earlier chapter we saw how accepting the existence of the

soul is not merely a matter of faith; it can be verified in so
many ways. If we are not the perishable body, but the soul that
survives death, naturally we would be interested to know more
about our ‘selves’. We can get clear information from
scriptures like the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam
about the qualities of spirit soul, the spiritual world, the
material world, the purpose of life etc.
Your Lost Home – The Kingdom of God 129 130 Your Secret Journey
Knowledge of the Soul jiva bhutam maha baho

yayedam dharyate jagat
The Gross Body and the Subtle Body “Besides this inferior nature, there is a superior energy of Mine,
The Lord states in the Bhagavad-gita (7.4) that are all living entities who are struggling with material
nature and are sustaining the universe” (Bhagavad-gita 7.5).
bhumir apo nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca Both inferior energy (matter: gross and subtle) and superior
ahankara itiyam me energy (spirit soul: sat-cit-ananda) are subordinate to the
bhinna prakrtir ashtadha Supreme Lord. The soul is life. The body is always dead. Just
like if you wear gloves in the hand and move the fingers, the
“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego
gloves may appear to have life, similarly the soul moves the
are My eight separated inferior energies.” These eight energies
body. The body is always dead even when the spirit soul is
are always subject to change.
present in it, because the body is after all made up of dead
The gross body, also known as the ‘sthula sharira’ is made up matter – earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and
of five elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether. Earth false ego; which have no life in themselves.
represents all solids, water represents all liquids, fire represents
light and radiation, air represents all gases and ether represents The Soul Is Indestructible
space and sound. Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (2.23):
The mind, intelligence and false ego constitute the subtle body.
The subtle body is also called the ‘sukshma sharira’. ‘True ego’ nainam chindanti sastrani
is to understand that ‘I am a spirit soul, an eternal servant of nainam dahati pavakah
God’. ‘False Ego’ is to think in illusion that, ‘I am this body’. na chainam kledayanty apo
The subtle body and the gross body are coverings on the soul. na sosayati marutah
Such a soul entrapped in these subtle and gross bodies is called
a ‘conditioned soul’. One who becomes free from these “The soul cannot be cut by sharp weapons; it cannot be burnt
coverings and attains spiritual consciousness is called a by fire; it cannot be dried by wind; nor can it be moistened by
‘liberated soul’. water.” As soon as a scientist hears of any substance, he would
immediately like to study physical and chemical characteristics.
In the next verse, the Lord says: Here Krishna explains how soul is spiritual by nature and
cannot be destroyed by weapons, fire etc. Also the soul is not
apareyam itas tv anyam
subjected to the limitations a material object is subjected to.
prakritim viddhi me param
Just as the law of conservation of energy says how energy can
neither be created nor destroyed, similarly the soul is spiritual are just opposite to that of matter. Matter is temporary-full of
energy and cannot be created or destroyed. suffering-full of darkness and the soul is eternal, full of
knowledge and bliss.
The Soul is an Individual
Matter Is Formless – Spirit Gives Form to Matter
Each soul is a separate individual with separate consciousness.
Matter in itself has no form. Matter acquires a form only when
You are aware of your body, mind, intelligence and false ego. I
a spirit enters it. For example, if you take a plain cloth it may
cannot perceive your headache and you cannot know what I am
be formless, but if you put your finger inside then it assumes a
thinking. But God is present in the heart of every living entity.
form. When you remove your finger then it loses its form.
So he can know everyone and everything.
Similarly, matter (the eight elements in the body) assumes a
na tv evaham jatu nasam form when soul enters it. At death, when the soul leaves the
natvam neme janadhipah body, the body starts decomposing and disintegrating and loses
na caiva na bhavisyamah its form. So matter is formless, the spirit gives form to matter.
sarve vayamatah param A table/chair may have a form, although it is dead matter.
Matter can assume form only when spirit soul manipulates it.
The table has been given a form by a spirit soul (carpenter).
“Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all
these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.” The Soul Has a Form of
(Bhagavad-gita 2.12).
Eternity (sat)- Knowledge (cit)- Bliss (ananda)
‘mamaivamso jiva loke..’ “The souls in this material world are The soul comes from the kingdom of God and he has a spiritual
eternally My parts-and-parcels...” (Bhagavad-gita 15.7). The body of eternity knowledge and bliss, to relate with the Lord.
part remains the part and the whole remains the whole But when the soul desires to become an independent enjoyer,
eternally. A small golden ornament may be of the same quality he is dispatched to the material world, where he is entrapped in
of gold mountain but it can never equal the quantity of the a material body. This is something like a parrot (soul) in a cage
mountain; similarly the soul or jiva is minute and Krishna is (material body). Why do we suffer? Because the ‘sat-cit-
infinite in opulences. ananda’ soul is entrapped in a ‘asat-acit-nirananda’ (temporary-
ignorant-miserable) body, there is an incompatibility. So we
The Soul Has Form suffer.
The spirit soul is not some ‘impersonal light’ or ‘void’ as some The Soul is Situated in the Region of the Heart
people wrongly think. The soul is a beautiful personality whose
body is made up of sat-cit-ananda (eternity-knowledge-bliss). Just as the sun situated in one corner of the universe spreads
The soul is not just energy; he is a person. The qualities of soul light everywhere around, the soul situated in the region of the
heart spreads consciousness all over the body. The soul is not are unable to even quantify or perceive a thought. Even the
removed during heart transplantation, as he is spiritual. For mind, the subtle form of matter, is unmanifest. The soul, by
example, when the stepney or radiator of a car is changed, definition, is beyond the mind. It is not only unmanifest, but it
nothing happens to the driver. Similarly one heart (which is just is also inconceivable. One cannot even think of it: ‘avyakto
like a radiator pumping blood) may be replaced by another, but yam achintyo yam avikaryo yam ucyate’ “The soul is
that does not affect the soul. unmanifest, inconceivable and unchangeable.” (Bhagavad-gita
2.25)
The Size of the Soul
Am I God?
The Shvetasvatara Upanishad and the Srimad Bhagavatam
describe the size of the soul (seed form):
balagra shata bhagasya

G od, by definition, is supremely independent and is never
controlled; He is the supreme controller. In the Isopanisad,
the word ‘Isha’ is used to describe the Supreme Personality of
shatadha kalpitasya ca Godhead. ‘Isha’ means ‘controller’. Is there any person
bhago jivahsa vijneyah anywhere within this universe who is not controlled? Can
sa canantyaya kalpate anyone say, “I am not controlled”? Nobody can say that. Why?
None of us wants to grow old, get diseased and die yet its
“If you divide the tip of the hair into 100 parts, and if you happening to us all the time and we have no control over it
further divide one of those parts into 100 parts - that 1/10,000 whatsoever. No one wants to suffer, but sufferings are
part of the tip of the hair is the size of soul.” (Svetasvatara constantly coming in our lives and we have no control to stop
Upanishad 5.9) them. Thus we are thoroughly controlled by the stringent laws
of nature. So if one is controlled, then why does he declare, “I
This is the size of the soul in the seed form, when he wanders in am not controlled, I am independent, I am God”? Mayavadi
the material universe. But the soul has a original beautiful impersonalists claim, “I am God, you are God, everyone is
spiritual sat-cit-ananda form in the spiritual world, which is God.” But when they get a toothache it controls them so much
known as svarupa (spiritual constitutional position). The soul that they can do nothing about it except moan in pain. And
has an eternal sweet relationship with God in this svarupa. when they get a call of nature, it so completely controls them
that they have to helplessly run to respond. So if they are
The Soul is Inconceivable controlled, how can they be God? Does this make any sense?
The size of the soul - 1/10,000 part of the tip of the hair - is too God is never controlled - He is the supreme controller. So if
small to be seen through an electron microscope. But even if somebody is controlled, immediately we should know that he is
man may design a microscope more powerful than the electron not God.
microscope, yet to try to see soul through it will be futile. We
Now, this is not to say that the living entities are not controllers • A human being can make a small swimming pool, but God
to some extent. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says that the can make gigantic swimming pools, the vast oceans.
living entities are His superior energy. The living entities are
superior because they are conscious, whereas material energy is This is the difference between the living entity and God. The
not conscious. Therefore the living entities can manipulate and Bhagavad-gita clearly states that we are not God. It also
control the material energy to some extent. For example, before unambiguously declares we can never become God even after
the Europeans came to America, the land there was mostly liberation (15.16). We are not God, but we are God’s.
vacant and unutilized. They developed it into a country with
great industries and roads. Faith in the Lord and Scriptures
Thus the superior spiritual energy can have some control over
the inferior material energy. But we have forgotten that,
although we are superior to matter, we are still subordinate to
F aith in the Lord and scriptures is not opposed to knowledge.
Rather it is precondition for knowledge, especially for the
most confidential knowledge. If a child wants to understand the
God. And that superiority is being misused to exploit matter for world around him, he can speculate and may never arrive at the
sense gratification. That is conditioned life. If superiority is correct understanding. But if he just asks his mother, he can get
used for controlling matter to glorify God, that will liberate us. the right understanding at once. Similarly the seeker may
For example, everyone decorates their home for sense speculate for lifetimes about the nature of the cosmos without
gratification; if one decorates a temple of God, using his artistic arriving at the Truth, but if he just hears from the Vedic
and creative skills, it is right use of superiority over matter and literatures, which are like the mother, he can at once be
that will bring him closer to God. enlightened.
The following examples illustrate the relationship between When you speak with your relative on the telephone, you have
matter and spirit and the difference between the infinitesimal faith that the voice at the other end of the line is actually
living entity and the infinite God: coming from your relative, although you are unable to see him.
Similarly via the transcendental wire of disciplic succession,
• A scientist, a tiny living entity, can put a satellite in orbit which stretches beyond time, comes the immortal instructions
after years of research; but God can float millions of huge of Lord Krishna. We should therefore have faith that the
planets in orbit effortlessly. speaker of Bhagavad-gita is none other than the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, and that Srila Prabhupada is His
• A human being, a tiny living entity, can create a 200-storied representative in disciplic succession.
skyscraper building but God can create millions of
universes (ananta koti brahmanda nayak). Out of many standard and authoritative revealed scriptures, the
Bhagavad-gita is the best. In the Bhagavad-gita (4.40), Lord
Krishna explains the different types of human beings according incarnated in a corporeal form. To accept God as man or an
to their faith: ordinary man as God are both foolishness. Lord Krishna clearly
declares in the Bhagavad-gita, “There is no truth superior to
• Persons who are almost like animals have no faith in, or Me. I am the source of everything that exists. Just surrender to
knowledge of, the standard revealed scriptures; they are Me. I will free you from all sins.” But the foolish non-devotees
called ‘ajna’. argue, “Why shall I accept Krishna? I have got my own God.”
• And some, even though they have knowledge of, or can cite In this way people manufacture some concocted God and
passages from, the revealed scriptures, have actually no worship them.
faith in these words. This category is called
‘asraddhadhana’. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Sri Krishna affirms that less
intelligent persons mistake Him to be an ordinary man like us,
• And even though others may have faith in scriptures like and thus they deride Him. The less intelligent persons are those
Bhagavad-gita, they do not believe in or worship the who rebel against the authority of the Lord. Such persons are
Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. They are called known as asuras (demons). The demons cannot recognize the
‘samshayatma’. Although such people have faith, they are Lord’s authority. When the Lord Himself appears among us, as
swayed by the doubt, “I don’t know whether this process Rama, Narasimha, Varaha, or in His original form as Krishna,
will be effective in my case.” Such persons cannot have any He performs many wonderful acts which are humanly
standing in Krishna consciousness. They fall down. impossible. Lord Sri Krishna exhibited His humanly impossible
Men without faith in God and His revealed word find no good activities even from the days of His lying on the lap of His
either in this world or in the next. For them there is no mother.
happiness whatsoever. One should therefore follow in the
footsteps of great acharya who are in the disciplic succession • He killed the Putana witch, although she smeared her breast
and thereby attain success. Lord Sri Krishna has warned that with poison just to kill the Lord. The Lord sucked her breast
“those who are not faithful in devotional service cannot attain like a natural baby, and He sucked out her very life also.
Him, but return to the path of birth and death in this material • Similarly, He lifted the Govardhana Hill, just as a boy picks
world.” (Bhagavad-gita 9.3) up a frog’s umbrella, and stood several days continuously
just to give protection to the residents of Vrindavan. These
Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His
are some of the superhuman activities of the Lord described
form is fully spiritual, as stated in the Brahma Samhita (5.1)
in the authoritative Vedic literatures like the Puranas,
ishwara parama krishna sat-cit-ananda vigraha. Some think of
Itihasas (histories), and Upanishads.
Him to be a powerful man, great politician or a mystic yogi.
There are others who think that Krishna has acquired this • He has delivered wonderful instructions in the shape of the
wonderful form and qualities by good karma and tapasya, Bhagavad-gita.
austerity. Still others consider Him to be impersonal brahman
authentic literatures like Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas,

Mahabharata etc.
And yet there is a class of men with demoniac mentality who

are always reluctant to accept the Lord as the Supreme
Absolute Truth. This is partially due to their poor fund of
knowledge and partially due to their stubborn obstinacy, which
results from various misdeeds in the past and present. Such
persons could not recognize Lord Sri Krishna even when He
was present before them.
Another difficulty is that those who depend more on their

imperfect senses cannot realize Him as the Supreme Lord. Such
persons are like the modern scientist. They want to know
everything by their experimental knowledge. But it is not
possible to know the Supreme Person by imperfect
experimental knowledge. He is described as adhokshaja, or
beyond the range of
experimental knowledge. All
our senses are imperfect. We
claim to observe everything
and anything, but we must
admit that we can observe
things under certain material
• He has shown marvelous capacities as a hero, as a conditions only; and such
householder, as a teacher, and as a renouncer. material conditions are also
• He is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by beyond our control. What is
such authoritative personalities as Vyasa, Devala, Asita, our power to see? For
Narada, Madhva, Shankara, Ramanuja, Sri Caitanya example we cannot see our
Mahaprabhu, Jiva Goswami, Vishvanatha Cakravarti, own hands without the aid of
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, and all other authorities of the the sun, although we may
line. have eyes. We cannot see our
own eyelids or eyebrows with
• He Himself has declared the same in many places of the
our eyes. Why should we be proud of our limited senses? The and there are people who have come from there – the pure
Lord is beyond the observation of sense perception. devotees.
Just as a frog who has never gone out of his well cannot believe The Bhagavad-gita is accepted by all classes of men in India.
in the existence of the Atlantic Ocean, scientists who limit their And outside India, many scholars, religionists and philosophers
knowledge to empiric research cannot understand the glories of have accepted the Bhagavad-gita as authority. Even eminent
the spiritual world described in the revealed scriptures. scientists like Einstein would read Bhagavad-gita regularly. So
there should be no difficulty on accepting, on the authority of
The Spiritual World Beyond the Bhagavad-gita, that there is a spiritual kingdom of God.
And the Bhagavad-gita further states that yaà präpya na
Lord Krishna gives information of “another unmanifest nature, nivartante, if one can somehow or other reach that spiritual
which is eternal and is transcendental to this matter. It is atmosphere, then one will not have to accept another material
supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is body; rather one will become happily situated in eternal life.
annihilated, that part remains as it is.” (Bhagavad-gita 8.20).
We have to develop faith by hearing the books of spiritual The Spiritual World – Our Original Home
wisdom. And for those who accept such sublime truths with
great transcendental faith, the truth will be revealed very soon if
they follow the process.
T he Brahma-samhita (5.37) describes that the Absolute
Personality of Godhead has His transcendental abode,
known as Goloka, where He remains and engages in His
For example, how do we know that a person named Mahatma
pastimes, yet by His inconceivable potencies He can
Gandhi ever existed? Most of us have never seen him. Our
simultaneously reach every part of His creative energy. In the
knowledge about him is based on our faith in the books which
Vishnu Purana His potencies are compared to the heat and light
describe about him and in the persons who have met him. The
that emanate from a fire. Although situated in one place, a fire
same principle can be applied to understand the existence of
can distribute its light and heat; similarly, the Absolute
God. We may not have seen Him, but there are books
Personality of Godhead, although fixed in His transcendental
describing Him – the scriptures and there are people who have
abode, can diffuse His different energies everywhere.
seen Him – the pure devotees.
Similarly our faith in the existence of a place called America is The Three Principal Energies of the Lord
based on books which describe it and people who have been Although the Lord’s energies are innumerable, they can be
there. Applying the same principle to the existence of the divided into three principal categories: the internal potency,
spiritual world, there are books describing it – the scriptures the marginal potency and the external potency. There are
hundreds and millions of subheadings to each of these
categories. The dominating demigods who are empowered to Then what to speak of the asuras (demons), for whom there is
control and administer such natural phenomena as air, light and no question of understanding the ways of the Lord?
rain are all classified within the marginal potency of the
Absolute Person. Lesser living beings, including humans, also We can see practically and scientifically that as soon as the sun
belong to the Lord’s marginal potency. We are marginal, rises above the ocean level, the sunshine immediately reaches
because the jiva is found sometimes in the material world and earth and due to the sunshine, colorful fruits, green vegetables
other times in the spiritual world, like the bank of a river, which and beautiful flowers grow. Thus though the sun is far away, by
is sometimes wet and sometimes dry. But once the soul its energies – heat and light, it accomplishes wonderful things
achieves the spiritual world, he never falls down to material on the earth. Similarly, the supreme sun is Krishna. Through
world. The material world is the creation of the Lord’s external multifarious energies He accomplishes everything, but He
potency, ‘bahiranga shakti’. And the spiritual sky, where the remains aloof as the Supreme Energetic Person behind all the
kingdom of God is situated, is the manifestation of His internal energies.
potency, ‘antaranga shakti’. The pure devotees of the Lord,
Our Ultimate Resting Place
called ‘mahatmas’ are under the shelter of internal potency
presided by the goddess of fortune – Srimati Radharani, Sita or The abode of Lord Sri Krishna is described in the Bhagavad-
Lakshmi. The ‘duratmas’ who are against the purpose of the gita, Fifteenth Chapter, sixth verse:
Lord are under the external potency presided by maya or
Durga. na tad bhäsayate süryo
na çaçäìko na pävakaù
The Supreme Truth is a Person yad gatvä na nivartante
tad dhama paramaà mama
Thus the different energies of the Lord are present everywhere.
Although the Lord and His energies are non-different, one “That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or
should not mistake these energies for the Supreme Truth. Nor moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return
should one wrongly consider that the Supreme Lord is to this material world.”
distributed everywhere impersonally or that He loses His
personal existence. Men are accustomed to reach conclusions This verse gives a description of that eternal sky. Of course we
according to their capacity for understanding, but the Supreme have a material conception of the sky, and we think of it in
Lord is not subject to our limited capacity for understanding. It relationship to the sun, moon, stars and so on, but in this verse
is for this reason that the Upanishads warn us that no one can the Lord states that in the eternal sky there is no need for the
approach the Lord by his own limited potency. In the sun nor the moon nor electricity or fire of any kind because the
Bhagavad-gita (10.2) Lord Sri Krishna says that not even the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahmajyoti, the rays
great jnanis (speculators) and suras (demigods) can know Him. emanating from the Supreme Lord. We are trying with
His body is like the color of clouds. He is so attractive that His

