A Second Chance:

The Story of a Near-Death Experience

Table of Contents

Introduction

As the sinful Ajamila lay on his deathbed, he was terrified to see three fierce humanlike creatures coming to drag him out of his dying body and take him away to the abode of Yamaraja, the lord of death, for punishment.

Surprisingly, Ajamila escaped this terrible fate. How? You'll find out in the pages of A Second Chance: The Story of a Near-Death Experience.

You'll also learn many vital truths about the fundamental nature of the self and reality, so you can better prepare yourself for your own inevitable encounters with death and dying.

Even today, people momentarily on the verge of death report encounters like Ajamila's, lending credibility to the idea that there is life after death.

In 1982, George Gallup, Jr., published a book called Adventures in Immortality, which contained results of a survey on American beliefs about the afterlife, including near-death and out-of-body experiences.

Sixty-seven percent of the people surveyed said they believe in life after death, and fifteen percent said they themselves had had some kind of near-death experience.

The people who reported a near-death experience were then asked to describe it. Nine percent reported an out-of-body sensation, and eight percent felt that "a special being or beings were present during the near-death experience."

The Gallup survey is intriguing, but it leaves unanswered this basic question: Is there any scientific evidence for near-death experiences, particularly of the out-of-body type?

Apparently there is--from studies of people on the verge of death who, while supposedly unconscious, accurately report events relating to their physical body from a perspective outside it. Heart attack patients, accident victims, and soldiers wounded in battle have all reported such experiences.

Dr. Michael Sabom, a cardiologist at the Emory University Medical School, undertook a scientific study of such reports. He interviewed thirty-two cardiac-arrest patients who reported out-of-body experiences. During a cardiac arrest the heart stops pumping blood to the brain, and so a patient should be totally unconscious. Yet twenty-six of the thirty-two patients reporting out-of-body experiences during cardiac arrest were able to give fairly accurate visual accounts of their resuscitation. And the remaining six gave extremely accurate accounts of the specific resuscitation techniques, matching confidential hospital records of their operations.

The results of Sabom's study, detailed in his book Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation (1982), convinced him of the reality of out-of-body experiences. He concluded that the mind was an entity distinct from the brain and that the near-death crisis caused the mind and brain to split apart for a brief time. Sabom wrote, "Could the mind which splits apart from the physical brain be, in essence, the soul, which continues to exist after the final bodily death, according to some religious doctrines? As I see it, this is the ultimate question that has been raised by reports of the NDE [near-death experience]."

The true dimensions of that ultimate question are thoroughly explored in A Second Chance, by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founding spiritual master (acarya) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Thousands of years ago in India, the history concerning Ajamila and his near-death experience was related by the great spiritual master Sukadeva Gosvami to his disciple King Pariksit. Their conversation is recorded in the Sixth Canto of the Sanskrit classic Srimad-Bhagavatam, renowned as the ripened fruit of the tree of India's timeless Vedic literature.

In 1975-76, in the course of translating the Srimad-Bhagavatam into English, Srila Prabhupada translated the story of Ajamila. And as with the rest of the work, in addition to the text he provided an illuminating commentary on each verse.

But this wasn't the first time Srila Prabhupada had explained the story of Ajamila. During the winter of 1970-71 Srila Prabhupada was traveling with some of his Western disciples in India. They had heard him speak about Ajamila several times, and at their request he now gave a systematic series of lectures on the Ajamila story.

Thus A Second Chance consists of texts from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam (reproduced here in boldface type), selections from Srila Prabhupada's commentary, and excerpts from transcriptions of his lectures during the '70-71 India tour.

The history of Ajamila is dramatic, powerful, and engaging. And the sharp philosophical and metaphysical debates that punctuate the action as Ajamila confronts the messengers of death and finds deliverance are bound to excite the interest of those concerned with life's deepest questions.

The Publishers

Chapter 1

Separating the Men From the Animals

Sukadeva Gosvami said to King Pariksit: In the city known as Kanyakubja [Kanauj in present-day India] there lived a brahmana named Ajamila who married a prostitute maidservant and lost all his brahminical qualities because of the association of that low-class woman. Ajamila gave trouble to others by arresting them, by cheating them in gambling, or by directly plundering them. This was the way he earned his livelihood and maintained his wife and children. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.21-22)

The Law of Consequences

Although Ajamila was born of a brahmana father and strictly followed the regulative principles--no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no intoxication, and no gambling--he fell in love with a prostitute, and therefore all his good qualities were lost. As soon as a person abandons the regulative principles, he engages in various kinds of sinful activities. The regulative principles serve to keep us on the standard of human life. But if we abandon them, we fall down into illusory life, or maya.

If we want to advance in spiritual life, we must follow the regulative principles and rectify the mistakes of our past lives and this present life. Only those who have become free from all kinds of sinful reactions and are now engaged in pious activities can fully understand God. Persons who commit sinful activities and who are overly attached to bodily comforts and mundane friendship, society, and family affection cannot be spiritually self-realized.

