subjects/body/002

The people do not even know that there is dehantara-praptih, again we have to accept another body. They do not care for it. And there are so many varieties of body. Just like if we are sitting here, so many ladies and gentlemen, each one of us has got a different type of body. Nobody's body is similar exactly to the other body. This is a fact. We can see. So why we have got different types of body? That we do not try to understand. Not only human body, but there are other bodies also. Jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati. We have got bodies in the water, we have got bodies on the land, the tree life, the plant life, the insect life, the birds' life, the beast life, the human form of life... Amongst the human beings there are different varieties -- some American, some Indians, some others. So why they are different bodies? What is that science? Why there are different types of bodies?

The different type of body is due to our different karma and different mentality. That we do not know. But Pariksit Maharaja, although he is king... Nowadays the king and president, they are sure that "I am Prime Minister" and "I am President. My position is secure," because he is prime minister. This is the difficulty. The big, big men, they think that "My position is secure," "I am prime minister," "I am Rahis," "I am Birla," "I am big man, so my position is secure." But Pariksit Maharaja did not think like that. Although he was the emperor, most powerful king, Pariksit Maharaja, he did not think that "I am secure. Because I am emperor of the world, I am secure." No. He immediately become alert: "Oh, I will have to die within seven days. So I must prepare." This is the problem. We do not know whether we are going to die within seven seconds, because there is no guarantee, whereas Pariksit Maharaja had at least seven days' guarantee that he will die after seven days. But so far we are concerned, we can go on the street. There may be any accident. I can die immediately. There are, so many deaths are taking place. The death is sure, and when it will take place, that nobody knows.

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Go-kharah. Go means cows and khara means ass. So anyone who has got this concept that "I am this body," "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brahmana," "I am ksatriya," "I am black," "I am white," "I am fat," "I am thin," "I am this," "I am that," this is atma-buddhi, dehatma-buddhi. Yasyatma-buddhi... One should know that "I am not this body." That is real knowledge. That is real knowledge. But nobody knows that. Everyone thinking. The fighting is going on all over the world. Just like Israel and the, what other the party?

Devotee: Arabs.

Prabhupada: (laughs) They are thinking that they are this body, and they are fighting. And everywhere it is going on: "I am this body." Cats and dogs are fighting. So actually, we are not this body. That is knowledge. Therefore Bhagavad-gita begins when Arjuna was thinking in terms of his body that he was declining to fight in terms of body. "Krsna, they are my family members, my brothers, my grandfather, my nephews. How can I kill them?" So therefore Krsna, when Arjuna accepted Krsna as his spiritual master... Sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam prapannam: "Krsna, now we are talking like friends, but that will not make a solution, because friendly talking useless waste of time. Let us talk seriously. So I accept You as my spiritual master." Sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam prapannam. "Now you teach me."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.1
Delhi, November 4, 1973
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