beauty excels that of thousands of Cupids. He wears saffron
cloth called ‘peetambar’, a ‘vaijayantimala’ garland around His
neck and a peacock feather in His hair. In the Bhagavad-gita
Lord Krishna gives only a small hint of His personal abode,
Goloka Vrindavan, which is the supermost planet in the
spiritual kingdom. A vivid description is given in the Brahma-
samhita. Vedic literatures (Katha Upanishad 1.3.11) state that
there is nothing superior to the abode of the Supreme Godhead,
and that abode is the ultimate destination. When one attains to
it, he never returns to the material world. On this earth,
Vrindavan, ninety miles southeast of Delhi, is a replica of that
supreme Goloka Vrindavan located in the spiritual sky. When
Krishna descended on this earth, He sported on that particular
tract of land known as Vrindavan.
difficulty to reach other planets, but it is not difficult to
understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. In the Brahma-samhita (5.37) it is described: goloka eva
nivasaty akhilatma-bhuto. The Lord resides eternally in His
The supreme abode of the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is abode Goloka, yet He can be approached from this world, and
described in the Brahma-samhita as cintamani-dhama, a place to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real form, sat-cit-
where all desires are fulfilled. The supreme abode of Lord ananda-vigraha (Brahma-Samhita 5.1). When He manifests
Krishna, known as Goloka Vrindavan, is full of palaces made this form, there is no need for our imagining what He looks
of touchstone. There are also trees, called “desire trees,” that like. To discourage such imaginative speculation, He descends
supply any type of eatable upon demand. In the material world and exhibits Himself as He is, as Syamasundar. Unfortunately,
a mango tree can only supply mango and a banana tree cannot the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us
supply coconut water to quench our thirst. But the ‘desire tree’ and plays with us as a human being. But because of this we
can provide any eatable or anything upon request. And there are should not consider the Lord to be one of us. It is by His omni
cows, known as surabhi cows, which supply a limitless supply potency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and
of milk and at anytime. In this abode, the Lord is served by displays His pastimes, which are replicas of those pastimes
hundreds of thousands of goddesses of fortune (Lakshmis), and found in His abode.
He is called Govinda, the primal Lord and the cause of all
causes. The Lord is accustomed to blow His flute (venum In the effulgent rays of the spiritual sky there are innumerable
kvanantam). His transcendental form is the most attractive in planets floating. The brahmajyoti emanates from the supreme
all the worlds – His eyes are like lotus petals, and the color of
abode, Krishnaloka, and the ananda-maya, cin-maya planets, best understood by a person who has qualities similar to
which are not material, float in those rays. The Lord says, ‘yad Arjuna’s. That is to say he must be a devotee in a direct
gatvä na nivartante tad dhama paramaà mama’ (Bhagavad- relationship with the Lord. As soon as one becomes a devotee
gita 15.6). One who can approach that spiritual sky is not of the Lord, he also has a direct relationship with the Lord. That
required to descend again to the material sky. In the material is a very elaborate subject matter, but briefly it can be stated
sky, even if we approach the highest planet (Brahmaloka), what that a devotee is in a relationship with the Supreme Personality
to speak of the moon, we will find the same conditions of life, of Godhead in one of five different ways:
namely birth, death, disease and old age. No planet in the 1) Devotee in a passive state (shanta rasa – Neutrality)
material universe is free from these four principles of material 2) Devotee in an active state (dasya rasa - Servitude);
existence. 3) Devotee as a friend (sakhya rasa - Friendship);
4) Devotee as a parent (vatsalya rasa – Parental affection);
Our Relationship With The Lord 5) Devotee as a conjugal lover (madhurya rasa - Conjugal love)
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita (4.3) that He is Arjuna was in a relationship with the Lord as friend. Of course
relating the supreme secret of the knowledge about God, the there is a gulf of difference between this friendship and the
living entity and their mutual relationship to him (Arjuna) friendship found in the material world. This is transcendental
because he is His devotee and His friend. The purport of this is friendship, which cannot be had by everyone. Of course
that Bhagavad-gita is a treatise which is especially meant for everyone has a particular relationship with the Lord, and that
the devotee of the Lord. There are three classes of relationship is evoked by the perfection of devotional service.
transcendentalists, namely the jnani, the yogi and the bhakta, or But in the present status of our life, not only have we forgotten
the impersonalist, the meditator and the devotee. Here the Lord the Supreme Lord, but we have forgotten our eternal
clearly tells Arjuna that He is making him the first receiver of a relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of the many,
new parampara (disciplic succession) because the old many billions and trillions of living beings, has a particular
succession was broken. It was the Lord’s wish, therefore, to relationship with the Lord eternally. That is called svarupa. By
establish another parampara in the same line of thought that the process of devotional service, one can revive that svarupa,
was coming down from the sun-god to others, and it was His and that stage is called svarupa-siddhi – perfection of one’s
wish that His teaching be distributed anew by Arjuna. He constitutional position. So Arjuna was a devotee, and he was in
wanted Arjuna to become the authority in understanding the touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship.
Bhagavad-gita.
Loving Reciprocation Between Krishna and His Devotees
So we see that Bhagavad-gita is instructed to Arjuna especially
because Arjuna was a devotee of the Lord, a direct student of Although Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krishna, and His intimate friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is out of His causeless mercy He was engaged in the service of
His friend. He never fails in His affection for His devotees, and The devotees surcharged with the ideas of their respective
thus He is addressed by the name ‘acyuta’ which means service serve Krishna eternally and ultimately reach the goal of
‘infallible’. As charioteer, He had to carry out the orders of their respective ideals. They attain the real nature of their self
Arjuna, and since He did not hesitate to do so, He is addressed befitting their respective rasas. Those who are advocates of
as infallible. Although He had accepted the position of a ‘shanta rasa’ attain the neutral roles of trees, water, flowers and
charioteer for His devotee, His supreme position was not serve silently in meditation. Those who are in ‘dasya rasa’
challenged. In all circumstances, He is the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Hrsikesa, the Lord of the total senses. The
relationship between the Lord and His servitor is very sweet
and transcendental. The servitor is always ready to render
service to the Lord, and, similarly, the Lord is always seeking
an opportunity to render some service to the devotee. He takes
greater pleasure in His pure devotee’s assuming the
advantageous position of ordering Him than He does in being
the giver of orders. Since He is master, everyone is under His
orders, and no one is above Him to order Him. But when He
finds that a pure devotee is ordering Him, He obtains
transcendental pleasure, although He is the infallible master of
all circumstances.
The Five Divine Mellows

In the spiritual world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri
Krishna can perfectly reciprocate one’s loving propensities in
different relationships called mellows, or rasas. Basically there
are twelve loving relationships, five of which are primary. One
can love Krishna as the supreme unknown, as the supreme
master, the supreme friend, the supreme child, and the supreme
lover.
engage in varieties of services. Those in ‘sakhya rasa’ treat the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith are
Krishna equally just as they treat one another and they are either plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of
never afraid of Him, nor do they ever beg His pardon. The the Supreme Godhead, but Krishna is the Supreme Personality
cowherd boy friends sometimes ride on Krishna’s shoulders. of Godhead Himself.”
Those in ‘vatsalya rasa’ like mother Yashoda and Nanda
shower parental affection upon Krishna by feeding, In the Vedic literature names like Narayana and Vishnu may be
maintaining, protecting and caring. The gopis are the topmost found more frequently than the name Krishna. This is because
amongst all devotees. They are in ‘madhurya rasa’ (conjugal such names refer to the Lord’s activities in relation to the
love) with Krishna and enjoy the most intimate relationships material creation (“Vishnu” means “all-pervading” and
with Krishna. “Narayana” means “the shelter of all living entities”) But
Krishna never takes any part in creation, maintenance or
Goloka Vrindavan is the highest planet in the spiritual world. annihilation. He always remains aloof from all these and
Krishna enjoys various loving relationships by manifesting the merrily plays in His own abode. Lord Krishna is like the owner
64 arts like singing, playing instruments, dancing, painting, of a company who just relaxes and leaves the monitoring of the
splashing water sports, setting ornaments, solving riddles etc. profit-loss account of the company to the managers. Similarly
In order to go there, one has to penetrate the cover of the to conduct the affairs of the material creation, Lord Krishna
material universe, penetrate the Brahmajyoti effulgence and expands as the Vishnu forms – Maha Vishnu, Garbhodakashayi
then one reaches this supreme abode. In brahmajyoti there are Vishnu, Ksirodakashayi Vishnu.
also other planets called Vaikuntha planets. One has to become
a pure devotee of the Lord by understanding Bhagavad-gita When Krishna is in His natural mood in Goloka Vrindavana,
like Arjuna, to be noticed by the Lord and transported to His He enjoys multifarious loving pastimes with His eternal
abode. associates such as cow-herding, wrestling, singing and dancing.
But when He expands as Maha Vishnu, He takes on a sober
Is Krishna an Avatar of Vishnu? role of creating millions of universes by lying in the Causal
Ocean. The difference between Krishna and Vishnu is like the
difference between a police subinspector at home and the same
S ometimes people think that Krishna is one among the 10
avatars (incarnations) of Vishnu. But a more complete
understanding is that Krishna is the source of all the Vishnu
police subinspector on duty. At home, a police subinspector
wears simple loose dress and plays with his children just like a
forms including Maha Vishnu, Garbhodakashayi Vishnu and child. He may even carry his child on his back like an elephant.
Kshirodakashayi Vishnu. There are 24 lila avatars like Matsya But when he takes the duty of a police subinspector, he wears
avatar, Kurma avatar etc., and all these avatars originate from the police uniform and takes on a serious role, though He is the
Krishna. This is mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.3.28): same person. Similarly, Krishna is the original Vishnu –
ete camsha kalah pumsah krishnas tu bhagavan svayam “All Vishnu at home. The difference between Krishna and Vishnu is
like the difference between the Prime minister at home free from all anxieties. For them there is no question of birth,
enjoying with his relatives and friends and the same person in death, old age and diseases, and therefore they are not anxious.
the parliament conducting the affairs of the country. The Just as we see innumerable planets like sun, moon etc. floating
subordinates of the Prime minister at work deal with him in a in the sky, similarly there are innumerable ‘ananda-cinmaya’
mood of great reverence and respect. We see this type of planets which are full of blissful existence floating in the
relationship between Lord Vishnu and His devotees or Lord spiritual world in the Brahman effulgence. The supreme planet
Ramachandra and His devotees like Hanuman, rather than a is Goloka Vrindavan where Lord Sri Krishna resides. There are
playful intimate relationship as seen between Lord Krishna and other planets in which the other expansions of the Lord, namely
His devotees. Lord Vishnu, Lord Rama etc. reside. There is a constant
exchange of unending loving reciprocation between the Lord
Description of the Kingdom of God and His devotees in these planets. The devotees engage in the
Lord’s service in great ecstatic love and have no other desires.
K untha means a place of anxiety. The material world is full

of cares and anxieties. In the spiritual sky the planets are
called ‘Vaikuntha’ because the residents of these planets are
Auspicious Forms and Activities
All the residents of Vaikuntha look like the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Narayana, but they have infinitesimal
potency and the Lord has infinite potency. In the Vaikuntha
planets Krishna’s plenary feature as four-handed Narayana is
the predominating Deity, and the residents of Vaikunthaloka
are also four-handed, just contrary to our conception here in the
material world. Nowhere in the material world do we find a
human being with four hands. In Vaikunthaloka there is no
occupation but the service of the Lord, and this service is not
rendered with a purpose.
Unique Trees
In those Vaikuntha planets there are many forests which are
very auspicious. In those forests the trees are desire trees, and
in all seasons they are filled with flowers and fruits because
everything in the Vaikuntha planets is spiritual and personal.
No Attraction for Sense Gratification feature of Vaikunthaloka is that there is no question of sense
gratification. In the material world even an ass enjoys his sound
In the Vaikuntha planets the inhabitants fly in their airplanes, vibration, but in the Vaikunthas such nice birds as the peacock,
accompanied by their wives and consorts, and eternally sing of the cakravaka and the cuckoo prefer to hear the vibration of the
the character and activities of the Lord. The inhabitants of glories of the Lord from the bees. The principles of devotional
Vaikuntha, however, are so interested in glorifying the Lord service, beginning with hearing and chanting, are very
that they do not like the disturbance of a nice breeze coming prominent in the Vaikuntha world.
from a fragrant flower while they are chanting the Lord’s
glories. In other words, they are pure devotees. They consider Although flowering plants like the mandära, kunda, kurabaka,
glorification of the Lord more important than their own sense utpala, campaka, arëa, punnäga, nägakeçara, bakula, lily and
gratification. In the Vaikuntha planets there is no question of parijata are full of transcendental fragrance, they are still
sense gratification. To smell the fragrance of a blossoming conscious of the austerities performed by tulasi, for tulasi is
flower is certainly very nice, but it is simply for sense given special preference by the Lord, who garlands Himself
gratification. The inhabitants of Vaikuntha give first preference with tulasi leaves. Tulasi plants and their leaves are very
to the service of the Lord, not their own sense gratification. important in devotional service. Devotees are recommended to
Serving the Lord in transcendental love yields such water the tulasi tree every day and collect the leaves to worship
transcendental pleasure that, in comparison, sense gratification the Lord. The most important thing about the spiritual world is
is counted as insignificant. that there is no envy among the devotees there. This is true
even among the flowers, which are all conscious of the
Freedom From Envy and Eagerness greatness of tulasi. In the Vaikuntha world, even the birds and
to Hear the Lord’s Glories flowers are conscious of service to the Lord.
When the king of bees hums in a high pitch, singing the glories
Higher Taste
of the Lord, there is a temporary lull in the noise of the pigeon,
the cuckoo, the crane, the cakravaka, the swan, the parrot, the The inhabitants of Vaikuntha travel in their airplanes made of
partridge and the peacock. Such transcendental birds stop their lapis lazuli, emerald and gold. Although crowded by their
own singing simply to hear the glories of the Lord sung by the consorts, who have large hips and beautiful smiling faces, they
king-bee, which reveals the absolute nature of Vaikuntha. cannot be stimulated to passion by their mirth and beautiful
There is no difference between the birds there and the human charms. They have ample opulences for enjoyment, but they
residents. The situation in the spiritual sky is that everything is need not labor to achieve them. It is also stated that in the
spiritual and variegated. Spiritual variegatedness means that Vaikuntha world the consorts of the residents are many, many
everything is animate. There is nothing inanimate. Even the times more beautiful than we can find in this material world,
trees, the ground, the plants, the flowers, the birds and the even in the higher planets. It is specifically mentioned here that
beasts are all on the level of Krishna consciousness. The special the wonderful feature of Vaikuntha is that although the women
have beautiful faces and forms and are decorated with Lakshmi in the house of Ravana is Cancala, or unsteady. Men
ornaments of emeralds and jewels, the men are so absorbed in of Ravana’s class want Lakshmi only, without her husband,
Krishna consciousness that the beautiful bodies of the women Narayana; therefore they become unsteady due to Lakshmiji.
cannot attract them. In other words, there is enjoyment of the Materialistic persons find fault on the part of Lakshmi, but in
association of the opposite sex, but there is no sexual Vaikuntha Lakshmiji is fixed in the service of the Lord. In spite
relationship. The residents of Vaikuntha have a better standard of her being the goddess of fortune, she cannot be happy
of pleasure, so there is no need of sex pleasure. without the grace of the Lord.
Even Goddess Of Fortune Renders Service Brahmaji’s Lamentation About Souls