The fault of illicit connection with women is that it destroys all one's brahminical qualities. Ajamila abandoned all the regulative principles due to his association with a prostitute. He became a cheater and a thief. One who acts dishonestly will be punished. He may escape the king's or government's law, but he can never escape God's law. The materialists think, "I am cheating God, and I can continue to gratify my senses by all nefarious activities." But the sastras (scriptures) state that such persons are cheating their own happiness in the end, because they will have to accept a material body again and suffer accordingly.

A man who is born in a brahmana family is expected to be truthful and self-controlled, to be fully cognizant of spiritual life and its practical application, and to have complete faith in the statements of the sastras.

If a person does not follow the sastras, he becomes degraded. The great sages and rsis throughout the world have given guidance, and their words are recorded in the sastras. But rascals and fools misinterpret the scriptures and misguide the people. At present, the Bhagavad-gita is interpreted in so many different ways, and these so-called explanations are accepted by the innocent public as authoritative knowledge. One interpreter explains that the battlefield of Kuruksetra refers to the material body and that the five Pandava brothers are really the five senses of the material body. But this is not the proper understanding. How can anyone explain the Bhagavad-gita when he does not understand it? Such an attempt is nonsense.

To understand the bona fide science of God, one must approach a bona fide spiritual master and hear the Bhagavad-gita from him. We have to follow the great personalities, the previous acaryas (spiritual masters). That will be to our profit. We should not speculate and make up our own statements. We should simply accept the injunctions given by the great acaryas, because that is the process of the Vedic system. One must approach a bona fide spiritual master and inquire from him submissively. The Absolute Truth is explained in the scriptures, and the scriptures are explained by the spiritual master or a saintly person. Whatever the bona fide, self-realized spiritual master says must be accepted.

There is no room for interpretation of the sastras. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that Krsna lifted Govardhana Hill just as a child lifts a mushroom. He did it so easily, but people do not believe it. Those who do not believe in the Bhagavatam interpret an indirect meaning. The meaning is clear, and there is nothing to be misunderstood, but these rascals draw their own conclusions nonetheless.

When the language is clear, why should we interpret? By interpretation, so-called scholars and theologians have played havoc with the Vedic literature. No bona fide acarya has ever interpreted the sastras according to his own whims, but many so-called modern scholars and leaders have done so, and therefore people are gliding down into the most abominable conditions of material existence. In the interest of the people, these rascals should be exposed. Therefore we are presenting the Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

The Degradation of Modern Society

Here the Srimad-Bhagavatam says that the brahmana Ajamila became attached to a prostitute and thus lost his brahminical qualifications. He was a young man of about twenty when this happened. Because of his illicit association with the prostitute, Ajamila was forced to live by begging, borrowing, stealing, and gambling.

These verses indicate how degraded one becomes simply by indulging in illicit sex with a prostitute. Illicit sex is not possible with chaste women, but only with unchaste women. The more society allows prostitution and illicit sex, the more impetus it gives to cheaters, thieves, plunderers, drunkards, and gamblers. Therefore we first advise all the disciples in our Krsna consciousness movement to avoid illicit sex, which is the beginning of all abominable life and which is followed by meat-eating, gambling, and intoxication, one after another. Of course, restraint is difficult, but it is quite possible if one fully surrenders to Krsna, since all abominable habits gradually become distasteful for a Krsna conscious person.

While in his time Ajamila was an exception, in the present age there are millions of Ajamilas. But if illicit sex is allowed to increase, the entire society will be condemned, for it will be full of rogues, thieves, cheaters, and so forth.

Therefore, if we actually want to improve the world situation, we have to take to Krsna consciousness, as that gives the best service to human society, both materially and spiritually. Whatever abominable characteristics we have developed, we have only to take to the process of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, in order to completely eradicate them. We have developed so many anarthas, or unwanted habits, the chief of which are meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling. But we can curb them by accepting the principles of bhakti-yoga as they are presented in the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Scarcely anyone knows these Vedic scriptures, and therefore no one heeds their instructions. People would rather read all kinds of books by all kinds of rascals, but the result of such books is to kill Krsna consciousness.

In illusion a person may think he can get rid of unwanted habits and be saved by some artificial, mystic meditation. And in fact at one time it was possible to attain liberation by practicing astanga-yoga, or eightfold yogic meditation. But at present almost no one can follow this process, and artificial attempts at yoga will not help us.

Therefore to help the fallen people of this Age of Kali, the Supreme Lord appeared five hundred years ago as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He knew that the people of this age would not even be able to follow the regulative principles, what to speak of practicing astanga-yoga. Therefore He gave the maha-mantra--Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare--so that we can gradually be elevated to the highest position of spiritual life. Other processes of purification or sacrifice cannot be followed in this age, because for the most part people are too degraded. But anyone may take to this process of chanting Hare Krsna. As it is said in the Brhan-naradiya Purana (3.8.126),

harer nama harer nama

harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva

nasty eva gatir anyatha

"In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." Chanting the holy name of the Lord is always superbly effective, but it is especially effective in this Age of Kali. Its practical effectiveness will now be explained by Sukadeva Gosvami through the history of Ajamila, who was freed from the hands of Yamaraja, the universal judge, simply because of chanting the holy name of Narayana.

The Dangers of Illicit Sex

To benefit fully from chanting the holy name of the Lord, one needs to chant offenselessly. And to guarantee offenseless chanting, some austerity is required. First of all, one should not indulge in illicit sex. Sex is one of the bodily needs, so it is sanctioned in the sastras to some degree: one is allowed to live peacefully with one's wife and have sex for begetting children. Other than to beget children, however, there is no need of indulging in sex. One who does not take the responsibility of family life but remains a bachelor and engages in illicit sex is considered irresponsible, and he will have to suffer the consequences.

Of course, one who thinks that family life is too big a responsibility can forgo it and thus avoid a lot of trouble. Family responsibility is very great; therefore if a man feels he cannot accept the responsibility, he should remain a brahmacari, a celibate student. A person who practices the science of brahmacarya under the care of a spiritual master automatically becomes seventy-five percent free from material entanglement.

Today, however, no one wants to undergo the austerities of brahmacarya. Everyone wants to remain unmarried but also engage in sex. In this way people are losing all good character. To maintain a woman who is nothing more than a prostitute and engage in illicit sex with her for producing children is sinful. Such children are unwanted (varna-sankara), and in this way society becomes degraded.

Ajamila became attracted to a prostitute, and with her he begot ten children. He became so degraded that he could not execute honest business to support his large family, and he was forced to beg, borrow, and steal to maintain them. If a person indulges in illicit sex, intoxication and gambling automatically follow. His expenses will be unlimited, and to meet all his expenses he will have to adopt methods of cheating and stealing. The basis for Ajamila's degradation was his illicit connection with the prostitute.

Therefore, in the practice of Krsna consciousness we do not allow any illicit sex. Devotees must either get married or remain celibate; this regulation is very effective for maintaining a high standard of purity.

Chapter 2

In Imitation Of the Original

Sukadeva Gosvami continued: My dear king, eighty-eight years of his life passed by while Ajamila thus spent his time in abominable, sinful activities to maintain his family of ten sons and the prostitute. The youngest child was a baby named Narayana, who was naturally very dear to his father and mother. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.23-24)

Parental Affection

Ajamila's sinfulness is shown by the fact that although he was eighty-eight years old, he had a very young child. According to Vedic culture, one should leave home as soon as he has reached fifty years of age; one should not live at home and go on producing children. Sex is allowed for twenty-five years, between the ages of twenty-five and fifty. After that one should give up the habit of sex and leave home as a vanaprastha and then properly take sannyasa. Ajamila, however, because of his association with a prostitute, lost all brahminical culture and became most sinful, even in his so-called household life.

Ajamila was a young man of twenty when he met the prostitute, and he begot ten children in her. When he was almost ninety years old, the time came when he was to die. At that time most of his children were grown up, so naturally the youngest child, Narayana, became his parents' favorite, and Ajamila was very much attached to him.

A baby's smile immediately attracts the father, mother, and relatives. When the child begins to talk, making sounds in broken language, it is very joyful for the parents. Unless this attraction is there, it is not possible to raise the child with affection. Parental affection is natural even among the animal species. In Kanpura, a monkey once came with her baby near the room where we were staying. The baby monkey entered the window through the bars, and the mother became very upset. She became mad with anxiety. Somehow or other we pushed the baby monkey out of the bars, and immediately the mother embraced the baby and took it away with her.

In human society, the affection between a mother and her child is very much eulogized, but as we see, this relationship is visible even among the animals. Therefore it is not an outstanding qualification; it is material nature's law. Unless the mother and child are affectionately connected, it is not possible for the child to grow up. Parental affection is natural and necessary, but it does not raise one to the spiritual platform.

The character of the debauchee Ajamila was abominable, but he was still very affectionate toward his youngest child. Although Ajamila was nearly ninety, he was still enjoying the child's playful pastimes, just as Maharaja Nanda and mother Yasoda enjoyed the childhood pastimes of Lord Krsna.

Spiritual Affection and Variety

Parental affection in this material world is a perverted reflection of parental affection in the spiritual world, where it is found in its pure, original form. Everything originates with the transcendental reality. As stated in the Vedanta-sutra (1.1.2), janmady asya yatah: "The Supreme Absolute Truth is that from which everything emanates." If the affection between a child and his parents did not exist in the Absolute Truth, it could not exist in the material world.