Being Eager To Achieve the Lord’s Grace Suffering in the Material World
The ladies in the Vaikuntha planets are as beautiful as the It is very much regrettable that unfortunate people do not
goddess of fortune herself. Such transcendentally beautiful discuss the description of the Vaikuntha planets but engage in
ladies, their hands playing with lotuses and their leg bangles topics which are unworthy to hear and which bewilder one’s
tinkling, are sometimes seen sweeping the marble walls, which intelligence. Those who give up the topics of Vaikuntha and
are bedecked at intervals with golden borders, in order to take to talk of the material world are thrown into the darkest
receive the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the region of ignorance. The variegatedness of the Vaikuntha
Vaikuntha planets the houses are made of marble. Similarly in planets is described in relation to the transcendental pastimes of
the ‘Brahma Samhita’ it is stated that the ground on the the Lord. But instead of trying to understand the spiritual abode
Vaikuntha planets is made of touchstone. Thus there is no need and the spiritual activities of the Lord, people are more
to sweep the stone in Vaikuntha, for there is hardly any dust on interested in politics and economic developments. They hold
it, but still, in order to satisfy the Lord, the ladies there always many conventions, meetings and discussions to solve the
engage in dusting the marble walls. Why? The reason is that problems of this worldly situation, where they can remain for
they are eager to achieve the grace of the Lord by doing so. only a few years, but they are not interested in understanding
the spiritual situation of the Vaikuntha world. If they are at all
It is also stated here that in the Vaikuntha planets the goddesses fortunate, they become interested in going back home, back to
of fortune are faultless. Generally the goddess of fortune does Godhead, but unless they understand the spiritual world, they
not remain steadily in one place. Her name is Cancala, which rot in this material darkness continuously.
means “one who is not steady.” We find therefore that a man
who is very rich may become the poorest of the poor in a few Brahmaji condemns very vehemently the condition of the
years. Another example is Ravana. Ravana took away Lakshmi, human being who does not take interest in the Personality of
Sitaji, to his kingdom, and instead of being happy by the grace Godhead and His transcendental abode, Vaikuntha. The human
of Lakshmi, his family and his kingdom were vanquished. Thus form of life is desired even by Brahmaji. Brahma and other
demigods have much better material bodies than human beings,
yet the demigods, including Brahma, nevertheless desire to entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, is neither the
attain the human form of life because it is specifically meant for creator nor the enjoyer, but a co-operator.
the living entity who can attain transcendental knowledge and
religious perfection. It is said that the human form is a great Due to the misuse of his free will, the living entity puts himself
boon because it is the most suitable boat for crossing over the in various misconceptions, which keep him in the material
ocean of nescience. The spiritual master is considered to be the world. We have explained these misconceptions with simple
most able captain in that boat, and the information from the illustrations:
scriptures is the favorable wind for floating over the ocean of ‘I am the Creator’
nescience. The human being who does not take advantage of all
these facilities in this life is committing suicide. Therefore one When a little girl sees her mother cooking, she cries adamantly,
who does not begin Krishna consciousness in the human form “Mother! You get out of the kitchen. Today’s cooking will be
of life loses his life to the influence of the illusory energy. done by me.” As it would be dangerous to allow the little girl to
Brahma regrets the situation of such a human being. come near the gas stove, the mother presents her with a
harmless toy stove with tiny electric bulbs that light in place of
The Misuse of Free Will fires. Similarly, Lord Krishna is the supreme enjoyer and He
performs wonderful pastimes in the spiritual world eternally.
But when we want to become the enjoyer, the Lord allows us to
T he Vedic scriptures explain that the soul is constitutionally
a resident of an eternal realm, the spiritual world. It is
explained in the Upanishads, ‘nityo nityanam, cetanas
imitate His pastimes in this toy material world. Just as the child
is expected to someday stop playing with toys and begin her
cetananam, eko bahunam, yo vidadhati kaman’ The Supreme real work, so the Lord expects each of us to stop our foolish
Personality of Godhead is one amongst many, many souls who imitation of Him through sense enjoyment and return to our
are all subordinate to Him. Every soul is endowed with a natural position of devotional service in the spiritual sky.
minute independence either to choose to love and serve God
or to be independent of God and struggle for so-called All that we see in this material world is like an imitation, a
illusory enjoyment in this material world. The souls in this shadow. It is like what is seen in a cinematographic picture.
world, i.e. all of us, have chosen the second option. The Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.1) states janmädy asya yataù
anvayäd itarataç ca artheñu abhijïaù svaräö, yatra tri-sargo
The world revolves because every living being thinks that he is ‘måñä. A nice girl’s doll in a shop-window may look exactly
the lord and creator of the material world. Material like a nice, beautiful girl, but every sane man knows that it is
consciousness has two psychic divisions. One is that I am the just an imitation. Similarly all the beautiful things we see here
creator, and the other is that I am the enjoyer. But actually the in the material world are imitation of the real beauty in the
Supreme Lord is both the creator and the enjoyer, and the living spiritual world. As the doll is imitation of a beautiful girl,
similarly, Shridhara Swami says, “Because the spiritual world
is real and this unreal manifestation appears to be real, but it is ‘I am free to go anywhere’, but he is stoned by boys, bitten by
not real, we can understand reality will exist; reality will not other street dogs, starves without food, suffers without shelter
vanquish.” That which is reality is eternal. and caught by the municipality van to be killed. This is what he
enjoys in the name of ‘freedom’. Similarly the living entity,
‘I have more freedom. I am independent.’ who wants to enjoy independent of Krishna, comes to the
material world, where he is made to run here and there for
When Srila Prabhupada was visiting Tokyo, an initiated enjoyment. In order to squeeze out some happiness, he
disciple, who was not living at the temple, came to meet him. performs sinful activities repeatedly, but when he is unable to
“Why don’t you live with us?” Srila Prabhupada asked him. grasp any happiness, he gets frustrated.
Srila Prabhupada would travel all over the world just to meet
and guide devotees on the spiritual path. ‘I am the Controller’
“I am not able to be free living within the devotees’
association,” the discontented disciple replied. If a person becomes controlled by another person, then he
“Where are you living?” Srila Prabhupada asked. cannot be God. tam isvaranam paramam mahesvaram “The
“I am living in the train station,” he said. Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers.”
“The train station?” asked Srila Prabhupada.“What is that like?” ‘Ishvara’ means controller. Even an ant may be the controller of
The young man began describing his difficult life in the train a long queue of ants. A person may be the controller of a
station. The policemen would often wake him up and throw family, school, college, industry, state or country. But our range
him out by force. of control is very limited like the range of movement of a cow
“So you have left us in order to have more freedom,” said tied to a pole. We cannot control even the ageing of our own
Prabhupada, “But now you are living under force.” body or the troubles of our raging mind. All of us are controlled
“Yes,” he admitted. by somebody above us, but God is the controller of all
“If you do not like living with devotees,” Srila Prabhupada controllers: ‘ishwara parama krishna…’
continued, “you will find it even more difficult living under the
strict control of the material nature. So give this up and live Once when Srila Prabhupada was at Honolulu, USA, many
with us.” small fishing and tour boats were in the harbor, and directly
overhead large jets, both arriving and departing, flew over the
A dog who agrees to serve a master gets the love and care of island. “As man wonderfully manipulates the material elements
the master, eats costly biscuits and travels in the same car as the to make airplanes,” said Srila Prabhupada, “there must also be a
master. Similarly a devotee, who surrenders to Krishna, draws Supreme Being who has made the material universe. A plane,
Krishna’s attention by his service, eats the prasadam (the for example, is not created accidentally or automatically. It is
remnants) of the Lord and is free from all anxieties. On the produced and piloted by man. Similarly, God creates and
other hand a street dog is ‘anatha’; he has no master. He feels, controls the material universe. But the atheists deny God by
saying that nature works on its own. They have lost their
intelligence.” Speaking for the opposition, one disciple gave anyone tells you not to listen to anyone, they simply want to
what he thought was a feasible argument, “Prabhupada, the exploit you by making you listen only to them.
atheists believe that they can control nature, and therefore there
is no need for God. After all, they are able to fly their planes.” Accepting an authority and hearing from that person is the basis
He gestured to the 747 jet overhead as evidence of man’s power for learning in any field, what then to speak of the realm of
to control. “They have some control,” Prabhupada replied, “but spirituality, which is beyond sense perception. Lord Krishna
some control means no control. They are unable to control states in the Bhagavad-gita that those who surrender to Him
death, birth, disease and old age. So what is the value of some become free from all suffering. Devotees accept the Lord’s
control?” authority, surrender to Him and achieve all good fortune. But
the nondevotees lack faith in the Lord’s instructions; so they
The point that Srila Prabhupada wanted to make was that even refuse to surrender to Him, continue to struggle for existence in
if man succeeded in flying in the sky or surfing on the ocean or the material world and lose the opportunity to go back home,
doing any other seemingly remarkable thing, he eventually has back to Godhead.
to succumb to old age, disease and death. No matter what he
does, he has no control over these. Suppose a person is given a ‘I don’t need to surrender to anybody’
million dollars for a day with the condition that it will be taken Once during a morning walk along a beach, Srila Prabhupada
away from him at the end of the day. He can claim to be a pointed to a small crab in the water along the seashore and told
millionaire and can even show his wealth to others, but he is one of his impressively-built disciples to catch it. He at once
going to lose it all at the end of the day and he can do nothing bend down to catch it but it slipped out from his hands.
about it. Similarly we have been given youth, intelligence, Although that disciple was huge in size and the crab in
abilities, wealth etc and we can proudly strut about with them, comparison was tiny, the crab kept slipping away from his
but old age, disease and death are going to strip it all away from hands every time he tried to catch it. After this went on for
us and there is nothing that we can do about it. Therefore Srila some time, Srila Prabhupada laughed and commented, “You
Prabhupada declared emphatically that little control meant no can’t catch it, even though it is tiny compared to you, because it
control. has taken shelter of the great (the ocean).” Similarly although
we are tiny living entities and Maya (the illusory energy) is
“Why should I accept any authority?” greatly powerful, if we take shelter of Krishna who is the
Once a person asked Srila Prabhupada, “Swami so-and-so says greatest, then Maya cannot touch us.
that you should not hear anyone nor accept any authority. The
Truth is within you. You should hear only that voice.” Srila ‘I am the enjoyer’
Prabhupada replied, “Then why are you hearing from him?” No A person can be truly considered to be an enjoyer only when he
reply. Srila Prabhupada went on to explain that whenever himself does not have to do any work. Therefore God alone is
the enjoyer as stated in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.8): na A part of a machine cooperates with the whole machine; a part
tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate. “The Supreme Personality of of the body cooperates with the whole body. Suppose once you
Godhead has no work to do.” Lord Krishna also states in the returned from a journey by train with two heavy suitcases and
Bhagavad-gita (3.22): na me parthasti kartavyam trishu found that no conveyance was available due to a strike. You
lokeshu kincana. “O son of Pritha, there is no work prescribed walk all the way back home, carrying the heavy suitcases. You
for Me within all the three planetary systems.” A crude are feeling exhausted, your body is perspiring and your hands
example could be given. Once I met a person working with are paining severely and are feeling very weak. What do you do
Tata steel company and asked him, “Where is your owner?” He then? When your hands feel weak, to regain strength you use
replied, “We have not seen him for past six months. He is those very same hands to do more work to feed the stomach!
probably relaxing in Switzerland.” The owner is a free bird; he When the stomach is fed, the hands automatically regain
owns all the property and enjoys. He has no specific duty in the strength. If the fingers of your hand were to think that they
company. An employee can also enjoy if he cooperates with the worked so hard, so they should take the food themselves
owner. If the employee does not cooperate, then he is removed instead of giving it to the stomach, then they will be frustrated.
from the company.
Thus, the hands, legs, eyes, and so on are all parts of the body,
Similarly Lord Krishna is the supreme enjoyer being the owner but they are not actually the enjoyers. The stomach is the
of everything. Seeing Krishna enjoying in the spiritual world, enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teeth chew,
the living entity thinks, “Let me become an independent and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach
enjoyer.” But the living entities are tiny part-and-parcels of because the stomach is the principal factor that nourishes the
Krishna and cannot enjoy separate from Him. The central body’s organization. Therefore everything is given to the
figure of creation and of enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, and stomach. In the same way Lord Sri Krishna is the root cause of
the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy. everything that exists; if He is satisfied, then everyone will be
The relation is also like that of master and servant. If the master satisfied. This is the principle illustrated in a wonderful pastime
is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied. Krishna is called of Lord Krishna.
‘rasa vigraha’ ‘one who is reservoir of all pleasure’. If we want
enjoyment that can be achieved simply by connecting ourselves Once while the Pandavas were in exile, the sage Durvasa came
to Him and assisting Him in His enjoyment. If one touches with his thousands of disciples to their hut for lunch prasad.
another man who has got an electric shock by putting his hand The Pandavas had an akshaya-patra, a magical cooking vessel
in the socket, then he will also experience the shock. In the that provided as much food as they needed, till their wife
same way if one comes in contact with Lord Sri Krishna who is Draupadi ate her food. After that the vessel would give food
an ocean of unlimited happiness, one cannot remain unhappy only on the next day. When Durvasa arrived, Draupadi had just
anymore. finished her lunch. Seeing Durvasa the Pandavas were alarmed
as they knew that they would not be able to feed him. While the
short-tempered sage and his disciples bathed in a nearby river, Give me my share of money and I will enjoy independently. No
the Pandavas prayed frantically to Krishna to save them from more useless advice and talks.” The father reluctantly agreed,
the wrath of the sage. At that moment Krishna appeared there “If you really want to be alone, how can I stop you?” Then he
and asked Draupadi for some food. She sadly told Him that gave his share of money to the second son. This son took the
there was none, but on His bidding, she found a small piece of money and went off to live in a far away place. Because he had
shak (cooked vegetable) remaining in the vessel and offered it a huge amount of money, he got many friends. When a person
to the Lord. When the Lord ate that little morsel of shak, the has a lot of money, people will surround him because money is
sage and his disciples found that their stomachs had become like honey for them. They like to enjoy life in various ways
inexplicably full. yasmin tushtam jagat tushtam “When the using money. So, many people became his friends, flattered
Lord is satisfied, everyone is satisfied.” him, took him to parties, taught him smoking and drinking and
got him entangled in all sorts of vices. In this way, he spent all
his money in drinking, smoking, meat-eating and womanizing.
The Story Of the Prodigal Son
When all his money was squandered away on useless things
and he became like a beggar in the street, all his friends soon
T he following story retold from the Bible, conveys a theme
that goes with any religion: how a soul leaves the company
of God, comes to material world, suffers here and at last returns
deserted him.
The second son thus found himself crying alone in the middle
to the Lord through repentance and surrender. of a street with no shelter, no protection, no money and not
knowing know what to do. Finally he approached a wealthy
Once upon a time, there was a very wealthy man, who owned zamindar for a job. The zamindar told him, “You have to take
many acres of land. He had two sons; the first son was very care of these 100 pigs by feeding them this low quality wheat
obedient and always assisted his father in his work, but the flour and you may also eat the same. That will be your
second son was disobedient. remuneration; do not expect anything more.” Having no other
alternative, the second son agreed. Everyday he would feed the
One day, the second son came to his father and told him, “My white pigs and then he would also eat the same low quality
dear father, now I have decided to live separately. Give me my flour.
share in property and money so that I may become independent
of you, stay alone and enjoy. I don’t want to live with you any After going through this ordeal for several days, the second son
longer.” When the father heard this, he became very sorrowful. started crying at his condition and started remembering his
He tried to explain to his son, “My dear child, it is not possible loving father. He said to himself, “O my dear loving father, you
for you to enjoy alone. You don’t know how to spend money. were so kind to me. You used to give me so many varieties of
You will be cheated by worldly people if you do so. Please foodstuffs and so many nice dresses. You used to love me so
kindly stay in this house with us and do not try to go away.” much. And I left it all for what? To eat this low quality flour
But the second son was adamant. He said, “Nothing doing. and suffer. What should I do now? If I come back to you, will
with his tears of love and joy. He seated his son on the bullock-
cart and took him back home. There the father announced to
everyone, “Today my son has come back and he will be the
king of the house.” On hearing these words of love from his
father, the second son burst into tears, thinking, “I rejected my
father and squandered away all his wealth. Still he loves me so
much and wants to give me respect and honor. How great he
is!”
What do we understand from this story? Because we became

disobedient to God’s will, we came to this world and are
suffering here. If we once again start obeying God’s will, we
will be able to please God and return to His kingdom. Sin
means disobedience to God. So how can we know whether we
are obeying or disobeying God? Whenever we buy a
complicated instrument, we are provided an instruction manual,
which tells how to operate that instrument. Similarly when God
created this world, he also gave the scriptures – the Vedas - to
teach us how we should behave in this world in order to make
our lives successful and return to the kingdom of God. By
living in accordance with the principles given in the scriptures,
we can very soon return back home, back to Godhead.
you accept me? Even if you don’t accept me as your son, I
would still like to come back to you as your servant. Will you
not accept me at least as your servant?” In this way he started
meditating about his father in his mind. Very soon he gave up
all reservations and decided to return to his father.
As soon as he entered his village, the villagers rushed to his

father to inform him about the return of his son. When the
father heard this he became overjoyed. He immediately
arranged for a bullock-cart and rushed to meet his second son.
When the father caught sight of his son, he jumped down from
the cart, rushed to his son, embraced him and showered him
Verse for Chapter

bhümir äpo ’nalo väyuù khaà mano buddhir eva ca
Chapter 7 ahaìkära itéyaà me bhinnä prakåtir añöadhä
“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego –
all together these eight constitute My separated material
energies.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.4)
Chapter Preview
The cosmos we inhabit is awesome in size, structure and
design. How was it created? How did it become populated by
all the various living beings? How long does it last? What are
the cosmic time scales? How is the cosmos destroyed? Why
does it exist at all? How does God relate with His creation?
Material Nature – Read this chapter to find the Vedic answers to these
fundamental questions of life.
A Temporary Organization of the Universal Government
Prison-House Have you ever marveled at how complex our human body is?
There are thousands of dentists to take care of just one tiny part
of this body – teeth. Similarly there are many specialists doing
doctorate studies on one particular organ of the body like eyes,
nose, ears, heart, kidney etc. Within the body every part
contributes to the overall functioning of the body and receives
its required nourishment. All this highly coordinated activity is
done with incredible precision. Thus the body is like a well-
organized country run by a competent government.
Not only the body, but the whole universe works like a well-
organized country run by a government. A good government is
Material Nature – A Temporary Prison-House 173 174 Your Secret Journey
supposed to provide food and water to the citizens, keep good suppose someone pinches you when your eyes are blindfolded.
sanitary conditions, provide medical facilities for the sick etc. Although you can’t see who is pinching you, you know for sure
In the universal government we see that grains, cereals, fruits that the pain is not automatic; someone is causing it.
etc are provided by God through nature. The sun convert salty
ocean water into pure potable water for all living beings. The Similarly the suffering present in the world implies that there
sun and rain take care of sanitation. There are medicinal herbs are laws, which one cannot surpass, no matter how advanced
to cure the sick. Thus how can such a universal government far one becomes in terms of scientific, medical and technological
bigger than that of an ordinary country emerge without a expertise. For example,
supreme controller or have no purpose? Certainly God has • Laws of birth, old age, disease, death: the insurance
created this world with the purpose of giving an opportunity to companies are flourishing due to fear of death and cosmetic
all living beings to realize their connection with Him, purify industries are flourishing due to fear of old age. Though
their existence and return back to Him. modern man knows the art of ‘covering up’ wrinkles with
face-lift and white hair with dyes, he has no ability to stop
Perceiving the Inescapable Universal Laws these problems permanently.
• Laws that cause miseries arising from one’s own body and
Although everyone is looking for unlimited happiness and no
mind, miseries given by other living beings and miseries
suffering, they get the opposite. All of us have experience that
due to natural calamities
suffering comes in our lives unasked for. Are we supposed to
just endure it without questioning? Most people do just that.
Such laws imply that there is a Supreme Lawmaker in control
When they get some pain, they just try to cover it up with some
who imposes these laws upon us.
medicine without asking who is causing it and why.
What is the cause of suffering?
Once when I was cleaning the cobwebs in a room with a long
stick attached to a bushy broom, I came across a kitten. I Why should God, the Supreme, cause us suffering if He is an
showed the bush on his face and he started beating it with his all-loving father? Suffering is caused not by God but by our
paws. Every time I pushed him down, he fell and stood up own desire to enjoy separate from God, as explained in the
again to fight with the bush. Poor kitten! He never came to story of the prodigal son in the previous chapter. A child who
know that behind the broom there was a long stick that was wants to leave the safety of his parents’ hands and cross the
held by a man. Similarly the general masses in this world are busy road alone, will undoubtedly feel frightened by the
blind to know why they are suffering and where their life is huge lorries and trucks making screeching sounds as they
leading them. go by.
But an intelligent person understands that suffering can never If we live our life in harmony with God, like a citizen living in
be automatic; it has to be inflicted by someone. For example harmony with the state, then we can certainly achieve
happiness. In fact we can practically see how nature imposes action, exactly like a manual that teaches us how to use an
punishment on those who refuse to lead a life as per the instrument.
teachings of the God-given scriptures and indulge in
wrongdoings. For example, those who indulge in eating In summary, the material world is like a prison-house where all
tobacco get bronchitis, those who smoke get cancer, those who of us have been placed due to our desire to be independent of
drink liquor get liver problems, and those who have illicit God just as a disobedient citizen is placed in a jail. The
sexual relations are afflicted by AIDS and other diseases. government provides for the needs of the prisoners but there is
suffering also in a prison so as to reform the inmates. Similarly
Returning to Harmony God has through the universal government provided for the
needs of all of us, but along with it there are various sufferings,
The symptom of suffering is good, because it gives us an which are meant to reform us. And just as a prisoner who obeys
opportunity to look for the root cause. All suffering has a the laws of the government is soon freed from the prison,
purpose behind it. A thief is beaten so that he gives up his similarly those people who obey the laws of God by following
stealing propensity. When our bodily system is disturbed, it the scriptural regulations can soon be freed from all suffering
gets heated up showing fever so that we can take immediate and return back to the spiritual world, our lost home.
action. Thus the symptom of heat or pain is not bad, as it
allows us to take positive action to rectify the bad situation in The previous chapter described the spiritual world and this
the system. chapter describes the material world.
Similarly we find that in this world, despite our prolonged
endeavors for happiness, suffering persists. This indicates that
The Inconceivable Relation of
we are in a foreign atmosphere. A fish out of water with all Krishna with the Material World
comforts and luxuries can never enjoy nor can a man feel as
comfortable high up in the airplane or in the midst of the vast Krishna is the Source of all Material Elements
Atlantic ocean as much he feels on land. Thus our place is not
Because we are in the material world, our material science is
this world, where there is danger at every step, but in the
simply studying the material energy of Krishna. Physics,
spiritual world that is beyond this world of suffering.
chemistry, light, sound - these are the subjects the scientists try
to understand. But they do not know wherefrom the material
In order to become free from suffering, we have to learn the art
elements come. In the Vedic literatures, especially the Shrimad-
of living in harmony with God’s teachings. Then we can
Bhagavatam it is said that the material energy is coming
become happy even while being in this world and can
through the breathing of Maha-Vishnu, who is lying in the
eventually be reinstated in our original position in the spiritual
Causal Ocean. From the breathing there is sound. From the
world. The Bhagavad-gita teaches us the purpose of life and the
ether, the sound comes, the air comes, the fire comes, then
purpose of this creation and also tells us about right and wrong
water comes, then the earth comes. The earth is the last gross does not belong to the government. Similarly, although the
element in material science. Therefore Krishna says that the material world is filled with impious living entities and the
earth has come out of water. And water has come from fire. spiritual world is full of swan-like devotees of God, both – the
Fire has come from air. Air has come from ether, sky. Thus material world and the spiritual world - are the energies of God.
everything emerges from Krishna. This is scientific study. But
the atheists do not know the background of creation to be God. eka desha sthitasyagner jyotsna vistarini yatha
They are thinking, “There was a chunk and there was parasya brahmaëaù çaktis tathedam akhilaà jagat
something. That’s all. Perhaps, it may be.” No definite
knowledge. But the Vedic literatures give definite knowledge Whatever we see is simply an expansion of Krishna’s energy.
about wherefrom these material elements come – from Krishna. For example, consider a wealthy industrialist having many big
factories. Although the factory belongs to the industrialist; it
If Nature is Mother Krishna is the Father runs on by his energy, but you cannot find the industrialist
there. He just sits in his room and pushes a button and
If material nature is accepted as mother because she supplies
everything goes on. Similarly, goloka eva nivasaty akhilätma-
grains, fruits, minerals, jewels etc, then Krishna is the father as
bhüto (Brahma Samhita 5.37). Krishna is in His abode with
He declares in the Bhagavad-gita(14.4) aham bija pradah pita
Radharani enjoying playing on His flute and everything is done
“I am the seed-giving father.” How can a mother produce
by His energies. paräsya çaktir vividhaiva çrüyate (Chaitanya
without a father? Naturalists claim that everything is produced
by nature; but the question is – whose nature? Krishna Charitamrita Madhya 13.65, purport). This is a Vedic
proclaims in the Bhagavad-gita(7.4), bhinna me prakritir injunction.
ashtadha “These eight elements of material nature are Mine.”
They did not suddenly appear by chance as some foolish people Krishna’s energy is acting in such a perfect way that we see it
propose. They belong to Krishna and are manifested by Him to be automatic. For example, just by pushing a button here
and work under His supervision: maya adhyakshena prakritih on an electronic machine like a fax, it immediately responds
(Bhagavad-gita 9.10) five thousand miles away. We have discovered this scientific
method. Similarly Krishna has ‘vividhaiva’ button. ‘paräsya
How does Krishna control His Energies? çaktir vividhaiva çrüyate’. So simply by His willing, everything
is being done.
Because the material world is full of miseries, people wonder,
“Did God create all this mess? There is so much greed, envy, In the Bible it is said, “Let there be creation,” and there was
competition and suffering here.” Krishna is the source of both creation. Simply by this will, “Let there be creation,” there is
material and spiritual natures. Just because the prison house action of the energy of Krishna. But the energy is so subtle that
maintains rogues and thieves and the education department it performs the action immediately. ‘sväbhäviké jïäna-bala-
produces scholars one cannot consider that the prison house kriyä ca’. Just by the will of Krishna, innumerable universes
are created, millions of species and their residences are created, give information about how God created the world simply by
grains sprout from the earth, flowers blossom, seasons change, willing, “Let there be creation.” But the Shrimad Bhagvatam
the sun and the moon rise on time, the rains shower to nourish goes into the minutest details of creation. We are presenting
all living beings etc. All these things happen as soon as there is only some sections below to give an idea; the reader can go
Krishna’s will. through the Bhagavatam for a more elaborate and complete
understanding.
We can take the simple example
of a flower. Just study one The science of God analyzes the constitutional position of God
flower – how finely it is and His diverse energies. Material nature is called prakriti, or
constructed. The botanist can the energy of the Lord in His different purusha incarnations
study that the veins are running (expansions) as described in the Satvata-tantra:
in this way and the system is
like this. But who has made the viñëos tu tréëi rüpäëi
system - that is to be studied. It puruñäkhyäny atho viduù
is not enough to simply study ekaà tu mahataù srañöå
the superficial nature. When a dvitéyaà tv aëòa-saàsthitam
flower grows, it does not come tåtéyaà sarva-bhüta-sthaà
automatically. For example, we täni jïätvä vimucyate
cannot throw some water-colors
on a canvas and expect that to “For material creation, Lord Krishna’s plenary expansion
become a painting of a bunch of flowers. It requires the talent assumes three Vishnus. The first one, Maha-Vishnu, creates the
of an expert artist who can draw the flowers on a canvas. total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva. The second,
Similarly Krishna is the supreme artist behind the creation, but Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, enters into all the universes to create
His energy is so perfect that it becomes done immediately. diversities in each of them. The third, Kshirodakashayi Vishnu,
is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes
Cosmic Creation and is known as Paramatma. He is present even within the
atoms. Anyone who knows these three Vishnus can be liberated
from material entanglement.”
T he Vedic literatures give a vivid description of God who is
the source of all creation. The Vedas also give details about
how the world has been created by God. Material science has The Three Aspects of the Absolute Truth
tried to find the ultimate source of creation very insufficiently
This material world is a temporary manifestation of one of the
through extensive speculation, but it is a fact that there is one
energies of the Lord. All the activities of the material world are
ultimate source of everything. Even other scriptures like Bible
directed by these three Vishnu expansions of Lord Krishna.
These purushas are called The Paramatma manifestation is also a temporary all-pervasive
incarnations. Generally aspect of the Kshirodakashayi Vishnu. The Paramatma
one who does not know manifestation is not eternal in the spiritual world. Therefore the
the science of God factual Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead
(Krishna) assumes that this Krishna. He is the complete energetic person, and He possesses
material world is for the different separated and internal energies.
enjoyment of the living
entities and that the living First Purusha Karanodakashayi Vishnu
entities are the purushas – Creates the Universes
the causes, controllers and
enjoyers of the material The first purusha, Maha Vishnu or Karanodakashayi Vishnu
energy. According to lies in the Causal ocean. ‘Karana’ means ‘cause’ and ‘udaka’
Bhagavad-gita this means ‘water’. He creates the total material energy known as
atheistic conclusion is ‘mahat tattva’ consisting of time, space, cause, result, mind,
false. Krishna is the gross elements, subtle elements, modes of nature, senses, their
original cause of the reservoir source, the gigantic universal form as the second
material manifestation. incarnation Garbhodakashayi Vishnu and all living beings both
Shrimad-Bhagavatam also moving and nonmoving that come out of the second
confirms this. The incarnation.
ingredients of the material
manifestation are separated When there are living entities who want to live separate from
energies of the Lord. Even the Lord by lording over material nature, then the material
the brahmajyoti, which is world is created. Matter is eternal but the manifestation of
the ultimate goal of the forms in the material world is temporary. For the sake of these
impersonalists, is a living entities, the mahat tattva which is like the cloud in the
spiritual energy manifested clear sky is assembled in some corner of the vast unlimited
in the spiritual sky. There spiritual sky. This mahat tattva contains all the ingredients of
are no spiritual diversities the material manifestations. The material ego, ‘mithya ahankar’
in the brahmajyoti as there springs up from the mahat tattva which is endowed with active
are in the Vaikunthalokas, power of three kinds – goodness, passion, ignorance. It is from
and the impersonalist these that all other 24 material elements come. Maha Vishnu
accepts this brahmajyoti as simply throws a glance, picks up all the rebellious souls and
the ultimate eternal goal. impregnates them in the material sky. That is why the
Upanishads glorify the Lord, ‘sah aikshitah’ which means that
the Supreme Lord merely by His glance can impregnate the called ‘shambhu’. Thus material nature being agitated by the
material nature with souls and can also activate the material glance of the Lord becomes active.
nature. Sometimes when special guests visit a house, the senior
male member of the family may just glance at his wife in the All the universes emanate from the pores of Maha Vishnu’s
kitchen. Getting the signal from the husband, the wife body just as drops of perspiration may emanate from our body.
immediately understands the situation and makes arrangement Millions of universes are floating and they are scattered all over
for some eatables for the guests. Similarly material nature is the Causal Ocean just like millions of mustard seeds are kept in
personified by Durga and the sight of Lord Maha Vishnu is a big sack. They stay only during the breathing period of Maha
Vishnu. It is said in Brahma Samhita(5.48), ‘yasyaika nisvasita
kalam atha avalambya, jivanti loma vilaja jagad anda natha’
“I worship Govinda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
cause of all causes, whose plenary portion is Maha-Vishnu. All
the heads of the innumerable universes, the Brahmas, live only
by taking shelter of the time occupied by one of His breaths.”
Thus when Maha Vishnu exhales and inhales, the life of
Brahma, which amounts to 311 trillion 40 billion years is
exhausted.
Second Purusha Garbhodakashayi Vishnu