Since the Absolute Truth is the source of everything, whatever varieties we see here in this material world are simply reflections of the varieties in the spiritual world. If the Absolute Truth were without variety, then where have all these varieties come from? No, the Absolute Truth is not impersonal (nirakara) or without variety (nirvisesa).

Still, some persons, called Mayavadis, are so disappointed and frustrated with the imperfect varieties of this material world that they imagine the spiritual world to be impersonal and without variety. These impersonalists realize that they are Brahman, or spirit, but they do not know that there are innumerable planets in the brahmajyoti, or spiritual atmosphere. They think that the brahmajyoti itself is all-in-all. The impersonalists have no information of the Vaikuntha planets, and due to their imperfect knowledge they again come down to these material planets. As said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.2.32):

ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninas

tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayah

aruhya-krchhrena param padam tatah

patanty adho 'nadrta yusmad anghrayah

"Although impersonalists are almost liberated, still, on account of their negligence of the lotus feet of Krsna, their intelligence is not yet purified. Thus despite performing severe austerities to rise up to the platform of Brahman, they must fall down again to this material world."

Spiritual Form and Spiritual Pastimes

The impersonalist philosophers cannot differentiate between activities in the material world and similar activities in the spiritual world. Nor do they differentiate between the material form and God's form. They are convinced that the impersonal brahmajyoti, the spiritual effulgence emanating from the Lord's body, is the Supreme Absolute Truth. The Mayavadis mistakenly assume that when God appears He accepts a material body, just as we have taken this material form in the material world. That kind of thinking is impersonalism, or Mayavada philosophy.

God has a form, but not a material form like ours. His form is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, a spiritual form full of eternity, bliss, and knowledge. Anyone who understands the transcendental nature of Krsna's form achieves perfection. This Krsna confirms in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9):

janma karma ca me divyam

evam yo vetti tattvatah

tyaktva deham punar janma

naiti mam eti so 'rjuna

"When I come, I do not accept a material body; My birth and activities are completely spiritual. And anyone who perfectly understands this is liberated." When Krsna displayed Himself as the perfect child before mother Yasoda, He would break everything when she did not supply Him with butter--as if He were in need of butter! So God can display Himself exactly like an ordinary human being, yet He remains the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Impersonalists cannot know God because they see Him as an ordinary man. This is rascaldom, as Krsna declares in the Bhagavad-gita (9.11): avajananti mam mudhah. "Only rascals accept Me as an ordinary human being." The Maya-vadis say, "Oh, here is a child. How can He be God?" Even Brahma and Indra became bewildered. They thought, "How can this boy be the Supreme Lord? Let me test Him."

Sometimes a so-called incarnation of God declares, "I am God." He should be tested to determine whether or not he is actually God. The Mayavadis are claiming, "I am God, I am Krsna, I am Rama." Everyone becomes "Krsna," everyone becomes "Rama," yet people do not challenge their claims: "If you are Rama, exhibit your supreme potency! Rama constructed a bridge over the Indian Ocean. What have you done? At the age of seven, Krsna lifted Govardhana Hill. What have you done?" When they are challenged by Krsna's pastimes, these rascals say, "It is all fiction; it is all legend." Therefore people accept an ordinary person as Rama or Krsna. This nonsense is going on, and both those who declare themselves to be God and those who accept them as God will have to suffer for it. Anyone can claim to be God, and any foolish person can accept, but no one will benefit by serving a false God.

Once Lord Brahma thought that Krsna might also be such a false God. He observed that a mere boy in Vrndavana, India, was accepted as the Supreme Lord and that He was performing extraordinary activities. So Brahma decided to make a test. He took away all of Krsna's calves and playmates and hid them. When Brahma returned to Vrndavana after one year and saw the same calves and playmates still there, he could understand that Krsna had expanded Himself by His unlimited potency into so many calves and boys. The boys' own mothers could not detect that their sons were Krsna's expansions, though the mothers could not explain why every evening when their boys returned home from the fields, their affection for them increased more and more. Finally, Brahma surrendered to Krsna, composing very nice prayers in glorification of the Lord.

Similarly, Indra became bewildered when Krsna told His father, Nanda Maharaja, "There is no need of performing sacrifices to Indra, because he is under the order of the Supreme Lord." Krsna did not say to Nanda Maharaja, "I am the Supreme Lord," but He said, "Indra is under the order of the Supreme Lord; therefore he has to supply you with water. So there is no need of performing this yajna [sacrifice] to him."

When the sacrifice to Indra was stopped, he became furious and tried to punish the inhabitants of Vrndavana by sending incessant torrents of rain for seven days. Vrndavana was nearly drowned in water--so great was the downpour. But Krsna, a child of about seven years, immediately lifted Govardhana Hill and invited all the residents of Vrndavana, together with their animals, to take shelter underneath the hill. Krsna held up the hill for seven days and nights without taking any food or rest, just to protect the residents of Vrndavana. Thus Indra understood that Krsna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In this way the Srimad-Bhagavatam warns that if even great personalities like Brahma and Indra can sometimes become bewildered by maya, the external manifestation of Krsna's energy, then what to speak of us.