enters into each universe
The second purusha, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu enters into each
and every universe and fills half of the universe with water
from His own perspiration and lays on the serpent-like Shesha
incarnation. The other half of the universe remains vacant,
which is the outer space. This water is called ‘Garbhodaka’.
From the naval of Garbhodakashayi Vishnu sprouts a lotus
flower effulgent like a thousand suns. On the top of this lotus,
Brahma, the master of all engineers in the universe, becomes
manifest.
Brahma, the first-born living being

This lotus flower is the universal virat form, or the gigantic
form of the Lord in the material world. It becomes
directions. Lord Brahma, in his ignorance, contemplated: Who

am I that am situated on the top of this lotus? Wherefrom has it
sprouted? There must be something downwards, and that from
which this lotus has grown must be within the water. Lord
Brahma, thus contemplating, entered the water through the
channel of the stem of the lotus. But in spite of entering the
stem and going nearer to the navel of Vishnu, he could not trace
out the root. Thereafter, being unable to achieve the desired
destination, he retired from such searching and came back
again to the top of the lotus.
Brahma meditates desiring to realize the cause of all causes

Thus, controlling all objectives, he concentrated his mind on
the Supreme Lord. Samadhi involves concentrating the mind
upon the supreme cause of all, even if one is unaware of
amalgamated in the Personality of Godhead Vishnu, in His whether His actual nature is personal, impersonal or localized.
abdomen, at the time of dissolution, and it becomes manifest at Concentration of the mind on the Supreme is certainly a form
the time of creation. This is due to Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, of devotional service. To cease from personal sense endeavors
who enters into each of the universes. In this form is the sum and to concentrate on the supreme cause is a sign of self-
total of all the fruitive activities of the living entities surrender, and when self-surrender is present, that is a sure sign
conditioned by material nature, and the first of them, namely of devotional service. Each and every living entity needs to
Brahma, or the controller of the universe, is generated from this engage in devotional service to the Lord if he wishes to
lotus flower. This first-born living being, unlike all the others, understand the ultimate cause of his existence. At the end of
has no material father, and thus he is called self-born, or Brahma’s one hundred years, when his meditation was
svayambhu. He goes to sleep with Narayana at the time of complete, he developed the required knowledge, and as a result
devastation, and when there is another creation, he is born in he could see the Supreme within himself, whom he could not
this way. see before with the greatest endeavor. Brahma meditated for
Brahma’s bewilderment one hundred years before he could understand the supreme
cause of all causes, and then he wrote the Brahma-samhita,
Brahma, born out of the lotus flower, could not see the world, which is approved and recognized by Lord Chaitanya and in
although he was situated in the whorl. He therefore which he sings, govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami.
circumambulated all of space, and while moving his eyes in all One has to wait for the mercy of the Lord before one can either
directions he achieved four heads in terms of the four render service unto Him or know Him as He is.
access to Him. Brahma offered several prayers to the Lord for

The Transcendental Beauty Of The Lord
creative energy and the Lord responded to him.
Brahma could see that on the
water there was a gigantic Brahma Prepares Himself for Creation
lotuslike white bedstead, the
body of Shesha-naga, on Lord Brahma could see Lord Vishnu possessing thousands and
which the Personality of thousands of faces, feet, heads, hands, thighs, noses, ears and
Godhead was lying alone. eyes only after he was purified by undergoing severe austerities
The whole atmosphere was for many hundreds of years. Thereafter he saw that the lotus on
illuminated by the rays of which he was situated was spread throughout the universe, and
the jewels bedecking the he contemplated how to create all the planets, which were
hood of Shesha-naga, and previously merged in that very same lotus. The seeds of all the
that illumination dissipated planets in the universe were impregnated in the lotus on which
all the darkness of those Brahma was situated. All the planets were already generated by
regions. The Lord showed the Lord, and all the living entities were also born in Brahma.
His lotus feet by raising The material world and the living entities were all already
them. His lotus feet are the generated in seedling forms
source of all awards by the Supreme Personality
achieved by devotional service free from material of Godhead, and Brahma
contamination. Such awards are for those who worship Him in was to disseminate the same
pure devotion. The splendor of the transcendental rays from His seedlings all over the
moonlike toenails and fingernails appeared like the petals of a universe.
flower. Lord’s waist was covered with yellow cloth resembling
the saffron dust of the kadamba flower, and it was encircled by There are fourteen spheres
a well-decorated belt. His chest was decorated with the of planetary systems within
Shrivatsa marking and a necklace of unlimited value. The this universe. The lower
Lord’s body was decorated with valuable jewels and pearls. systems are called
Lord Brahma, thus looking upon the Lord in the shape of a Patalalokas, the middle
mountain, concluded that He was Hari, the Personality of systems are called
Godhead. He saw that the garland of flowers on His chest Bhurloka, and the upper
glorified Him with Vedic wisdom in sweet songs and looked planetary systems are called
very beautiful. He was protected by the Sudarshana wheel for Svarloka. Still higher
fighting, and even the sun, moon, air, fire, etc., could not have planets such as Maharloka,
Tapaloka, Satyaloka and Brahmaloka, do not dissolve in the real identity, it is impossible for him to live in the material
devastating water. conditions of life. Therefore the first condition of material
existence is forgetfulness of one’s real identity.
The real creation is therefore called sarga, and, later on, the
manifestation by Brahma is called visarga. Those living entities In the beginning, Brahma created four great sages named
that were merged in the body of Vishnu at the end of the life of Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanat-kumara. All of them
Brahma in the great cataclysm during the preceding great age were unwilling to adopt materialistic activities because they
of the universe, reappeared in this world in accordance with were highly elevated due to their semen’s flowing upwards.
their former fruitive desires. Brahma spoke to his sons after generating them. “My dear
sons,” he said, “now generate progeny.” But due to their being
The different divisions of creation are explained by Maitreya attached to Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Muni to Vidura in the Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3rd canto, 10th they aimed at liberation, and therefore they expressed their
chapter. unwillingness. Although Brahma tried to curb his anger, it
came out from between his eyebrows, and a child of mixed blue
Brahma’s Creation of the Kumaras, and red complexion was immediately generated. Brahma called
Rudra and the Ten Sages him by the name Rudra as the child cried on birth. Brahma
selected the following places for his residence: the heart, the
Brahma first created the senses, the air of life, the sky, the air, the fire, the water, the
nescient engagements like earth, the sun, the moon and austerity. He gave him eleven
self-deception, the sense of wives. He requested him to increase population on a large
death, anger after scale. Rudra created many offsprings who had dangerous
frustration, the sense of features and furious nature. Brahma told him to stop creation
false ownership, and the and better go for penance for the benefit of all living entities
illusory bodily conception, and come back only at the time of annihilation when his
or forgetfulness of one’s services would be called for.
real identity. Before the
factual creation of the Then Brahma begot ten sons for the extension of the
living entities in different generations. Narada was born from the deliberation of Brahma,
varieties of species, the which is the best part of the body. Vashistha was born from his
conditions under which a breathing, Daksha from a thumb, Bhrgu from his touch, and
living being in the material Kratu from his hand. Pulastya was generated from the ears,
world has to live were Angira from the mouth, Atri from the eyes, Marici from the
created by Brahma. Unless
a living entity forgets his
mind and Pulaha from the navel of Brahma. Sage Kardama was emanated one after another, beginning from the front face.
manifested from the shadow of Brahma. Then he created the fifth Veda – the Puranas and the histories –
from all his mouths, since he could see all the past, present and
Creation Of Opposites future. All the different varieties of fire sacrifices (ñoòaçé,
uktha, puréñi, agniñöoma, äptoryäma, atirätra, väjapeya and
Religion was manifested
gosava) became manifested from the eastern mouth of Brahma.
from the breast of Brahma,
Education, charity, penance and truth are said to be the four
wherein is seated the
legs of religion, and to learn this there are four orders of life
Supreme Personality of
with different classifications of castes according to vocation.
Godhead Narayana, and
Brahma created all these in systematic order.
irreligion appeared from his
back, where horrible death
How Brahma Increased the Population of the Universe
takes place for the living
entity. Lust and desire Brahma thought to himself, “Alas, it is wonderful that in spite
became manifested from the of my being scattered all over, there is still insufficient
heart of Brahma, anger from population throughout the universe. There is no other cause for
between his eyebrows, this misfortune but destiny.” While he was thus absorbed in
greed from between his lips, contemplation and was observing the supernatural power, two
the power of speaking from other forms were generated from his body. They are still
his mouth, the ocean from celebrated as the body of Brahma. Two bodies came out from
his penis, and low and the body of Brahma.
abominable activities from
his anus, the source of all One had a mustache, and the other had swollen breasts. No one
sins. can explain the source of their manifestation, and therefore
until today they are known as the kayam, or the body of
Creating Vedas, Arts And Sciences Brahma, with no indication of their relationship as his son or
Beginning from the front face of Brahma, gradually the four daughter. The two newly separated bodies united together in a
Vedas – Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva – became manifest. sexual relationship. Out of them, the one who had the male
Thereafter, Vedic hymns which had not been pronounced form became known as the Manu named Svayambhuva, and the
before, priestly rituals, the subject matters of the recitation, and woman became known as Satarupa, the queen of the great soul
transcendental activities were all established, one after another. Manu. Thereafter, by sex indulgence, they gradually increased
He also created the medical science, military art, musical art generations of population one after another. In due course of
and architectural science, all from the Vedas. They all time Manu begot in Satarupa five children – two sons,
Priyavrata and Uttanapada, and three daughters, Akuti,
Devahuti and Prasuti. The father, Manu, handed over his first miles multiplied by ten). The covering of water is ten times
daughter, Akuti, to the sage Ruci, the middle daughter, greater than the earthly covering, the covering of fire is ten
Devahuti, to the sage Kardama, and the youngest, Prasuti, to times greater than the watery covering, the covering of air is ten
Daksa. From them, all the world was filled with population. times greater than that of fire, the covering of ether is ten times
greater still than that of air, and so on. The universe within the
Third Purusha Kshirodakashayi Vishnu coverings of matter appears to be like an atom in comparison to
Enters into the Heart of Every Living Entity the coverings, and the number of universes is unknown even to
those who can estimate the coverings of the universes.
The third expansion of Vishnu
is the Kshirodakashayi Cosmic Dissolution
Vishnu, who is the incarnation
of the quality of goodness.
This Kshirodakashayi Vishnu
is the universal form of the
T his cosmic manifestation is not permanent. It is created,
and it is again annihilated, and the whole energy is wound
up into the body of the Supreme Lord. It comes out, and again
Lord and is the Supersoul
it is wound up. Prakriti is not independent. It is dependent on
within every living entity. He
the Supreme Lord. This material cosmic manifestation is a
enters into everything even
chance for the conditioned souls to return back to the eternal
atom. He is the maintainer of
nature. Otherwise bhütvä bhütvä praléyate (Bhagavad-gita
the universe. From Him, all
the incarnations are expanded. 8.19) The material manifestation is created, it is maintained and
He lies in the ocean of milk on it is annihilated and the cycle repeats itself.
the bed of the Ananta The Four Milleniums
incarnation of Baladeva in His
own planet called Shvetadwipa on the northern top of the The four millenniums are called the Satya, Treta, Dvapara and
universe above Satyaloka. Kali yugas. The aggregate number of years of all of these
combined is equal to twelve thousand years of the demigods.
Coverings Of The Universe
One year of the demigods is equal to 360 years of the human
The coverings of the universe are constituted of the elements of beings. The cycle of Satya is characterized by virtue, wisdom
earth, water, fire, air and ether, and each is ten times thicker and religion, there being practically no ignorance and vice, and
than the one before. The first covering of the universe is earth, the yuga lasts 1,728,000 years. In the Treta-yuga vice is
and it is ten times thicker than the universe itself. If the introduced, and this yuga lasts 1,296,000 years. In the Dvapara-
universe is four billion miles in size, then the size of the earthly yuga there is an even greater decline in virtue and religion, vice
covering of the universe is forty billion miles (four billion times increasing, and this yuga lasts 864,000 years. And finally in
Kali-yuga (the yuga we have now been experiencing over the creation are all part of the material universe, and therefore they
past 5,000 years) there is an abundance of strife, ignorance, are in constant flux.
irreligion and vice, true virtue being practically nonexistent,
and this yuga lasts 432,000 years. When Brahma goes to sleep in his night time, the three
planetary systems below Brahmaloka are all submerged in the
In the Satya millennium, complete execution of religious water of devastation. In his sleeping condition, Brahma dreams
principles prevailed. Gradually, the principles of religion about the Garbhodakashayi Vishnu and takes instruction from
decreased by one part in each of the subsequent millenniums. In the Lord for the rehabilitation of the devastated area of space.
other words, at present there is one part religion and three parts During the daytime of Brahma the living entities can exhibit
irreligion. Therefore people in this age are not very happy. their activities on higher and lower planets within this material
world, but at the coming of Brahma’s night they are all
Brahma’s Day And Night annihilated (Bhagavad-gita 8.19). In the day they receive
various bodies for material activities, and at night they no
The duration of the material universe is limited. It is manifested longer have bodies but remain compact in the body of Vishnu.
in cycles of kalpas. When a Brahma is newly born it is called Then again they are manifest at the arrival of Brahma’s day.
mahakalpa and the end of Brahma is called mahapralaya. A Bhütvä bhütvä praléyate (Bhagavad-gita 8.19): during the day
kalpa is a day of Brahma, and one day of Brahma consists of a they become manifest, and at night they are annihilated again.
thousand divya yugas. One divya yuga consists of four yugas, Ultimately, when Brahma’s life is finished, they are all
or ages: Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. In Kali-yuga vice annihilated and remain unmanifest for millions and millions of
increases to such a point that at the termination of the yuga the years. And when Brahma is born again in another millennium
Supreme Lord Himself appears as the Kalki avatara, vanquishes they are again manifest. In this way they are captivated by the
the demons, saves His devotees, and commences another Satya- spell of the material world.
yuga. Then the process is set rolling again.
Manus Appearing In Brahma’s Day
These four yugas, rotating a thousand times, comprise one day
of Brahma (Bhagavad-gita 8.17), and the same number After the end of Brahma’s night, the creation of the three
comprise one night. Brahma lives one hundred of such “years” worlds begins again in the daytime of Brahma, and they
and then dies. These “hundred years” by earth calculations total continue to exist through the life durations of fourteen
to 311 trillion and 40 billion earth years. By these calculations consecutive Manus, or fathers of mankind. At the end of the life
the life of Brahma seems fantastic and interminable, but from of each Manu there are shorter partial dissolutions also. Each
the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash. In the and every Manu enjoys a life of a little more than seventy-one
Causal Ocean there are innumerable Brahmas rising and sets of four millenniums, as described in the Vishnu Purana.
disappearing like bubbles in the Atlantic. Brahma and his The duration of life of one Manu is about 852,000 years in the
calculation of the demigods, or, in the calculation of human The devastation takes place due to the fire emanating from the
beings, 306,720,000 years. mouth of Sankarsana, and thus great sages like Bhrgu and other
inhabitants of Maharloka transport themselves to Janaloka,
After the dissolution of each and every Manu, the next Manu being distressed by the warmth of the blazing fire which rages
comes in order, along with his descendants, who rule over the through the three worlds below. At the beginning of the
different planets; but the seven famous sages, and demigods devastation all the seas overflow, and hurricane winds blow
like Indra and their followers, such as the Gandharvas, all very violently. Thus the waves of the seas become ferocious,
appear simultaneously with Manu. There are fourteen Manus in and in no time all the three worlds are full of water. It is said
one day of Brahma (14 x 71 milleniums = 1000 divya yugas = that the blazing fire from the mouth of Sankarsana rages for one
1 Brahma’s day), and each of them has different descendants. hundred years of the demigods, or 36,000 human years. Then
In the creation, during Brahma’s day, the three planetary for another 36,000 years there are torrents of rain, accompanied
systems – Svarga, Martya and Patala – revolve, and the by violent winds and waves, and the seas and oceans overflow.
inhabitants, including the lower animals, human beings,
demigods and Pitas, appear and disappear in terms of their The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, lies down in
fruitive activities. the water on the seat of Ananta, with His eyes closed, and the
inhabitants of the Janaloka planets offer their glorious prayers
Dissolution of the Three Worlds unto the Lord with folded
hands.
The dissolution of the three worlds is effected by the
incarnation of darkness, Rudra represented by the fire of eternal People forget all these
time which blazes over the three worlds. The innumerable devastations of the worlds
living entities merge into that dissolution, which appears to be and think themselves happy
the dropping of the curtain of the scene of the Supreme Lord’s in the material progress of
energy, and so everything becomes silent. civilization. This is called
maya, or “that which is
When the night of Brahma ensues, all the three worlds are out not.”
of sight, and the sun and the moon are without glare, just as in
the due course of an ordinary night. It is understood that the Now one may think that
glare of the sun and moon disappear from the sphere of the “Such a huge manifestation
three worlds, but the sun and the moon themselves do not of the material world, it is
vanish. They appear in the remaining portion of the universe, once created and again
which is beyond the sphere of the three worlds. The portion in annihilated. Then God must
dissolution remains without sunrays or moonglow. be very much concerned
about this creation and
annihilation.” But the Lord says, “No.” na ca mäà täni accord. Some power put all this into orbit and keeps it there” in
karmäëi nibadhnanti dhanaïjaya: “My dear Arjuna, all this the words of former astronaut John Glenn.
world is going on automatically. There is no concern about it.”
Just like a wealthy man dismantles many big houses and Demigod Worship
constructs skyscrapers through his agents by paying them, but
he himself has no concern about it. Similarly, the material Who are the Demigods?
nature and many other agents of the Lord perform this creation
and annihilation automatically. paräsya çaktir vividhaiva The government of the Supreme Lord consists of millions of
çrüyate sväbhäviké jïäna-bala-kriyä ca (Chaitanya Charitamrita planets and millions of universes and the Supreme Lord allots
Madhya 13.65, purport). various services for conducting the administrative affairs of the
universe to the demigods. All of the them work under Lord
The duration of one hundred years in the life of Brahma has Krishna’s supervision as explained by the Lord Himself in
already been discussed before. Fifty years of the life of Brahma Bhagavad-gita (9.10): ‘maya adhyakshena prakrtih..’
are already over, and fifty years are yet to be completed; then,
for Brahma also, death is inevitable. The demigods are also ordinary living entities, but due to their
faithfulness – their devotional attitude – they have been
We are completely under the grip of the stringent laws of promoted to such posts. These different demigods, or directors,
material nature, and we are repeatedly put into that stringent such as Chandra, Varuna and Vayu are called adhikari devata.
laws of material nature so that we may come into our These demigods are departmental heads. Every part of our body
consciousness that “Why we are suffering this repeated birth and its action - even the blinking of our eyes - is controlled by
and death?” But we have become dull and so much accustomed some particular demigod
to this habit because it is continuing since time immemorial. So
Demigods are beings more advanced than humans. Although
we don’t take it very seriously that why we are dying and why
they resemble us, they possess far greater intelligence and
we are getting body again and why we are suffering these
beauty, wonderful mystic powers and in some cases, many
miseries. So this is called ignorance. Especially in this age of
arms and heads. We are naturally subordinate to such powerful
Kali yuga we are not very serious. We think this is the process
living entities, and therefore we can worship the various
of life. No. This is not the process of life. If we desire, we can
demigods as living beings who are powerful representatives of
have our eternal life without having to undergo the tedious
the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
cycle of birth and death.
All the heavenly planets of the upper planetary system are
Thus by understanding the creation and dissolution of our own
thousands of times more opulent than the middle planetary
universe from the scriptures, we get a clear picture of how
system in which we live. Vishwakarma, the renowned heavenly
things came about, “not by some accident that a bunch of
architect, is famous for constructing many wonderful buildings
flotsam and jetsam suddenly started making orbits of its own
education may worship the goddess of learning, Sarasvati; and