So, God sometimes displays Himself as God and sometimes as a human being, but the rascal impersonalists dismiss His pastimes as legend or mythology. Either they do not believe in the sastras or they interpret them in their own way, using ardha-kukkuti-nyaya, "the logic of half a hen." Once a man kept a hen that delivered a golden egg every day. The foolish man thought, "It is very profitable, but it is expensive to feed this hen. Better that I cut off her head and save the expense of feeding her. Then I will get the egg without any charge." The impersonalists accept the sastras in this way. They think, "Oh, this is not good; it is inconvenient. We shall cut this portion out." When Krsna says, "One should see Me everywhere," the rascal Mayavadis think it is very palatable, but when He says, "Give up everything and surrender to Me," they disagree. They accept what is convenient and reject what is not. But the acaryas do not distort the sastras in this way. When Krsna spoke the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna said, "I accept whatever You have said."

The Absolute Truth Full of Knowledge

The Vedanta-sutra is accepted as the supreme authority of all Vedic literature. And the Vedanta-sutra (1.1.2) says, janmady asya yatah: "The Absolute Truth is the original source of everything." Janma means "birth." There is no question of interpretation; the meaning is clear. Everything in this material world comes out of the Absolute Truth, just as this body comes out of the womb of our mother. Janmady asya yatah: "Beginning from birth up to the annihilation, everything is an emanation from the Absolute Truth." The Absolute Truth is that which is the source of everything, the reservoir of everything, and the maintainer of everything.

What are the characteristics of the original source? The Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.1) says, janmady asya yato 'nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat: The original source of everything must be supremely cognizant of everything, both directly and indirectly. He is the supreme spirit, and He knows everything because He is perfect. We are also spirit--spiritual sparks--and as soon as a spiritual spark takes shelter in the womb of a mother, it develops a body. That means that the spiritual spark is the source of the body and all its mechanisms. Although it is by our energy that this body is produced, we do not know how our veins are created or how our bones are created. And because we do not know, we are not God. But Krsna knows. This is the characteristic of the Absolute Truth: He knows everything. Krsna confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita (7.26): "I know everything that has happened in the past, everything that is happening now, and everything that will happen in the future."

We become cognizant of the Absolute Truth by accepting knowledge from a spiritual master, but how has Krsna become perfectly cognizant? How is Krsna's knowledge so perfect? Because He is fully independent (svarat). He does not have to learn anything from anyone. Some rascal may try to realize himself as God by taking knowledge from a Mayavadi, but Krsna is God without taking knowledge from anyone. That is God.

Chapter 3

At the Final Hour

Sukadeva Gosvami continued: Because of the child's broken language and awkward movements, old Ajamila was very much attached to him. He always took care of the child and enjoyed his activities. When Ajamila chewed food and ate it, he called the child to chew and eat, and when he drank he called the child to drink also. Always engaged in taking care of the child and calling his name, Narayana, Ajamila could not understand that his own time was now exhausted and that death was upon him.

When the time of death arrived for the foolish Ajamila, he began thinking exclusively of his son Narayana. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.25-27)

A Child's Name

Here it is clearly mentioned that the child Narayana was so young that he could not even speak or walk properly. Since the old man was very attached to the child, he enjoyed the child's activities, and because the child's name was Narayana, the old man always chanted the holy name of Narayana. Although Ajamila was referring to the small child and not to the original Narayana, the name of Narayana is so powerful that even by chanting his son's name he was becoming purified. Srila Rupa Gosvami has therefore declared that if one's mind is somehow or other attracted by the holy name of Krsna (tasmat kenapy upayena manah krsne nivesayet), one is on the path of liberation. In India even today parents often give their children names of God, such as Krsna, Govinda, or Narayana. Thus the parents chant the names Krsna, Govinda, or Narayana and get the chance to be purified.

At the time of death, Ajamila was chanting the name of Narayana in connection with his youngest child. Since Ajamila was the son of a brahmana, he had been accustomed to worshiping Narayana in his youth, because in every brahmana's house there is worship of Narayana. Therefore, although the contaminated Ajamila was calling for his son, by concentrating his mind on the holy name of Narayana he remembered the Narayana he had very faithfully worshiped in his youth.

The value of remembering Narayana at the time of death is explained in the Second Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.1.6):

etavan sankhya-yogabhyam

svadharma-parinisthaya

janma-labhah parah pumsam

ante narayana-smrtih

"The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by acquirement of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of one's occupational duty, is to remember Narayana, the Personality of Godhead, at the end of life."