a person wanting a beautiful wife may worship the goddess
Uma, the wife of Lord Siva. In this way there are
recommendations in the shastras (Vedic scriptures) for different
modes of worship of different demigods.
The demigods are actually different parts of the universal body

of the Supreme Lord; therefore they have no independence. In
the Vedic literature it is stated, “The Supreme Personality of
Godhead as Supersoul is also present within the heart of the
demigod; therefore He arranges through the demigod to fulfill
the desire of the living entity. But both the demigod and the
living entity are dependent on the supreme will. They are not
independent.”
The results achieved by the demigods’ benedictions are
perishable because within this material world the planets, the
demigods and their worshipers are all perishable. Because all
results achieved by worshiping demigods are perishable, such
worship is performed by the less intelligent living entity. But a
pure devotee engaged in Krishna consciousness in devotional
service of the Supreme Lord achieves eternal blissful existence
that is full of knowledge in the spiritual world.
in the heavenly planets. There are also opulent gardens and
parks fit to be enjoyed by the demigods. Demigods also sport in In the Bhagavad-gita (7.20), worship of different demigods or
the valleys of mount Meru. rendering service to them is not approved.
Surrendering to Krishna kämais tais tair håta-jïänäù

prapadyante anya-devatäù
Generally, persons who are distressed in the material world go taà taà niyamam ästhäya
to the demigods, as they are advised in the Vedic literature. A prakåtyä niyatäù svayä
person wanting a particular thing is recommended to worship a
particular demigod. For example, a diseased person is “Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires
recommended to worship the sun-god; a person wanting surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and
Material Nature – A Temporary Prison-House 203
regulations of worship according to their own natures.” Here it

is plainly said that those who are directed by lust worship the
demigods and not the Supreme Lord Krishna.
The demigods are authorized administrators of the universe,

appointed in the government of the Supreme Lord. They should
therefore not be disrespected or blasphemed. They should be
treated with utmost respect; but at the same time one should
know their subordinate position relative to Krishna. For
example, if you have to receive both the Prime minister of India
and a local MLA (political leader), and you have got only one
garland, whom will you garland? If you garland the MLA, that
will displease the PM and embarrass the MLA. If you garland
the PM, that will please both of them for that is the appropriate
code of behavior. In the same way, a devotee respects
demigods, but he understand their relationship with Krishna.
The gopis of Vrindavan are the topmost devotees of Krishna,
but they worshipped goddess Katyayani to get only Krishna as
their husband.
Thus a devotee renders unalloyed devotional service to Krishna

and may worship demigods only if it is favorable to his service
to Krishna.
Verse for Chapter
Chapter 8 shariram yad avapnoti

yac capy utkramatishvarah
grhitvaitani samyati
vayur gandhan ivashayat
“The living entity in the material world carries his different

conceptions of life from one body to another, as the air carries
aroma. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take
another.” (Bhagavad-gita 15.8)
Chapter Preview
All of us are on a long, long journey through time and space, a
Your Secret journey that extends over countless lives, a journey in which
different bodies cover us temporarily like clothes. This chapter
Journey-
gives a clear explanation of the evolution of the soul and the
mechanism of reincarnation. Read also about the pivotal role
of the mind in determining the direction of our secret journey.
Evolving Towards Also included is a fascinating historical narrative of a prince
who brought jubilation, lamentation and ultimately
Perfection
enlightenment. Quiz questions will spur your intellect while
reading the story.
Bondage Due to Mistaken Identity
T he Bhagavad-gita (18.61) explains that the soul within the

body is “seated as on a machine made of the material
energy.” The soul falsely identifies with the body, carrying
different conceptions of life from one body to another.
Your Secret Journey- Evolving Towards Perfection 207 208 Your Secret Journey
We can experience that every according to the situation of his body. If he possesses a
night when we dream, our relatively big body he thinks, “I am big.” If his body is not able
body lies on the bed, but ‘we’ to jump over the hurdles in an athletic match, he thinks, “I am
go somewhere else. In this useless.” In this way, his joys and sorrows are based on the
way we all experience that relative condition of his body. Such a person is described as
our real identity is separate “conditioned”. For instance, a man driving a Mercedes Benz
from this body. When we feels very proud and identifies himself with his car so totally
dream we forget the body that when he sees a rickshaw in front of his car, he shouts,
lying on the bed. We act in “Hey, Rickshaw, move aside!” Thus with a sense of false pride,
different bodies and in he thinks himself to be a Mercedes and the other person to be a
different locations. Similarly rickshaw. Later from his second floor office, when he observes
during the day we forget our some children throwing stones on the window glass of his car
dream bodies in which we and breaking it, he feels as if someone is breaking his heart. In
traveled to so many places. a fit of anger, he wants to destroy everything. When he rushes
Perhaps, in our dream bodies down and finds that it was not his car window but his
we flew in the sky. At night, neighbor’s car window that was broken, his pain changes into
we forget our waking body, joy.
and in the daytime we forget
our dream body. But our conscious self, the soul, still exists, Although this person is different from his car, he identifies with
and we remain aware of our existence in both bodies. Therefore it so strongly that he has to rejoice and lament when put in
we must conclude that we are not any of these bodies. For some different circumstances. Our situation is very similar to this.
time we exist in certain body, then at death we forget it. So the Just as the owner is different from his car, we are pure souls,
body is really only a mental structure, somewhat like a dream, different from our bodies. But because we identify with the
but the self is different from all these mental structures. body, ‘I am an Indian’ ‘I am a Maharashtrian’ ‘I am an
American’ ‘I am black’ ‘I am white’ ‘I look beautiful’ – we are
As mentioned earlier the pure soul is covered by gross and forced to enjoy and suffer according to the conditions the body
subtle bodies. At death the soul gives up the gross body but goes through.
carries the subtle body birth after birth until he achieves
perfection. The subtle body is full of unfulfilled desires, which Have you seen how much time people spend in decorating their
assure him future bodies. hair? They apply varieties of fragrant oils and shampoos to
keep it smooth, shining and attractive. But if by mistake one
Illusion due to the Gross Body hair falls into the food while cooking and you happen to get it
A person “on the bodily platform” thinks and expresses himself in your lunch plate, how do you feel? Disgusted! When our
nails are connected to our The intelligence thinks, “So what? You
body, we put so many types of have prepared well. If you can sing so
nail-polishes to make them well in the bathroom why can’t you
look attractive. But when the sing here? Come on!”
same nails are removed from
the hand or foot they go If your mind is stronger than your
straight into the dustbin. Thus intellect, it wins the argument. You are
the hair or the nails assume so overpowered by fear that your voice
importance only as long as lets you down and you lose the
they are connected to the competition. If your intellect is
body. Similarly the body has stronger than your mind, then fear is
its importance only as long as won over by its reasons. Your
the soul is present in it. When confidence increases and you do your
the soul is in the body, the best.
relatives of that person try to
save his body at all costs. But the moment the soul leaves the This is just a simple example but it
body, the relatives start worrying about how to get rid of the applies to almost every situation –
body as soon as possible because it starts stinking intolerably. major and minor – in daily living,
In fact, the Zen Buddhists meditate on the foulness of corpses where a decision has to be made. There
to remember the horrible condition of the material body without is a constant tug-of-war between the
the soul. mind and the intelligence. Where the intellect is stronger,
reason prevails and decisions are made after giving issues due
Illusion due to the Subtle Body thought. In this case, we are less prone to make judgements
impulsively. Where mind is stronger, feelings and impulses are
Here we give a simple illustration to show how the elements of more important and decisions are made without much thought
the subtle body – the mind, the intelligence and the false ego - because the intellect takes a backseat. Here there are more
interact and how they can affect our spiritual and material life: chances of making mistakes because the way we feel is often
strongly dictated by immediate needs, conveniences and
Suppose you are participating in a singing competition. pleasures rather than long term benefits or consequences.
The false ego feels, “I am great. I must beat others.”
Regarding your ability to sing, there is a tussle between your For example a boy is waiting impatiently to cross the road. His
mind and intelligence. mind says, “Come on! Just cross. How long can I wait?” His
The mind feels, “I am scared. I don’t think I can do it. There are intellect says, “The traffic is heavy. Wait for a few seconds
so many people here.”
more. Better to reach a few minutes late than never.” If his The false ego makes one identify with the body. A person
mind wins, the boy dashes across the road and is likely to meet influenced by the false ego imagines that “I am great” in
with an accident. If his intellect wins, he may go home three various ways. True ego is to understand that I am an eternal
minutes later, but he has taken total care of his safety in this servant of God, Krishna.
particular situation.
From Bondage to Freedom
The same principle applies to spiritual life too. The false ego
thinks, “I am a rich man with so many luxuries.” The mind The intelligence is supposed to direct the mind, but the mind is
says, “Now is the time to enjoy. After all, the whole world is so strong and obstinate that it often overcomes even one’s own
enjoying. I am not the first one to do wrong things. I have intelligence, as an acute infection may surpass the efficacy of
another 60 years to go before I get old and die. Why become medicine. For a man in the practical world who has to fight so
like a monk now?” The intelligence says, “No, No. Who knows many opposing elements, it is certainly very difficult to control
how long I will live? Death may strike at any time. All my the mind. Artificially, one may establish a mental equilibrium
wealth will be stripped off. When I come out of the body as a towards both friend and enemy, but ultimately no worldly man
naked soul, I will be answerable to God for all my deeds. Let can achieve complete mind control. The Bhagavad-gita states
me be careful about what I want to do in life.” From the above that controlling the mind is more difficult than controlling the
analysis we can understand the nature of the mind, the raging wind. But even such a turbulent mind can be controlled
intelligence and the false ego. by chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra, the great chant
for deliverance.
The functions of the mind are thinking, feeling and willing. The
mind is the storehouse of thoughts, unfulfilled desires and Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (3.42):
previous experiences. The mind is the common center for all
knowledge-acquiring senses - eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin. indriyäëi paräëy ähur indriyebhyaù paraà manaù
All information that we gather through our senses is stored in manasas tu parä buddhir yo buddheù paratas tu saù
the mind as impressions. Such impressions stimulate desire,
hatred, attachment etc. and make us act in right or wrong ways. “The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher
The mind is thus the reservoir of all ideas of sense enjoyment. than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he
(the soul) is even higher than the intelligence.”
The intelligence is the decision-maker. Based on knowledge, it
is meant to discriminate whether the proposal made by the The senses are different outlets for the activities of lust. Lust is
mind will be beneficial or harmful and to direct the mind and reserved within the body, but it is given vent through the
the body to act accordingly. senses. Therefore, the senses are superior to the body as a
whole. But since the mind is active, then even though the body
may be silent and at rest, the mind will act – as it does during
dreaming. Therefore the mind is above the body and the senses. youthful body is going to grow old and there are going to be
But above the mind is the determination of the intelligence, and wrinkles, all senses are going to become weak and performing
above the intelligence is the soul proper. If, therefore, the soul any activity is going to become difficult? In principle, then,
is directly engaged with the Supreme, naturally all other even within one lifetime as the body changes from infancy to
subordinates, namely, the intelligence, mind and senses, will be old age, the living being, or ‘atma’, actually passes through
automatically engaged. Therefore the soul is above all – many bodies (like infant, youth, aged) of various ages and
namely, the sense objects, the senses, the mind and the levels of consciousness.
intelligence. Therefore, directly understanding the
constitutional position of the soul is the solution of the whole Thus the body changes, but the eternal living being within the
problem. With intelligence one has to seek out the body - the soul - remains the same. Biological science confirms
constitutional position of the soul and then engage the mind this. In his book, ‘The Human Brain’, John Pfeiffer points out,
always in Krishna consciousness. That solves the whole “Your body does not contain a single one of the molecules that
problem. Our constitutional position is to act on the platform of it contained seven years ago.” When the movie frames are
being a servant of God. If one lives his life as a surrendered moved rapidly past our eyes at a rate of 16 frames/sec, it
devotee of God, then one’s mind, intelligence and false ego will appears to be one continuous movie; we fail to notice that every
all be purified. frame is different. In the same way our body changes at every
moment irreversibly, but because the change is continuous and
Thus when the pure soul comes to the material world, he is gradual, we fail to notice it. This movement of the soul through
sheathed by a gross material body and a subtle material body numerous bodies within one lifetime – something we can all
which are a burden upon him. In the spiritual world, the soul is verify by a little introspection – can be termed internal or
eternal, full of knowledge and bliss; but when he comes to the continuous reincarnation.
material world, he accepts the material body and undergoes
untold sufferings birth after birth. This process of reincarnation At the time of death the soul passes to a new body. The Lord
can be stopped when one acquires knowledge of one’s explains this, “Just as the embodied living entity passes, in one
servitorship to God and works towards purification. body, from boyhood to youth to old age, so the living entity
similarly passes into another body at death” (Bhagavad-gita
Material Body – Changing Dress For The Soul 2.13). “Just as a person puts on new garments, giving up the old
ones, similarly the individual living entity accepts new material
Reincarnation - Internal and External bodies, giving up the old and useless ones” (Bhagavad-gita
2.22) Lord Krishna further explains the principle underlying all
Can you believe that the same youthful body you now have was reincarnations, “Whatever state of being one remembers when
just 20 years ago a small baby that could be contained in the he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail in his
two palms of your mother? Is it not a fact that this same next life” (Bhagavad-gita 8.6). So the soul in a man’s body
could go into the body of an animal, a bird, an insect, a plant, but actually we are unchanging souls observing our bodies
and so on in the next life. This journey of the soul into going through all these changes.
different bodies can be referred to as external reincarnation
or discontinuous reincarnation. Perfect Knowledge Of Evolution
The Six Transformations of the Material Body
Every living body in this material world undergoes six changes: T he Vedic texts explain that there is evolution – not of the
body but of the soul. A lower bodily form does not evolve
into a higher bodily form; rather the soul in a lower bodily form
(1) birth (2) growth (3) maintenance (4) production of by-
products (offsprings, chemicals) (5) diminution and (6) death. evolves into a higher bodily form.
These changes happen to all living bodies, whether they be
plants, animals or human beings. For example, a flower is born “Originally, the living entity is a spiritual being, but when he
as a bud, it grows, remains fresh for two or three days, produces desires to enjoy this material world, he comes down. First, the
a seed, gradually withers, and is then finished. Sometimes living entity accepts a body that is human in form, but
people think that by scientific advancement man will become gradually, due to his degraded activities, he falls into lower
immortal. We cannot even stop these six changes in the body, forms of life – into the animal, plant and aquatic forms. By the
where then is the question of stopping death? gradual process of evolution, the living entity again attains the
body of a human being and is given another chance to get out
The Changing Body And the Permanent Soul of the process of transmigration. If he again misses his chance
in the human form to understand his position, he is again placed
But through all these changes, the spirit soul remains in the cycle of birth and death in various types of bodies.”
unchanged. There is no birth or death for the soul, because he is (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.29.4)
eternal. For example, the moon appears to be absent on an
‘amavasya’ (no moon) day, then through ‘prathama’, The Brahma-Vaivarta Purana says:
‘dviteeya’, ‘triteeya’.... the moon goes on waxing till the full
moon day. Then the moon starts waning till the ‘amavasya’ (no as’itim caturas caiva laksams tan jiva-jatisu
moon) day. This cycle goes on. But is the moon changing? No. bhramadbhih purusaih prapyam manusyam janma-paryayat
It is only because of our relative position that we see the moon tad apy aphalatam jatah tesam atmabhimaninam
as full, half, crescent, absent etc. Similarly, we identify varakanam anasritya govinda-carana-dvayam
ourselves with the changing body as it passes through
childhood, to boyhood, to youth, to old age, to death and then “One attains the human form of life after transmigrating
to a plant’s body, an animal’s body and so on. We identify through 8,400,000 species of life by the process of gradual
ourselves with all these different phases of material existence, evolution. That human form of life is spoiled for those
conceited fools who do not take shelter of the lotus feet of the forms exist simultaneously. Therefore the body does not
Govinda (Krishna) .” evolve; the soul evolves by paying the price of karma.
The Padma Purana further states: The biological forms, governed by the three modes, put a
constraint on the qualities and activities of the living beings’
jala-ja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati consciousness. Thus the individual being in a tiger’s body will
krmaya rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksani desire to roar loudly and kill animals for food, while the living
pasavas trimsa-laksani manusya catur-laksani being in swan’s body will desire to fly gracefully and swim on
the surface of lakes. Even in the same family we see differences
“There are 900,000 species of aquatic life; 2,000,000 species of caused by the activities of the three modes of nature.
plants and trees; 1,100,000 species of insects; 1,000,000 species
of bird life; 3,000,000 species of beasts, and 400,000 species of
human life.”
The meaning of “species” understood by biologists is different

from the meaning implied here. The meaning of “species” used
by biologists applies to the gross physical appearance or the
gross morphological feature of the living material bodies. The
Vedic meaning, however, is based on the level of consciousness
of the living being. For example, biologists say that all human
beings belong to one species, whereas the Vedic literatures list
400,000 human species. In other words, there are 400,000
grades of human beings on different levels of consciousness.
The varieties of life forms are products of the combinations and

permutations of the three modes of material nature – goodness,
passion and ignorance. The life forms are just like temporary
houses or apartments of various sizes, shapes, and colors, in
which the eternal self, or living being, temporarily resides. One
may occupy one of these apartments according to one’s ability
to pay the rent, but all types of apartments nevertheless exist
simultaneously. Similarly, the soul, according to his karma, is
given the facility to occupy one of these bodily forms, but all
Although all animals are in the mode of ignorance, they are activities – be they pious or impious – create another situation
influenced by the modes of goodness and passion in varying for the soul to enjoy or suffer in the next gross body. Thus the
degrees. Cows, for example, are very simple, and their behavior subtle body continues whereas the gross bodies change one
is very mild; they are influenced by the mode of goodness to after another.
some extent. The ferocious nature of lions and tigers, on the
other hand, reveals their passionate consciousness; while So at the time of death this subtle body carries the soul to
camels are almost completely in the mode of ignorance. another gross body. The process is just like air carrying a
Similarly, in the family of birds, the swans are very noble and fragrance. Nobody can see how a rose fragrance is coming, but
gracious, showing symptoms of goodness; hawks, eagles, and we know that it is being carried by the air. Similarly the process
peacocks are predominantly in the mode of passion; and of transmigration of the soul is very subtle. According to the
vultures and crows are predominantly in the mode of ignorance. condition of the mind at the time of death, the minute soul
Although the biological forms in the same family may be enters into the womb of a particular mother through the semen
similar in nature, the consciousness and behavior of these birds of a father, and then the soul develops a particular type of body
and animals are different. For example, a cat and tiger appear given by the mother. It may be the body of a human being, a
similar, but if you clap your hands loudly near it, the cat will cat, a dog or any other species. This is basically the mechanism
run away from you in fear, whereas the tiger will run towards of reincarnation.
you and cause fear in you. Thus there are millions of forms
where the eternal soul temporarily resides displaying his The Mind Carries the Unfulfilled Plans At Death
behavior according to how the three modes of material nature
affect his consciousness. As long as one is absorbed in the bodily conception, his
activities are performed on that platform.. In the world, we see
that every man is trying to advance beyond his fellow men and
The Mechanism Of Reincarnation every nation is trying to supersede every other nation. All these
activities are going on under the name of advancement of
What Happens At Death? civilization. There are many plans for making the body
The soul has two kinds of body – the subtle body and the gross comfortable. When the gross body is finished, the plans of
body. Actually the soul enjoys through the subtle body, which the living entity are taken by the mind, and by the grace of
is composed of mind, intelligence and ego. The gross body is the Lord, the living entity gets a chance to give these plans
the instrumental outer covering. When the gross body is lost, or shape in the next life.
when it dies, the root of the gross body – the mind, intelligence
and ego – continues and brings about another gross body. We have actually seen that when one man was about to die he
Although the gross bodies change, the real root of the gross requested his physician to give him a chance to live four more
body – the subtle body – is always there. The subtle body’s years so that he could finish his plans. This means that while
dying he was thinking of his plans. After his body was
mind is manifest by the activities of the body. The conclusion is

that by the activities of the body and senses, we can understand
the condition of the mind.
The condition of the mind is affected by past activities in the

past body. When the mind is joined with a particular sense, the
mind immediately becomes manifest through that sense. For
instance, when the mind’s anger is expressed through the
tongue, the tongue utters maledictions. When the mind’s anger
is expressed through the hand, there is fighting. And when it is
destroyed, he doubtlessly carried his plans with him by means

of the subtle body, composed of mind, intelligence and ego.
Thus he would get another chance by the grace of the Supreme
Lord, the Supersoul, who is always within the heart: sarvasya
cähaà hådi sanniviñöo mattaù småtir jïänam apohanaà ca
(Bhagavad-gita 15.15). In the next birth, one acquires
remembrance from the Supersoul and begins to execute the
plans begun in the previous life.
How does Your Mind Influence You?
Our Actions Reflect Our Mental States

The face, it is said, is the index of the mind. If a person is
angry, his anger is immediately expressed on his face.
Similarly, other mental states are reflected by the actions of
the gross body. In other words, the activities of the gross body
are expressions of the mental condition. The mind’s activities
are thinking, feeling and willing. The willing portion of the
expressed through the leg, there is kicking. Thus there are many • Sometimes we dream of coming to a place we have never
ways in which the subtle activities of the mind are expressed known or experienced in this lifetime, but this is proof that
through the various senses. The mind of a person in Krishna in a past life we experienced going to that place. The
consciousness also acts in a similar way. When the mind is impression is kept within the mind and it sometimes
experiencing the ecstasy of Krishna consciousness in a kirtan, becomes manifest either in a dream or in a thought.
automatically the tongue chants Hare Krishna, the hands rise in
The conclusion is that the mind is the storehouse of various
ecstasy, and the legs dance gracefully.
thoughts and experiences undergone during our past lives. Thus
there is a chain of continuation from one life to another, from
previous lives to this life, and from this life to future lives.
The Mind is the Index of Our Past Lives

Precocious children provide testimony for this; from early
childhood itself, without any training, some children are seen to
be extraordinarily talented in poetry or science. This means that
they had cultivated that aptitude in their previous life.
If a person is a devotee of the Lord, he has cultivated

devotional service in his previous life. Similarly, if one’s mind
is criminal, he was a criminal in his last life. In the same way,
according to the mind, we can understand what will happen in a
Dreams From Previous Experiences future life.
In dreams we sometimes see things that we have never The activities of the living entity in the body of a dog like
experienced in the present body. mating, eating abominable things may be experienced in the
• Sometimes in dreams we think that we are flying in the sky, mind of a different body, namely human body; therefore those
although we have no experience of flying in this life. This activities appear never to have been heard or seen. The mind
means that in some previous life, either as a demigod or as continues, although the body changes. Even in this life-span we
an astronaut, we flew in the sky. That impression is there in can sometimes experience dreams of our childhood. Although
the stockpile of the mind, and it suddenly expresses itself. It such incidents now appear strange, it is to be understood that
is like fermentation taking place in the depths of water, they are recorded in the mind. Because of this, they become
which sometimes manifests itself in bubbles on the water’s visible in dreams. The transmigration of the soul is caused by
surface.
the subtle body, which is the storehouse of all kinds of material even when one dreams, and although there may be no young
desires. woman present, the senses may act and there may be a seminal
discharge (nocturnal emission). The activities of the subtle and
Unless one is fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness, material gross bodies depend on how developed conditions are. The
desires will come and go. That is the nature of the mind – example of the moon is very appropriate. On a dark-moon
thinking, feeling and willing. Sensual images are recorded in night, the full shining moon is still present, but it appears not to
the mind in chronological order, and they become manifest be present due to conditions. Similarly, the senses of the living
one after another; therefore the living entity has to accept entity are there even in childhood, but they do not become
one body after another. The mind plans material active as long as the gross body and the subtle body are not
enjoyment, and the gross body serves as the instrument to developed. Lust is present in a child in a dormant seed form.
realize such desires and plans. The mind is the platform onto Just as a seed if given time will grow into a tree and bear
which all desires come and go. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura flowers and fruits, similarly, over a period of time, as the child
therefore sings: grows into a youth, the lust within him will start manifesting
itself. Therefore a child may appear to be innocent, but this
guru-mukha-padma-väkya, does not mean that he is a liberated soul. Everything is held in
cittete kariyä aikya, reservation, and everything will become manifest in due course
ära nä kariha mane äçä of time. Therefore it is wrong to say that a child is as good as a
liberated soul.
Narottama das Thakura advises everyone to stick to the
principle of carrying out the orders of the spiritual master. One Bodily Attachment
should not desire anything else. If the regulative principles
The caterpillar transports itself from one leaf to another by
ordered by the spiritual master are followed rigidly, the mind
capturing the next leaf before giving up the present one.
will gradually be trained to desire nothing but the service of
Similarly, according to his previous work, the living entity
Krishna. Such training is the perfection of life.
must capture another body before giving up the one he has.
This is because the mind is the reservoir of all kinds of desires.
Is A Child Innocent?
When a living entity is within the womb, his gross body, the ten A living entity too much absorbed in material activity becomes
sense organs and the mind are not fully developed. At such a very much attracted to the material body. Even at the point of
time the objects of the senses do not disturb him. In a dream a death, he thinks of his present body and the relatives connected
young man may experience the presence of a young woman to it. Thus he remains fully absorbed in the bodily conception
because at that time the senses are active. Because of of life, so much so that even at the point of death he abhors
undeveloped senses, a child or boy will not see a young woman leaving his present body. Sometimes it is found that a person on
in his dreams in a lusty way. The senses are active in youth the verge of death remains in a coma for many days before
giving up the body. This is common among so-called leaders ethereal element. Within the Srimad Bhagavatam is the
and politicians who think that without their presence the entire potential basis of great scientific research work, for it explains
country and all society will be in chaos. This is called Maya. how subtle forms are generated from the ethereal element, how
Political leaders do not like to leave their political posts, and the tangible elements, namely air, fire, water and earth are
they either have to be shot by an enemy or obliged to leave by manifested from the subtle form. Mental activities, or
the arrival of death. By superior arrangement a living entity is psychological activities of thinking, feeling, and willing are
offered another body, but because of his attraction to the also activities on the platform of ethereal existence. Mental
present body, he does not like to transfer himself to another existence transforms into tangible form as soon as there is
body. Thus he is forced to accept another body by the laws of an opportunity. So, depending on the unfulfilled desires stored
nature. in the subtle body of the soul, the soul is carried by the subtle
body to a particular womb where he eventually gets a gross
Bodies are ‘Tailor-made’ to Satisfy Soul’s Desires body.
When a person goes to a cloth shop he can choose from a

T he Vedas teach that a
soul who aspires to enjoy
in a particular way is offered
variety of clothes – shirts, suits, trousers, jeans etc. Similarly
there are 8.4 million species for the soul to choose from. The
a body with a set of limbs and soul may acquire any of them to fulfill his desires. Even
senses appropriate to the amongst human beings there are so many varieties - asuras
desires from his previous life. (unregulated sense enjoyers), rakshasas (demons), devas
The 8.4 million species (demigods), Gandharvas (demigods famous as singers) etc. If a
subdivided into various soul wants to enjoy, enjoyment is available in millions of ways,
categories, give a materially in so many varieties, in permutations and combinations. Lord
tangible dense form to the Krishna is capable of fulfilling every soul’s desires.
subtle state of the
consciousness of each Think of any desire - Do you know someone who likes to sleep
individual living being. a lot? Nature will give him a polar bear’s body so that he can
sleep for 6 months in a year without being ridiculed by friends
That subtle forms exist in the or scolded by parents. Do you know someone who likes to eat
ether has been proven by flesh and drink blood? Nature will say to him, ‘Come! Take
modern science by this body of a tiger!’ Do you know someone who likes to be in
transmission of television, by the water always and keep swimming? (Some swimmers are
which forms/photographs of mad. They want to swim from the Palk strait to the English
one place are transmitted to another place by the action of the canal) Nature will say to him, ‘Come! Take the body of a fish
and swim to your from under water and got a

heart’s content’. Some curse to become a crocodile.
people don’t want to Huhu behaved like a
wear proper clothes in creature of water and hence
their body; they expose was cursed to become a
major part of their body crocodile. Of course, great
to draw the attention of sages have no malice or
opposite sex. Nature wrath when they curse
will say to them, ‘Take someone. Their curses are
the body of a tree, and indirect benedictions for
stand naked to your those cursed. By these
heart’s content curses both Indradyumna
throughout the year.’ and Huhu achieved the
darshan of Lord Hari in
In this way each species future. Indradyumna
represents a different returned to the spiritual
way of enjoyment. But world and Huhu became a
even in a particular Gandharva again.
enjoyment, there are
subtler differences. It is important to note that independent of the external material
There is a difference between the sleeping of ordinary bears body the soul acquires, the soul has a particular form called
and the sleeping of polar bears. There are street dogs who get ‘svarupa’, which is his eternal form in the spiritual world. That
beaten and driven away wherever they go and there are pet form does not change when the soul moves from one body to
dogs who live a life of luxury with their doting masters. These another body. For example, a person may wear different types
bodies are allotted to the living entities based on their desires of gloves as per the requirement - surgery, electrical repair or
and past karma. boxing. But irrespective of the gloves he is wearing, his hand
remains the same. Similarly, the soul may acquire different
Once the great sage Agastya visited the king Indradyumna. bodies as per his desires and activities. But irrespective of the
When the king failed to offer the sage proper reception, the body he possesses, the soul’s original form - his svarupa -
sage cursed Indradyumna to become an elephant. Indradyumna remains the same.
behaved like a dull stone and hence was cursed to become a
dumb animal, elephant. Similarly once a Gandharva (a celestial
singer) named Huhu playfully pulled the leg of the sage Devala
The Story of Kailash After many years when Narada returned, he learnt that the dog
had died. Thinking sadly that Kailash must have gone to some
unknown body, Narada departed. When he was walking behind
T he following story will help us understand how the living
entity changes from one body to another based on his
desires.
the house in the paddy field, a snake came hissing on the way.
The snake said, “Narada, I am Kailash here, I am Kailash here.”
Narada asked him, “What are you doing here in a snake’s body,
Once there lived a person named Kailash who was very Kailash? Don’t you want to come with me now? Even now it is
attached to his house. One day the great sage Narada came to not too late.”
him and said, “Kailash, come with me. I am going to Vaikuntha
(the kingdom of God). I will take you along with me.” The snake replied, “Now I am happy that my sons have put all
Kailash replied, “Sorry sir, my children are very young. I have the money in a bank. But they are so lazy that they wake up
to take care of them. Maybe later.” very late in the morning. By that time, all the grains in this
paddy field are either destroyed by elephants or stolen by
Several years later Narada returned to him and asked, “Kailash, neighbors. I have therefore become a snake to go round and
ready now?” round the field to protect the grains. I am very, very busy. I am
Kailash replied, “Sorry sir, now I have my grandson to take sorry, I cannot come with you now also.”
care. Also everyone at home needs my guidance. I cannot come
now.” Seeing the pitiable condition of Kailash, Narada muni clapped
his hands loudly, called the sons of Kailash and showed them
When Narada returned after many years, he came to know that the large snake living in their field. Immediately the sons of
Kailash had passed away. While leaving he noticed a dog Kailash started hitting the snake with sticks. Kailash in his
barking loudly at the doorway. The dog said, “O Naradaji, I am snake body tried to tell his sons, “I am your father and I am
Kailash here” protecting your paddy fields for your sake. Why are you killing
me?” But the more he hissed, the more his sons hit him till he
Surprised Narada replied, “O Kailash, you have become a dog finally died. While dying the snake remembered Narada and in
now! What are you doing here? Even now, it is not too late. I his next life he became a great devotee of Lord Krishna by
can take you to the kingdom of God. Would you like to Narada’s grace.
accompany me?”
Thus a person is impelled to accept one body after another
The dog replied, “Sorry sir, my sons are very careless with the according to his desires and actions. Such a person, being
wealth I acquired. I have therefore become a dog to protect that attached to his material plan-making business, spends all his
wealth from thieves.” Feeling very sorry for the attached time in bodily consciousness and goes on suffering in the cycle
Kailash, Narada went away. of birth and death.
A Practical Example of Perfect Living

Purification through Devotional Service The perfect example in this regard is Ambarisa Maharaja, who
always engaged his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. sa
Action For Purifying The Subtle Body vai manaù kåñëa-padäravindayoù (Srimad Bhagavatam 9.4.18).
While in the subtle body, we create many plans to enjoy sense Similarly, in this life we should always fix our mind on the
gratification. These plans are recorded in the spool of one’s lotus feet of Krishna, who is present in His arca-vigraha, the
mind as bija, the root of fruitive activities. In conditional life incarnation of the Deity in the temple. We should also always
the living entity creates a series of bodies one after another, and engage in His worship. If we engage our speech in describing
this is called karma-bandhana. As explained in Bhagavad-gita the activities of the Lord and our ears in hearing about His
(3.9), yajïärthät karmaëo anyatra loko ayam-karma- pastimes, and if we follow the regulative principles to keep the
bandhanaù: if we act only for the satisfaction of Vishnu, there mind intact for advancing in Krishna consciousness, we shall
is no bondage due to material activity, but if we act otherwise, certainly be elevated to the spiritual platform. Then at the time
we become entrapped by one material activity after another. of death the mind, intelligence and ego will no longer be
Under these circumstances, it is to be supposed that by materially contaminated. When the mind, intelligence and ego
thinking, feeling and willing, we are creating a series of future are purified, all the active senses of the living entity become
material bodies. In the words of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, anädi spiritual. Thus the living entity attains his sat-cit-ananda form.
karama-phale, padi’ bhavärëava jale. The living entity falls into The Supreme Lord is always in His sat-cit-ananda (Brahma-
Samhita 5.1) form, but the living entity, although part and
the ocean of karma-bandhana as a result of past material
parcel of the Lord, becomes materially contaminated when he
activities. Instead of plunging oneself into the ocean of material
desires to come to the material world for material enjoyment.
activity, one should accept material activity only to maintain
The prescription for returning home, back to Godhead, is given
body and soul together. The rest of one’s time should be
by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gita (9.34):
devoted to engaging in the transcendental loving service of the
Lord. In this way one can attain relief from the reactions of
man-manä bhava mad-bhakto mad-yäjé mäà namaskuru
material activity.
mäm evaiñyasi yuktvaivam ätmänaà mat-paräyaëaù
If we train the subtle body in this life by always thinking about
Krishna, we will transfer to Krishnaloka after leaving the gross “Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me
body. Thus the change of the gross body is not very and offer your homage unto Me. Being completely absorbed in
important, but the change of the subtle body is important. Me, surely you will come to Me.”
The Krishna consciousness movement is educating people to
enlighten the subtle body. Group Task
The story given below illustrates how a great king along with
his relatives came to realize the fundamental truths about life. only way to regain the love of their husband was to poison the
The soul is a spiritual entity different from the body. He does child.
not die at the time of death but goes to another destination.
Read the story carefully and answer the questions that are
Q: What was the result of Chitraketu’s affection for Krtadyuti?
inserted in between on a separate sheet.
Q: What makes one act in deadly ways to cause harm to others?
The Prince Who Brought
Jubilation and Lamentation Death of the Prince
One afternoon, as queen Krtadyuti walked in the courtyard of
O nce the world was ruled by a powerful king named
Chitraketu. King Chitraketu had many beautiful wives, but
he did not receive a child from any of them, as they were all
the palace, she thought of her son sleeping peacefully in his
room. Because she loved the child dearly and could hardly bear
to be without him for a moment, she ordered the nurse to
barren. Upon the advise of Angira muni, king Chitraketu awaken him from his nap and bring him to the garden. But
arranged for a special sacrifice to the demigods and then when the maidservant approached the child, she saw that his
offered the remnants of the sacrificial food to one of his queens eyes were turned upward, and there were no signs of life.
named Krtadyuti. At the end of the sacrifice, Angira muni told Horrified, she held a swab of cotton beneath the boy’s nostrils,
him, “O great king, you will now have a son who will be the but the cotton did not move. In great agitation, she struck her
cause of both jubilation and lamentation.” Chitraketu was breast with both hands and wept loudly.
overjoyed to know that he would finally get a son, but he
wondered about the sage’s last words. He thought, “Angira Some time passed, and the anxious queen approached the
must have meant that I will be greatly happy when my son is child’s bedroom. Hearing the nurse’s wailing, she entered the
born. But what did he mean by the child being the cause of room and saw that her son had passed from this world. In great
lamentation? Of course, being my only son, he will lamentation, her hair and dress in disarray, the queen fell to the
automatically become the heir to my throne. Therefore, he ground unconscious. When the King heard of his son’s death,
might become proud and disobedient. That might be a cause for he became nearly blind with grief. His lamentation grew like a
lamentation. But a disobedient son is better than no son at all.” conflagration, and as he ran to see the dead child, he repeatedly
stumbled and fell.
In due course of time, Krtadyuti begot a son. King Chitraketu
could not contain his joy. He raised his infant son carefully and
his affection for queen Krtadyuti increased daily. The other Q: Read the verse Bhagavad-gita 2.7 ‘karpanya dosho..’ purport and
wives, who felt neglected, burned with anger and envy. As their write two points that caused the king and queen behave the way they
did.
envy increased, they lost their intelligence, and their hearts
became hard like stone. They met secretly and decided that the
Q: Can you think of the death of some near and dear ones in your the prince, all the citizens of the kingdom were also grief-
family? How did it affect you? struck.
Surrounded by his ministers and court officers, the king entered Q: What realizations come to your heart when you see people crying
the boy’s room and collapsed unconscious at the child’s feet, loudly in front of a dead body? Relate your realizations with scriptural
his hair and dress scattered. When he regained consciousness, quotes from the Bhagavad-gita or the Srimad Bhagavatam.
he was breathing heavily, his eyes were filled with tears and he Q: Can you prepare a (approx. twenty sentences) lecture for a group
was unable to speak. of people who have come to attend a condolence meeting after the
death of one of their acquintances? The contents should include
When the queen saw her husband in an ocean of lamentation knowledge about the soul and God and the purpose of life.
and again viewed the dead child, her grief increased all the
more. This increased the pain in the hearts of all the residents of Arrival Of Angira Muni and Narada Muni:
the palace. The queen’s flower garlands slipped from her body,
and her smooth jet-black hair became tangled. Falling tears When the great sage Angira understood that the king was
smeared the cosmetics beneath her eyes. She began to curse the almost dead, being immersed in an ocean of sorrow, he went
Supreme Lord, “O Providence! During the lifetime of the there with his friend, the saint Narada. The two sages found the
father, you have caused the death of his son. You are certainly king, overwhelmed by lamentation, lying like a dead body
the enemy of the living beings and are not at all merciful.” beside the corpse of his son. Angira addressed the king sharply,
Turning to her beloved child, she said, “My dear son, I am “Wake up from the darkness of ignorance, O king! What
helpless and aggrieved. You should not give up my company. relationship do you have with this child? You may say that you
How can you leave me? Just look at your lamenting father! You are now related as father and son, but do you think that this
have slept for a long time. Now please get up. Your playmates relationship existed before his birth? Does it truly exist now?
are calling you to play. You must be very hungry, so please get Will it continue now that he is dead? O King, as small particles
up immediately and take your lunch. My dear son, I am most of sand sometimes come together and are sometimes separated
unfortunate, for I can no longer see your sweet smiling. You due to the force of the ocean’s waves, living entities who have
have closed your eyes forever. You have been taken from this accepted material bodies sometimes come together and are
planet to another place, from which you will not return. My sometimes separated by the force of time.” Angira wanted the
dear son, unable to hear your pleasing voice, I can no longer King to understand that all bodily relationships are temporary.
maintain my life.”
Q: How is our relationship with our family members temporary? Give
The king began crying loudly. As the mother and father an example.
lamented, all their followers joined them, bemoaning the Q: What is the purpose of great sages like Angira and Narada in
untimely death of the child. Because of the sudden demise of associating with great kings?
people my father and mother? No one is actually my father and