Somehow or other, therefore, Ajamila consciously or unconsciously chanted the name of Narayana at the time of death and became all-perfect.

Death, a Critical Time of Life

As mentioned above, one's mentality at the time of death is all-important. But if we become complacent and think, "Oh, death takes place--what of it?" then we cannot advance on the spiritual path. Just as the air carries fragrances, so a person's mentality at the time of death will carry him to his next life. If he has cultivated the mentality of a Vaisnava, a pure devotee of Krsna, then he will immediately be transferred to Vaikuntha. But if he has cultivated the mentality of an ordinary karmi, a fruitive worker, then he will have to stay in this material world to suffer the consequences of the kind of mentality he has thus created.

Suppose I am a businessman. If I simply do business up till the point of death, naturally my mentality will be business. One Calcutta businessman at the time of death asked about the management of his mill. He might have taken his next birth as a rat in his mill. This is possible. At the time of death, whatever you are thinking will carry you to your next body. Krsna is very kind, and whatever mentality one is absorbed in at the time of death, Krsna will provide an appropriate body: "All right, you are thinking like a rat? Become a rat." "You are thinking like a tiger? Become a tiger." "You are thinking like My devotee? Come to Me."

By chanting Hare Krsna, we can mold our thoughts so that we are always thinking of Krsna. As Krsna recommends in the Bhagavad-gita (6.47), yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantaratmana: "The first-class yogi is he who always thinks of Me within his heart." The Krsna consciousness movement is especially meant for helping the members of human society come to this state of full Krsna consciousness. Then at the end of life one will simply remember Krsna. Whatever you practice throughout your life will determine your consciousness at death. That is natural.

One who properly prepares for the time of death is really intelligent, while one who thinks he can remain at home forever and enjoy the association of his wife and children is a fool. In illusion a man thinks, "My bank balance, my nice house, and my family will protect me." But these cannot protect anyone. The Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.1.4) declares,

dehapatya-kalatradisv

atma-sainyesv asatsv api

tesam pramatto nidhanam

pasyann api na pasyati

"One who is mad thinks, 'My strong body, my grown-up children, my good wife, and my bank balance will save me.' " We are simply struggling in this material world like soldiers fighting on a battlefield. Our soldiers are our children, our wife, our bank balance, our countrymen, etc. The Srimad-Bhagavatam warns us not to take shelter of such fallible soldiers. Even though a man has seen that his father and grandfather, who were once living, are existing no more, he does not see that likewise everyone, including himself, will be destroyed. How can he protect his son? How can his son protect him? These questions do not arise for the materialist who is simply engrossed in the animal propensities of eating, sleeping, defending, and mating.

Chapter 4

Neither Birth Nor Death

Sukadeva Gosvami continued: Ajamila then saw three awkward persons with deformed bodily features, fierce, twisted faces, and hair standing erect on their bodies. With ropes in their hands, they had come to take him away to the abode of Yamaraja. When he saw them he was extremely bewildered, and because of attachment to his child, who was playing nearby, Ajamila began to call him loudly by his name. Thus with tears in his eyes he somehow or other chanted the holy name of Narayana. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.28-29)

Anxious to Save Themselves from Death

At the time of death people become very anxious to save themselves, especially those who have been sinful. Of course, the soul itself is not subject to death (na hanyate hanyamane sarire), but leaving the present body and entering into another body is very painful. At death the living entity can no longer bear to remain in his present body--the pain is so acute. Sometimes when a person's life becomes too painful he commits suicide. But suicide is a sin punishable by the laws of karma.

When Ajamila was dying, he saw three ferocious and very frightening persons with ropes in their hands, unruly hair on their heads, and bodily hair like bristles. These assistants of Yamaraja, the Yamadutas, had come to drag Ajamila out of his body and take him to the court of Yamaraja. Sometimes a dying man cries out in fear when he sees the Yamadutas. Ajamila, too, became very fearful.

Fortunately, even though Ajamila was referring to his son, he chanted the holy name of Narayana, and therefore the order-carriers of Narayana, the Visnudutas, also immediately arrived there. Because Ajamila was extremely afraid of the ropes of Yamaraja, he chanted the Lord's name with tearful eyes. Actually, however, he never meant to chant the holy name of Narayana; he meant to call his son.

The Appearance and Disappearance Of Krsna and His Devotees

One may ask, "The devotees die, and the nondevotees also die. What is the difference?" It is like this: The mother cat may catch a rat and carry it in her mouth, and she also carries her kittens in her mouth. It is the same mouth, but the kittens are comfortable and safe, whereas the rat is feeling the jaws of death. Similarly, at the time of death the devotees are transferred to the spiritual realm, Vaikuntha, whereas the ordinary sinful man is dragged down to the hellish regions by the Yamadutas, the constables of Yama-raja. This was apparently to be Ajamila's fate.