Narada Muni Invites the Soul Back Into mother. I have had millions of so-called parents. How can I
the Body Of the Prince accept these two people as my father and mother?”
Then, Narada Muni, by his
The Vedas teach that the eternal living being enters a body
mystic power, brought the
made of material elements. Here we find that such a living
soul of the prince, back into
being entered a body produced by king Chitraketu and his wife.
the dead body. Narada said,
Actually, however, he was not their son. The living entity is the
“O living entity, all good
eternal son of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but because
fortune unto you. Just see
he wants to enjoy this material world, God gives him a chance
your father and mother. All
to enter various bodies. Yet the pure living being has no true
your friends and relatives
relationship with the material body he gets from his father and
are overwhelmed with grief
mother. Therefore, the soul who had taken the body of
because of your death.
Chitraketu’s son flatly denied that the king and queen were his
Because you died untimely,
parents.
the balance of your life still
remains. Therefore, you
may enjoy the remainder of Q: Why did the boy deny the king and queen to be his parents?
the years allotted to you in Q: Write with scriptural evidences how Krishna is the ultimate father
this body with your friends of every living being.
and relatives, and later you
may accept the royal throne and all the opulences given by your
In The Material World, We Come Together As A Family,
father.”
Stay Together Temporarily, And Get Separated
The Child Gives Transcendental Message Never To Meet Again
The child who had been dead, sat up and began to speak, not The soul continued, “In this material world, which is like a
with the childishness of a young boy, but with the full swiftly flowing river, all people become friends, relatives and
knowledge of a liberated soul, “According to the results of my enemies in due course of time. They also act neutrally and in
material activities, I, the living being, transmigrate from one many other relationships. But despite these various
body to another, sometimes going to the species of the transactions, no one is permanently related.”
demigods, sometimes to the species of lower animals,
sometimes incarnating among the vegetables, and appearing Millions of living entities come to this world, and all of them
sometimes in the human species. In which birth were these two are given a certain type of body. A few living entities, say five
or six, are put in a group called a family and they stay together
for a period of time and are then separated by death, never to Sometimes he accepts a father and mother among the birds, and
meet again. It is like meeting somebody in a train journey from sometimes he accepts a demigod father and mother in the
Pune to Bombay. During the journey you make friends with heavenly planets. As the soul transmigrates through
him, but once the destination comes, you go your way and he different bodies, everyone, in every form of life – be it
goes his way. This is the case with families also. But once a human, animal, tree, or demigod – gets a father and
living entity is put in a particular family he becomes attached to mother. This is not very difficult. The real difficulty is to
others as father, mother, brothers, sisters etc., because of falsely obtain a spiritual father – a bona fide spiritual master.
identifying himself with the body. This attachment makes the Therefore, the duty of a human being is to search out such a
living entity undergo the cycle of repeated birth and death. spiritual master, for under his guidance one can become
free from the cycle of reincarnation and return to his
original home and attain the original father, Sri Krishna in
Q: Explain how our life is like a journey.
the spiritual world.
Krishna Is The Real Father

Q: How can we understand that our current father is not our real
The soul continued to speak, “Just as gold and other father, rather Krishna is our real father?
commodities are continually transferred from one place to Q: Which father is the most difficult to achieve?
another through buying and selling, so the living entity, as a
Q: What is the duty of a human being?
result of his karma, wanders throughout the universe, being
injected into various bodies in different species of life through
the semen of one father after another.” “The living being is eternal”, the pure soul continued, “and has
no relation with so-called fathers and mothers. He falsely
The Bhagavad-gita explains that it is not by any father or accepts himself as their son and acts affectionately. After he
mother that the living entity is given birth. The living entity’s dies, however, the relationship is finished. Under these
true identity is completely separate from the so-called father circumstances, one should not be falsely involved with
and mother. By the laws of nature, the soul is forced to enter jubilation and lamentation. The living entity is eternal and
the semen of a father and is injected into the womb of a mother. imperishable; he has no beginning and no end, nor does he take
He cannot directly control the kind of father he will get; this is birth or die. The living being is equal in quality to the Supreme
automatically determined by his activities in previous lives. The Lord. Both are spiritual personalities. But because the living
laws of karma force him to go to different fathers and mothers, entity is so small, he is prone to be illusioned by the material
just like a commodity that is bought and sold. energy, and thus he creates bodies for himself according to his
different desires and activities.”
The living entity sometimes takes shelter of an animal father
and mother and sometimes a human father and mother.
The Vedas tell us that the soul is responsible for his lives in the
material world, where he is trapped in the cycle of reincarnation
of getting one material body after another. If he likes, he can
remain suffering in the prison house of material existence, or he
can return to his original home in the spiritual world. Although
God arranges through the material energy to give the living
beings the bodies they desire, the Lord’s true desire is that the
conditioned souls get off the miserable ferris wheel of material
life and return home, back to Godhead.
Suddenly the boy became silent, as the pure soul left the body
of the child, and the body fell lifeless to the floor. Chitraketu
and the other relatives were astonished. They cut the shackles
of their affection and gave up their lamentation. Then they
performed the funeral ceremony, cremating the body. Because
King Chitraketu and his queen had become fully cognizant of
spiritual knowledge, including the science of reincarnation,
they easily gave up the affection that leads to pain, fear, grief,
and illusion.
Q: What causes the creation of bodies one life after another for a
living entity?
Q: Write 5 examples or analogies mentioned in the above story and
also explain the connection in which they were used.
Verse for Chapter
Chapter 9 kim karma kim akarmeti

kavayo apy atra mohitah
tat te karma pravakshyami
yaj jnatva mokshyase ‘shubhat
“Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is

action and what is inaction. Now I shall explain to you what
action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all
misfortune.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.16)
Chapter Preview
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” This question
The Secret of
has perplexed theologians and people in general throughout
the ages. The Vedas provide a profound answer to this question
by explaining the law of karma as an infallible, divine form of
Action –From justice that extends over several lifetimes. This chapter dispels
some of the common misconceptions about spiritual life and
Illusion to Reality
also includes a historical narrative that illustrates how the
consciousness in which we live and act determines our next life.
Also given is both a philosophical and practical understanding
of the secret of action that disentangles us from the material
world, enables us to do the highest good to others and
simultaneously helps us to return back home, back to Godhead,
thus ending our long secret journey.
Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?
T wo children are born at the same time on the same day. The
parent of the first are wealthy and have anxiously awaited
the arrival of their first-born for years. Their child, a boy, is
The Secret of Action – From Illusion to Reality 247 248 Your Secret Journey
bright, healthy and attractive, with a future full of promise. changed his dress (body), he still has to reap the bad result.
Surely destiny has smiled upon him. The second child enters That is why sometimes good people appear to suffer.
into an entirely different world. He is born to a mother who
was abandoned while pregnant. In her poverty she feels little Thus the principles of reincarnation allow us to view life with a
enthusiasm to rear her sickly new offspring. The road ahead is much broader perspective– from the standpoint of eternity.
fraught with difficulties and hardships, and to rise above them From this point of view, one brief lifetime is seen not as the
will not be easy. The world is full of disparities like these, entirety of our existence, but as just a flash in eternity. With
blatant inequalities that often provoke questions, “How could this broader vision of universal justice, we can see how each
Providence be so unfair? What did George and Mary do to individual soul is alone responsible for his own karma. The
have their son born blind? They’re good people. God is so laws of reincarnation operate impartially to award each living
unkind!” being the destiny he has earned by his previous actions.
Why such things happen can be understood with an example. In The Law of Karma: An Infallible Justice
villages huge vertical barrels are used to store say up to 10 tons
of rice. The grains are stored from the top and they can be taken The Law of Karma
out from below. Suppose a farmer stores in the first year 5
tones of 3rd class grain and in the second year stores 5 tones of Karma is defined as “the function and activity of the living
1st class grain. If in the second year the farmer starts taking out entity within the framework of his free will and under the
grains from below, the old 3rd class grains will come out influence of the three modes of material nature over a span of
although he has recently put 1st class grains. A child cannot time”. If one performs action according to the laws of God as
understand how or why this happens, but an intelligent person given in the scriptures, then it is called good karma (karma). If
can understand it. Similarly an apparently pious person who one wastes this human form of life, which is meant for self-
may be suffering greatly is reaping the effects of impious realization, by engaging solely in the animalistic activities of
activities performed in this or previous lives. eating, sleeping, sex and defense, then such action is called bad
karma (vikarma).
Often people ask, “Why should I be punished in this life for For every action that the soul performs, he must undergo an
acts which I may have done in my previous life?” Suppose a appropriate reaction. This is the law of karma, a divine,
man commits a murder and then changes his dress, he cannot infallible form of justice. It is said that the resultant reactions of
escape punishment; the police will still catch him and punish one’s activities will certainly come upon one exactly like a calf
him. Similarly a new lifetime just means a new bodily dress; easily identifies its mother even in a herd of hundreds of cows.
the person – the doer of the act – remains the same. So if a
person has performed some bad activity in the past and now has If my body is nicely formed, intelligent, healthy and born in
aristocratic or rich circumstances with good opportunities for
education, it is understood that I have acted piously in my
previous life. If I have a body that is ugly, deformed, diseased, him from getting diseased. And if a child ignorant of the
unintelligent, or born in poverty and ignorance, without facility nature of fire puts his hand into it, the fire will not spare his
for improvement, I must have acted sinfully in the past. Only if hand from being burned.
I have merited it, will my life’s ambitions be fulfilled. I may
want to live in a big house but I may not deserve a human body. Ignorance of the truths of life is the cause of sin and sinful
In the appropriate body of a rat, however, I will be allowed to activity is the cause of all suffering. The Vedic scriptures
live in the big house and consider it my own. therefore enjoin an ignorant man to approach a guru and
achieve knowledge. The human form of life being endowed
Karma is like a bank account of credits and debits. Just as with higher intelligence entails that one become free from
one’s bank account determines whether one will get what one ignorance. One cannot remain ignorant and be excused for all
wants, the soul’s karmic account determines whether he will wrong doings.
get what he wants in life. Good karma is like a credit in the
account and bad karma a debit. Actions performed in ignorance are also punishable. For
example, once a boy was waiting for a local train in Bombay.
For example, if someone is very charitable toward educational He saw that all the trains were full, but to his great surprise, one
institutions, in his next life he may be very wealthy and receive an compartment (which had strips) was always less crowded. So
excellent education. On the other hand, if one performs an he got into that bogie. But very soon the ticket checker came
abortion, he or she will suffer the same fate in the next life. As and fined him for traveling in a first-class compartment with an
long as the soul is involved in good and / or bad activities, he will ordinary ticket. The boy protested, “I did not know it is first
continually reincarnate in various species of life according to the class”, but the ticket checker replied, “If you are traveling by
laws of karma. At the time of death, the plans of the soul are train, you are expected to know what is first class” and
stored within the mind (subtle matter), and by the help of higher demanded the fine without excusing the boy for his ignorance.
order natural laws involving karma, the soul gets the facility to Similarly the Vedic literature and authorized spiritual teachers
give these plans shape in his next life in a suitable bodily form. are there to impart spiritual knowledge to human beings. Such
The numerous biological forms at various levels of consciousness
knowledge is meant for humans, not for cats or dogs and so a
are therefore present in nature only to accommodate the different
human being having being given the higher intelligence to
desires of the soul.
enquire is expected to acquire this knowledge. If one does not
Ignorance of Law is no Excuse show interest in such knowledge and remains in ignorance one
has to be punished.
In the modern times, unfortunately, most people are unaware of
the law of karma. But ignorance of the law is no excuse. One Instinct and Discrimination
who is arrested for speeding will not be excused if he tells the Animals act simply according to their instincts. That is their
judge that he was not aware of speed limit. If a person is dharma. For example, a tiger will die, but not eat vegetarian
ignorant of the principles of hygiene, nature will not excuse food. Similarly a cow will never eat flesh. Because animals
simply act according to instinct, they are not subjected to the to again continue in the
law of karma. But human beings are capable of discriminating cycle of birth and death.
between right and wrong and so they are subjected to the law of What is the use of such
karma. Human life is therefore meant for discrimination; if we temporary elevation to
act according to the impulses of the body then how are we heaven?
superior to animals?
Moreover good karma may
Animal life is for sense enjoyment and human life is for sense bring good reactions but to
control. Human life is not meant to ‘just do it’, as modern enjoy those reactions one
advertisements prompt us. If we ‘just do’ things, then we will has to accept another
‘just get the results’ and we will have to ‘just suffer it’; but this material body and that
later part is not revealed to us. An intelligent man should brings with it the
therefore think twice before he acts. He should keep in mind inevitable miseries of birth
the consequences that will result from his actions and thus and death.
choose the right course of action.
Birth and Death –
Good and Bad Karma both cause bondage Agonizing Experiences
Although it appears to be
Good Karma is Not Enough simple, taking birth in the
Bad karma brings suffering upon a person and should therefore material world is not a
be avoided. But even good karma does not free one from picnic for the soul. For
suffering; it provides only temporary relief. Due to one’s good months the human fetus
activities one may be elevated to the higher heavenly planets, lies cramped within the
but one returns back to the earth after exhausting one’s good darkness of the womb,
credits or ‘punya’. suffering severely,
scorched by the mother’s
For example if an employee works faithfully, his company may gastric fire, continually
give him an LTA (leave travel allowance) of Rs.20,000/- and jolted by sudden
also give him 20 days leave to enjoy in a tourist resort. The movements, and feeling
employee may enjoy for 20 days; but after 20 days, he has to constant pressure from
return to his job and start working hard again. Going to the being contained in the
heavenly planets is like that. When the ‘punya’ is over, ‘kshine small amnion, or sack,
punye martya lokam vishanti’ one falls back to the same earth which surrounds the body
in the womb. This tight, constricting pocket forces the child’s

back to arch constantly like a bow. Further, the unborn child is At death, not only is one’s body stripped off, but also all near
tormented by hunger and thirst and is bitten again and again all and dear ones are left behind and the soul has to go alone to an
over the body by hungry worms in the abdominal cavity. Birth unknown destination according to his karma and desire. When
is so excruciating, the Vedas say, that the process eradicates one goes to send off relatives, one feels great separation even if
any past-life memories one may have retained. one has to be away just for a few days or months. Nobody
wants to be separated from one’s near and dear ones. Death is
Similarly death is also an agonizing experience for the soul. In therefore extremely painful; the pain being to the degree one
the Srimad Bhagavatam (3.30.16-18), the great sage Kapila has developed attachments to the things and people of this
Muni describes the true nature of the death experience, “In that world.
diseased condition, one’s eyes bulge due to pressure of air from
within, and his glands become congested with mucus. He has How To Become Free From Karma &
difficulty breathing, and there is a rattling sound within the Reincarnation?
throat....... He dies most pathetically, in great pain and without
consciousness.”
No one likes to lose even a tiny finger of one’s body. Once a