In the Bhagavad-gita (4.9) Krsna says, janma karma ca me divyam: "My appearance and disappearance are spiritual, transcendental; they are not ordinary." Why does Krsna appear in this world? That He explains in the previous verse (Bg. 4.8):

paritranaya sadhunam

vinasaya ca duskrtam

dharma-samsthapanarthaya

sambhavami yuge yuge

"To deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I appear millennium after millennium." God's only business is to protect the faithful devotees and to kill the demoniac. Therefore we find Lord Visnu pictured with His weapons, the club and cakra (disc), for protecting the devotees, and the lotus flower and conch for their benediction.

Similarly transcendental are the appearance and disappearance of Krsna's devotees who are sent to this material world to preach the glories of the Lord. According to the principles of Vaisnavism, both the appearance and the disappearance of such Vaisnavas, or devotees of Visnu (Krsna), are all-auspicious. Therefore we hold festivals in their honor on the anniversaries of both days.

Actually, even ordinary living entities never take birth or die, what to speak of Krsna and His devotees. Sometimes atheistic men say God is dead. They do not know that even the smallest living entity does not die. So how can God be dead? Atheists are described in the Bhagavad-gita as mudhas, or foolish rascals. They have no knowledge but pose themselves as learned men and mutter something that is good neither for them nor the public.

Liberation via Thinking of Krsna

Because somehow or other Ajamila became absorbed in thinking of Narayana, or Krsna, at the time of death, he immediately became eligible for liberation, even though he had acted sinfully throughout his entire life. One can think of Krsna in any capacity. The gopis, Krsna's cowherd girlfriends, were absorbed in thinking of Krsna out of what appeared to be lusty desire, Sisupala became absorbed in thinking of Krsna out of anger, and Kamsa incessantly thought of Krsna out of fear. Kamsa and Sisupala were demons, but because they thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead throughout their lives and at the time of death, they were granted liberation by Krsna Himself.

Of course, it is best if one thinks of Krsna favorably. Bhakti, or devotional service, means thinking favorably of Krsna. Sisupala and Kamsa were not devotees, because the word devotee implies someone who is favorably disposed toward Krsna. Thinking of Krsna in the opposite way, however, is also accepted by Krsna. Krsna is so kind that anyone who thinks of Him always, even as an enemy, becomes the greatest yogi and attains liberation. Thus the results of yogic performances and austerities were achieved even by such inimical personalities as Kamsa and Sisupala. In the impersonal Brahman effulgence (brahmajyoti) we find not only the highest learned scholars (jnanis), who have struggled to attain Brahman, but also those persons who constantly think of Krsna in enmity. They also enter into that spiritual effulgence. Thus the destination achieved by the jnanis is also achieved by the enemies of Krsna. This, however, is not very desirable.

A living entity can remain for some time in the Brahman effulgence (brahmajyoti) as a tiny shining spiritual particle. As there are many molecular particles of sunshine, similarly the living entities can live as small particles of spiritual effulgence in the brahmajyoti. But they are subject to fall down into this material creation again. By nature the living entities want varieties of sense enjoyment, but in that impersonal existence there are no varieties of enjoyment. So when they desire to enjoy, they have to come again to this material world. Therefore, if one merges into the Brahman effulgence, there is every chance of falling down.

Krsna's devotees do not desire liberation, because their only interest is to be engaged in devotional service to Krsna, whether in the material world or in the spiritual world. Still, by the mercy of Krsna, they attain liberation by being elevated to the planet of Goloka Vrndavana, the residence of Krsna, where the material miseries of birth, death, old age, and disease are conspicuous by their absence. Thus a devotee's position is different from that of the impersonalists and jnanis. The devotee's position is very exalted. He also passes through the Brahman effulgence, but he is not attracted to it. He is attracted to the Vaikuntha planets, especially Goloka Vrndavana, where the Supreme Personality of Godhead lives eternally with His associates.

Chapter 5

The Visnudutas To the Rescue

Sukadeva Gosvami continued: My dear king, the order-carriers of Visnu, the Visnudutas, immediately arrived when they heard the holy name of their master from the mouth of the dying Ajamila, who had certainly chanted without offense because he had chanted in complete anxiety. The order-carriers of Yamaraja were snatching the soul from the core of Ajamila's heart, but with resounding voices the Visnudutas forbade them to do so. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.30-31)

The Messengers Dispatched by the Lord

The Yamadutas, who are the assistants of Yamaraja, the superintendent of death, had come to drag Ajamila away. Ajamila appealed to his youngest son, Narayana: "Narayana, please come here! I'm dying!" Krsna is so kind that as soon as He heard Ajamila chant "Narayana!" at the time of his death, He immediately dispatched His assistants, the Visnudutas, to give Ajamila shelter.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura remarks that the Visnudutas came because they heard Ajamila chant the holy name of their master, Narayana, without considering why he was chanting. While chanting the name of Narayana, Ajamila was actually thinking of his son, but simply because they heard Ajamila chant the Lord's name, the Visnudutas immediately came for Ajamila's protection. Chanting of the Lord's holy name is actually meant for His glorification. Ajamila, however, did not glorify the Lord: he simply chanted the holy name of Narayana because of his excessive attachment to his son. Nevertheless, because of his past good fortune in having rendered devotional service to Narayana in his youth, he apparently chanted the holy name in full devotional service and without offense. Thus that chanting was sufficient to cleanse him of all sinful reactions and assure him the protection of the Visnudutas.