T he sages of ancient India tell us that the goal of human life
is to escape from the endless cycle of reincarnation. Don’t
come back, they warn. When the living entity in the material
boy got cancer in one of his little fingers. The doctor told him
world ends one life, he must, by the law of reincarnation, begin
that the finger had to be amputated. Not wanting to have one
another one. In each life, he works hard to achieve his material
hand with only four fingers, the boy refused. But as the cancer
goals, but his endeavors always end in failure, and he must
spread, the pain became intolerable and the boy went to the
begin anew. This cycle goes on and on. That is why this
doctor again. This time the doctor told him that one half of the
material world is called ‘samsara sagar’. It is an ocean of
hand had to be amputated. Aghast the boy frantically consulted
nescience in which we are caught. It is like a big forest fire,
doctors abroad. Finally an entire hand had to be amputated.
which is scorching us. But we have a way out to escape from
The boy became utterly devastated at the prospect of living a
the cycle of birth and death.
life without one hand. Thus the body is very dear to the soul.
The soul is so habituated to living in the body that he must be Is Karma The Supreme Factor In Deciding My Future?
forced out by the laws of nature at the moment of death. Just as
no one likes to be forcibly evicted from his home, the soul Some people think that the law of karma works blindly so
naturally resists eviction from the material body. Even the much so that even the supreme Lord Sri Krishna or Sri Rama
tiniest insects will display the most amazing abilities and are bound by it. This idea is offensive. Lord Rama or Lord
techniques for avoiding death when their lives are threatened. Krishna is never bound by karma; in fact the law of karma is
But as death is inevitable for all living beings, so are the fear completely under the grip of the Lord.
and pain associated with it.
When I throw a ball at a wall it may appear to bounce back at The answer is - by akarma. Akarma does not refer to inaction,
me automatically. Similarly I may think everything that but rather to action that does not produce any reaction. Just as a
happens is a result of my past work, and that there is no place soldier fighting on behalf of the government is not implicated
or need for any higher or divine supervision. But let us for killing the enemy soldiers or just as a cashier counting
consider - who made the ball? Who made the wall? Who made money for a bank is not held responsible for the profit or loss of
the arrangement by which the ball bounces back at me? Even if the bank, similarly the soul who works on behalf of Krishna -
I made both the wall and the ball, who made the body I use to the head of the universal government - is not subjected to the
throw it with? The body may be offered as a result of my law of karma. Just as a lotus flower is untouched by the water
karma, but who made it? I cannot claim I did, or my parents in which it resides, such a soul is unaffected by karma, though
did, for neither they nor I know exactly how even one of the he resides in the world where karma prevails. For the soul who
ninety billion cells within it works, what to speak of making agrees to follow the Lord’s instructions, the Lord takes up all
one. The conclusion we must inescapably reach is that there is responsibility for his actions just as a father takes the
a higher or divine supervision over all our affairs. responsibility for an obedient son.
The Srimad Bhagavatam (3.31.1) clearly explains, “Under the For example, in the Mahabharata, Lord Krishna took
supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of responsibility for the sins that Arjuna incurred while killing the
his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the Kauravas. Similarly the Lord also took responsibility for the
womb.......” The Vedic scriptures explain that the material
nature is conducted by crores of demigods, all of whom work
under the instruction of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. In other
words, Lord Krishna is above the jurisdiction of the law of
karma. In fact the law of karma works under His direction and
control. Therefore if one surrenders to Krishna, one is freed
from all good and bad karma and reinstated in one’s spiritual
position.
Akarma
As discussed earlier, all fruitive activities, whether good or bad,
bind the soul to the material world. If even good activities bind
the soul, how then can the soul become free from bondage?
pious deeds of Maharaja Yudhishthira. Consequently neither of practical techniques for becoming free from karma and
them was victimized by the subsequent reactions of their reincarnation.
actions.
1. The first principle of devotional service is that one should
Therefore whatever position of life we may be in, if we work regularly chant a fixed number of rounds (malas) of the Hare
on behalf of the Lord, for the pleasure of the Lord according to Krishna maha-mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna
His instructions, by offering Him the fruits of our work, we will Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare
be performing akarma and will therefore become freed from the Hare.
reactions to our activities.
2. One should also regularly study the Vedic literatures,
How to Perform Akarma? especially Bhagavad Gita As It Is, and Srimad Bhagavatam, in
order to develop a thorough understanding of the nature of the
The first step is to understand clearly that, “I am not this body. self, the laws of karma, the process of reincarnation, and the
I am a pure spirit soul”. The next step is to gain knowledge means for becoming self-realized.
about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna and then
accept His authority by surrendering to Him. For this one 3. One should eat only spiritualized vegetarian foods. In the
should approach a bona fide spiritual master coming in an Bhagavad-gita (3.13), Lord Krishna says that one should eat
authorized disciplic succession (parampara). Such a spiritual only food that is offered to Him in sacrifice; otherwise, one will
master provides systematic knowledge about Krishna and how become implicated in the reactions of karma. The simplest
to surrender to Krishna. form of offering food is to place the food before the pictures of
Radha-Krishna and pray, “My dear Lord Krishna, please accept
If one does good karma, one will get good results to enjoy birth this humble offering”, and chant the Hare Krishna mantra three
after birth; but that brings with it the miseries of old age, times. God is not hungry for our food, but for our love.
disease and death in every lifetime. If one does bad karma, one Therefore when we offer Him food with devotion, He accepts it
has to appear repeatedly to suffer the resultant reactions. But if and leaves behind His remnants called prasadam. Eating this
one performs Krishna-karma or ‘akarma’ then one does not purified food that has been accepted by Krishna frees one from
return to this world; one goes back home back to Godhead. karma and inoculates one against material contamination.
Becoming free from the cycle of birth and death requires more 4. One should avoid meat, fish and eggs. One should also give
than just theoretical understanding. Knowledge that one is not up all intoxicants, including tea, coffee, tobacco and alcohol.
the material body, but a spirit soul, is not sufficient for One should not engage in illicit sex, i.e., sex outside of
liberation. One must act on the platform of spirit soul. This is marriage. It should be noted that abortion carries a severe
called devotional service (bhakti), which provides many karmic reaction - those who participate in killing unborn
children may be in their next life placed in the womb of a will have to come back to this material world again and again;
mother who chooses abortion and themselves be slaughtered in and one must remember that one may not always return as a
the same horrible way. But if one agrees to no longer commit human being and may not have the opportunity for freedom
such sinful acts, one can become freed from karmic reaction by that one has now.
inoffensive devotional chanting of the holy names of God.
Therefore, in order to free ourselves from the endless repetition
5. One can offer the fruit of one’s work to God. Everyone must of birth and death, we must understand the laws of karma and
work for simple bodily sustenance, but if work is performed reincarnation and free ourselves from them. The Bhagavad-
only for one’s own satisfaction, one must accept the karmic gita and other Vedic literatures are instruction manuals that
results and receive good and bad reactions in future lives. The teach us the real goal of the journey of life. By understanding
Bhagavad-gita (3.9) therefore warns “Work done as a sacrifice the science of reincarnation, we free ourselves from the forces
to Visnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this of karma and return to the kingdom of God, where we can
material world” Thus work must be performed for the relish an eternal life full of knowledge and bliss.
satisfaction of the Lord. This work, known as devotional
service, is karma-free. Working in Krishna consciousness The Greatest Welfare Work
means sacrifice. The human being must sacrifice his
time/money for the satisfaction of the Supreme. Work
performed as devotional service not only saves one from
karmic reaction, but gradually elevates one to the
O ften people ask devotees a question, “You people are just
chanting Hare Krishna all the time. Why don’t you feed
the poor? Why don’t you treat the sick by building hospitals?
transcendental loving service of the Lord– the key to entering At least that way you can serve people.”
the kingdom of God.
It is not necessary to change one’s occupation. One may be a Srila Prabhupada has mercifully given many examples and
writer and write for Krishna, an artist and paint for Krishna, a stories to illustrate how it is not enough to take care of the
cook and cook for Krishna. Or, if one is not able to directly body; it is necessary to nourish the soul by genuine spiritual
engage one’s talents and abilities in serving Krishna, one may education and practices.
sacrifice the fruits of one’s work by contributing a portion of
one’s earnings to help propagate Krishna consciousness Once a lady got a beautiful pet parrot. She bought a golden
throughout the world. cage for the parrot. Every day she would meticulously wipe and
clean the cage. After a week when one of her friends visited
By following these simple techniques, anyone can become free her house, the lady proudly showed her the parrot in the golden
from the effects of karma. But if one does not follow them, one cage. Her friend exclaimed, “My dear friend! You have spent
is sure to become entangled in the actions and reactions of so much time in cleaning the cage and making it more
material life and be punished by the strict laws of nature. One beautiful, but you have neglected to feed the parrot inside. See
your parrot, its dying!” fool! If you had saved the wealthy man, he would have
Similarly people in this age awarded you lakhs of rupees.”
take so much care of the
body by going to the Just as we change our coat everyday, the soul changes its body
gymnasium, by jogging, by after death. Thus the body is like a coat for the soul. Feeding
wearing beautiful clothes, food, supplying clothes, providing medicines etc may be good
by providing all comforts to for the body, but they hardly benefit the soul. Doing these
the body, but the body is services for the body without providing for the needs of the
only a temporary place of soul is like saving the golden coat of the man while letting him
residence for the real drown.
personality, the soul just as
the cage is for the parrot. Can I Not Do Good To People Without God?
Because they do not feed
The nature of the soul is to love and serve God. And the soul is
spiritual food to the soul,
eternally happy in such devotional service to God. But when
they are not able to become
the soul turns away from God, he engages in sinful activities
happy, despite all their efforts and they do not know how
and brings suffering upon himself. What is the best way to help
blissful spiritual life is.
such suffering souls?
Real welfare work is to realize one’s spiritual identity, practice
Some people superficially mitigate the sufferings of others by
one’s own spiritual duty and teach the same to others.
providing free food, clothing, health care etc, but such efforts
Once a millionaire landlord was swimming in a river. Suddenly do not have long-lasting effect. Sometimes you see beggars
a strong current came and started carrying the wealthy man standing in a queue outside the railway station. Throughout
deep into the river. Seeing him drowning, the people on the their life they beg and earn money. But they continue to smoke
bank started shouting, “Help! Help! Save this drowning man.” and drink and in this way accrue sinful reactions to continue
Hearing the commotion, a well-built but poor young man came their suffering in their future lives. Are we really doing good
there. Seeing that the wealthy man was wearing a golden coat, by giving charity to such people? There are so many people
the young man jumped into the river. He fought against the coming to hospitals with deadly diseases that they have
current, reached the wealthy man grabbed his golden coat and contracted due to too much drinking or too much smoking or
returned to the river bank. Meanwhile the wealthy man due to illicit sex. We may open hospitals to cure these diseases
drowned to death. The young man showed the golden coat to and after they get all right they will go back and engage in the
the people, “See, somehow I saved the costly golden coat.” Do same old sinful activities, because the propensity to commit sin
you think people appreciated him? They chastised him, “You has not been eradicated.
Thus, although many good-intentioned people are eager to do for the body, ISKCON also provides the needy with the Holy
social service, they cannot bring about any real good to anyone Name of God and spiritual knowledge to understand the science
because they do not know what will benefit the suffering souls of God. This spiritual knowledge and practice provides them
the most. They are like a layman eager to perform a surgical inner satisfaction which frees them from greed. Being no longer
operation on the boil of a suffering person. Despite their good greedy they don’t have to perform sinful activities and thus
intention, they end up doing more harm than good. But the they become free from all suffering.
devotees understand the root cause of all suffering. They
therefore give Krishna consciousness to people. The inner Will Chanting Hare Krishna Not Make
happiness derived from Krishna consciousness enables them to One Lazy And Selfish?
become free from all sins and thus become happy forever.
If a person is chanting Hare
At this point people often ask, “Do you expect people to Krishna all the time, is he
understand God with an empty stomach?” The real problem of not neglecting others and
the people is not dearth of food, dearth of money etc. As working for his own selfish
Gandhi rightly said, “God motive of going back to
has provided enough in this God? How can such a
world for everyone’s need; person be called a social
but not for one man’s worker?
greed.” ISKCON therefore
provides holistic service - In this world, each one of us
for both the body and the is either a part of the
soul by distributing free problem or a part of the
Krishna prasadam solution. Most people due to
(vegetarian food offered to their uncontrolled passions
Lord Krishna). In fact, like anger and greed are a
ISKCON’s Food For Life part of the problem of the
program is the world’s world. But a person who chants Hare Krishna and becomes
largest vegetarian food Krishna conscious gives up all such passions and harmonizes
relief program. This himself with the will of God. He thus becomes a part of the
sanctified food not only solution, rather than being a part of the problem. And by his
provides for the needs of the example and words, he inspires many others to also harmonize
body, but also purifies the themselves with the will of God and become a part of the
soul. But in addition to food solution. Hence his contribution to society is invaluable.
It requires intelligence to appreciate the importance of the Story: The Greatest Social Service
transformation in consciousness of people that a devotee brings
about. For example, in the 1960s thousands of American youths Given below is a true story that illustrates what is the topmost
were taking to drugs and becoming hippies and criminals, being service that one can render to society, if one is interested in
frustrated with the emptiness of their lives. The American benefiting others:
government was trying various means to save its youth from
criminalism and drug-addiction but its efforts were turning out Once Srila Prabhupada visited the house of a wealthy
to be futile. At that time, Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya businessman during his Pune trip. While having dinner, the
of ISKCON, taught these youths the chanting of the Holy businessman asked Srila Prabhupada a question, “Please do not
Names and, being inspired by the happiness and the mistake me, but why does ISKCON not feed the poor instead of
enlightenment that the chanting gave them, hundreds of such just worshiping God?”
hippies became “happies”; they gave up drugs and crime Srila Prabhupada replied with a story. “Suppose you go to the
forever and lived pure lives of selfless service to God and man North to meet your close friend, the richest man of India, say
thereafter. Thus Srila Prabhupada succeeded where the US Mr. Tata. You stay with him, eat with him, chat with him,
government had failed – just due to his devotion to Krishna and relax with him and, after a couple of weeks, you return to Pune.
his ability to infuse that devotion in the hearts of others. So
although a devotee may be appearing to just practicing and And while going in your car in Pune one day, you happen to
preaching Krishna consciousness, the wise understand the value see the son of Tata wandering on the streets like a vagabond,
of his contribution to society. totally drunk, with clothes tattered and hair disheveled. What
will you do? You may just feel sorry for his plight and go
Moreover a devotee is never selfish. One who loves Krishna away. Or you may give him a plate of food and go away; or you
naturally loves every living being. Suppose your sister gets may take out a five hundred rupee note and offer it to him in
married and has a child. Earlier you loved only your sister, but donation.
now you love not only your sister, but also her husband and her
son because of their connection to your sister. Similarly if a Or you may take him by your hand, put him in your car and
person loves Krishna then he begins to love all living beings take him home. You may let him take rest, get him bathed and
because of their connection to Krishna. Every living being is a offer him food. When he comes back to normalcy, you sit with
part and parcel of Krishna, so a devotee of Krishna sees him and tell him about the glories of his father Tata. Then he
everyone in relation to Krishna, loves everyone and renders reveals the misunderstanding he had with his father. By
service to everyone by glorifying Krishna and teaching about suitably explaining to him, if you clarify his misconceptions,
Krishna. then he will again appreciate the love of his father and will
want to return back to his father. And then, all you need to do
is to call his father, “Mr. Tata, your son is very safe here with
me. Please come and pick him up.” And very soon there is a
joyous reunion between son and father. In this way Tata’s son 8.4 million species, we finally get the human form of life,
goes back to Tata and lives happily thereafter.” which provides an opportunity to get out of this miserable cycle
of birth and death by cultivation of Krishna consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada then explained the meaning of the story,
“Similarly every living being is the son of Lord Krishna, who is Whose life is considered successful?
the supremely wealthy person, being the husband of the
goddess of fortune Lakshmidevi. But now because of his When an operation is done on a patient, the relatives are very
rebellious nature, he has left his Supreme Father and come to anxious to know whether it was a success and whether the
this world to enjoy separate from Him. Such a living being is patient will survive for more years. But hardly ever do people
now wandering in this world like a penniless beggar, suffering check their own lives - whether they achieved something
in innumerable ways. Giving food, clothing, shelter or even job substantial by living. Wealth, beauty, fame and followers,
does not free him from sinful propensity or greed. He therefore position and power – all come and go. According to the verdict
continues to suffer in the material world. On the other hand, if of the scriptures, one’s life is considered successful only if one
one explains to the suffering living entity the glory of his has utilized it in Krishna consciousness – hearing about the
eternal father, Krishna and teaches him to chant the Holy Lord, speaking about the Lord or rendering some service to the
Names, the Hare Krishna mahamantra, then by that devotional Lord. In one of his meetings with a leading Mumbai
service he becomes purified and returns back home, back to businessman, Srila Prabhupada told him, “In the ledger of your
Godhead to live happily forever with his eternal father, Lord Sri life, all the time that you spent in relation to Krishna is profit.
Krishna.” All the time you spent for yourself is loss. Now you decide
how much profit have you made in your life and whether your
Now Srila Prabhupada asked his host, “You tell me, what is the life was worth living.” Living a long life or having affluent
greatest service - to give food, clothing, medicine etc or to take facilities for sense gratification is not considered success by the
a lost son back to his millionaire father?” Immediately the wise. Even the trees live thousands of years and animals enjoy
businessman agreed, “A devotee who takes the living entity eating, sleeping and sex life. Hence a life devoid of Krishna
back home, back to Godhead is the greatest well wisher of consciousness is considered no better than the life of any
everyone and is undoubtedly the greatest welfare worker.” animal and thus such a life is considered unsuccessful.
The Glorious End of Your Long Secret Journey Sripada Shankaracharya lived only 32 years. Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu lived only 48 years. Jesus Christ lived only 32
years. But the contribution that these great saints left behind is
L ife in the material world is a long, long journey in which
we go from one body to another according to our desires
and activities. In each body we experience various sufferings,
now a guiding light for millions. The six Goswamis of
Vrindavan lived under trees and hardly ate any food, but the
especially birth, old age, disease and death. After going through literatures that they have left behind carry a whole Krishna
conscious culture that can be practised by any sincere
practitioner in any part of the world for all time to come. In how to dance. Then if one becomes an expert dancer, when one
fact there are devotees worldwide in ISKCON whose lives are dances on stage one will receive acclaim: “Ah, a very good
guided by these principles of devotional service. Therefore dancer.” But one cannot say, “I shall go immediately to the
one’s life is considered successful only based on the quality of stage and become a good dancer.” That is not possible. One
living. may say, “No, no, no. I shall not attend the rehearsal. Just give
me the stage, and I shall perform.” But the director will not
Whose death is considered successful? allow this, for one cannot become a good dancer without
practice. Similarly the real purpose of life is to remember
We have spent millions of years in the material world rotting in
Krishna when one’s life comes to an end (ante näräyaëa-småtiù
different bodies and in different situations, with no aim in life.
This long journey through various species has brought about [Srimad Bhagavatam 2.1.6]). But one cannot directly remember
untold suffering to us and has made us like a weary traveler. Krishna at the time of death without any prior practice. In order
Where is the end of this tiresome journey? to be able to remember Krishna at the time of death, one must
regularly practice remembering Krishna throughout one’s life.
As explained in the earlier chapters, one achieves the next body Only then is it possible to remember Krishna at the moment of
based on the consciousness that one has developed at the time death.
of death. Lord Sri Krishna promises in the Bhagavad-gita (8.5) Death is the time in life when one suffers the maximum pain.
that anyone who remembers Him at the time of death is sure to No one is capable of saving us from the jaws of death except
attain His abode and thus end this tedious journey in the the Lord Himself. Practically all living beings in this world
material world. face the inevitable death with no knowledge of what is going to
The most confidential part of the knowledge given by the happen next. But a devotee chants the Holy Names of the Lord
scriptures is that, “One should always remember Krishna; one everyday and in this way gradually develops loving attraction
should never forget Him”. Therefore one should mould one’s for Him. In fact such a devotee realizes that the Supreme
life in such a way that one will be able to achieve this goal. Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna is his mother, father,
relative, friend, be-all and end-all. Engaging in various services
Who can remember the Lord at the time of death? Only one to the Lord like chanting, dancing, honoring prasadam,
who has been living in Krishna consciousness throughout his preaching the message of the Lord etc everyday in a mood of
life can possibly call out the Lord’s name at death. It is natural loving service, such a devotee achieves the perfected stage
that we shout, ‘mummy’ or ‘pappa’ when we are pricked by a when he can successfully call out the Lord’s name at the time
thorn while walking, because one calls for help to those in of death:
whom one has faith and attachment.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Everything takes practice. For example, if one wants to dance Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
on the stage, one has to perform many rehearsals to practice
Great devotees like Khatvanga, Parikshit, Bhishma, Gajendra

and many more achieved all perfection by remembering the
Supreme Lord at death. How this perfection can be attained is
the subject matter of our next book, ‘Victory over death’.
Our New Release

In this book, you learnt about material and spiritual nature,
karma and the sojourn of the soul in various species. By
taking to the process of Krishna consciousness and by
thinking of Krishna at the time of death, one can
successfully return to the Kingdom of God. If you want to
learn how, please contact us for the next book in the same
Spirituality for the Modern Youth series, entitled ‘Victory
Over Death’. Some of the topics covered therein are:
• Quest for happiness
• Break free of bonds
• Art of Living
• Art of Dying in Krishna consciousness
• Cultivating remembrance of Krishna
• Passing the final exam
And much, much more

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2 Your Secret Journey

Verse for Chapter

Chapter 1 avinäçi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaà tatam

“That which pervades the entire body you should know to be

Identity – Who am I? A Bag of Chemicals?

Chemicals? chemicals in an adult’s body were worth Rs 20 in the early part

“Most of the human body,” the article continues, “is water. In a

Biologist Edwin Conklin said, “The probability of life

There are however no life symptoms visible when all these

Despite great scientific discoveries and achievements, the

Eminent Mathematician Jagadish N Srivastava, CNS Research

Gazette Headline: Bigelow, elaborating on points he had raised during the

“They will be waiting for Dr. Kovoor at the Ramakrishna

Verse for Chapter

Chapter 2 sarva yonishu kaunteya murtayah sambhavanti yah

“It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti,

Creation as opposed to evolution is the conclusion that the

In the previous chapter, we saw how there is no evidence of life

F ossils are the remains of ancient forms of life preserved in

Swedish botanist Heribert Nilsson after 40 years of his own

This is the standard scenario, yet much evidence has turned up

At Border Cave in South Africa paleontologists have made

In 1962, archaeologist Cynthia Irwin-Williams excavated stone

The Valsequillo artifacts thus present a far greater challenge to

species, which we may call “breeding species” and “evolution

Breeding is not Evolution

chemicals. Mutations are likened to “accidents” in the genetic

Since the early 1900’s scientists have exposed millions of fruit

3) Can a mechanism be specified by which one

N o one knows a mechanism, if at all there is, by which one

Geneticists have studied the inherited characteristics in animals

Haeckel’s Fraudulent Charts

The scientific evidence available does not agree with the

T he facts of nature cannot be explained by the simplistic

3) How The Giraffe Got Its Long Neck

1) sudden appearance of complex

No new kinds gradually appearing,

2) each new kind separate from

ones lethal; never result in

Civilisation appears with man; any

what evolution predicted and to what creation predicted,

complex then modern

family types. Each could multiply in great variety within its

New kinds arising gradually; No new kinds gradually appearing;

own “kind”, but could not cross the boundary separating

appearing in great variety;

between kinds is protected by each one’s unique genetic

arising out of crude, brutish Contemporaneous

However, there is much more that testifies to a Creator than just

the facts fitting the predictions of the creation model. The

marvels of the whole awesome universe down to the intricate

Evolution: A Biological Mythology

W hen the theory of evolution is stripped off the bombastic

word jugglery by which evolutionists try to cover its

reality, what does it actually say?

seashore. It looked just like regular sand, and so it was. Water

so it was. Then a storm arose and lightning flashed. Nothing

unreasonable faith in speculations that are unverified and often

This is primarily because evolution is portrayed as “a science”.

Moreover it is made to appear as if all scientists support the

At an individual level, a spiritual aspirant, based on the

And at a social level, if ethics, morality and a genuine purpose

Verse for Chapter

Chapter 3 ascarya-vat pasyati kascid enam