The name Narayana has the full potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead--Narayana, or Krsna. That is the secret of nama-sankirtana, chanting the names of God. By chanting the holy name of Krsna, we make immediate contact with Krsna Himself. The reason for this is that the Lord's name is not material: it is spiritual and absolute. Thus there is no difference between Krsna and His name.

Snatching the Soul

When the Visnudutas arrived, they spoke to the Yamadutas with extreme gravity: "What are you doing? Stop! You cannot take this man to Yamaraja!"

A Vaisnava, one who has surrendered to the lotus feet of Lord Visnu, is always protected by Lord Visnu's order-carriers. Because Ajamila had chanted the holy name of Narayana, the Visnudutas not only immediately arrived on the spot but also at once ordered the Yamadutas not to touch him. By speaking with resounding voices, the Visnudutas threatened to punish the Yamadutas if they continued trying to snatch Ajamila's soul from his heart. The order-carriers of Yamaraja have jurisdiction over all sinful living entities, but the messengers of Lord Visnu are capable of punishing anyone, including Yamaraja, if he wrongs a Vaisnava.

Modern scientists do not know where to find the soul within the body with their material instruments, but here the Srimad-Bhagavatam clearly explains that the soul is within the core of the heart (hrdaya); it is from the heart that the Yamadutas were trying to extract the soul of Ajamila. The heart is part of the mechanical arrangement of the body. As the Lord says in the Bhagavad-gita (18.61):

isvarah sarva-bhutanam

hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati

bhramayan sarva-bhutani

yantrarudhani mayaya

"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine made of the material energy." Yantra means "machine," such as an automobile. The driver of the machine of the body is the individual soul, who is also its director or proprietor, but the supreme director and proprietor is the Personality of Godhead in His form as the Supersoul.

One's body is created through the agency of maya according to one's activities in one's past life; and according to one's activities in this life, maya creates another body for the next life. At the appropriate time, one's next body is immediately chosen, and both the individual soul and the Supersoul transfer to that particular bodily machine. This is the process of transmigration of the soul.

During transmigration from one body to the next, the sinful soul is taken away by the order-carriers of Yamaraja and put into a particular type of hellish life in order to become accustomed to the condition in which he will live in his next body.

Chapter 6

The Residents Of the Spiritual Sky

Sukadeva Gosvami continued: When the order-carriers of Yamaraja, the son of the sun-god, were thus forbidden, they replied, "Who are you, sirs, that have the audacity to challenge the jurisdiction of Yamaraja? Whose servants are you, where have you come from, and why are you forbidding us to touch the body of Ajamila? Are you demigods from the heavenly planets, are you sub-demigods, or are you the best of devotees? Your eyes are just like the petals of lotus flowers. Dressed in yellow silken garments, decorated with garlands of lotuses, and wearing very attractive helmets on your heads and earrings on your ears, you all appear fresh and youthful. Your four long arms are decorated with bows and quivers of arrows and with swords, clubs, conchshells, discs, and lotus flowers. Your effulgence has dissipated the darkness here with extraordinary illumination. Now, sirs, why are you obstructing us?" (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.32-36)

Divine Interference

The sins Ajamila had committed placed him within the jurisdiction of Yamaraja, the supreme judge appointed to consider the sins of the living entities. When forbidden to touch Ajamila, the order-carriers of Yamaraja were surprised, because within all the three worlds no one had ever before hindered them in the execution of their duty.

The Visnudutas were coming from Vaikuntha, and they appeared extraordinary, each with four arms. The servants of Yamaraja immediately received them with respect. They had no idea which planet the Visnudutas had come from, so they simply suggested, "You must have come from a very exalted planet, but why are you interfering with our business? We are Yamadutas. It is our duty to arrest every sinful man, and Ajamila has committed misdeeds throughout his life. Now, at the end of his life, we are authorized to take him to Yamaraja, the son of Vivasvan, the sun-god, so why are you preventing us?"

The most significant word used in verse 32 is siddha-sattamah, which means "the best of the perfect." In the Bhagavad-gita (7.3) it is said, manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye: out of millions of persons, one may try to become siddha, perfect--or, in other words, self-realized. A self-realized person knows that he is not the body but a spiritual soul (aham brahmasmi). At present almost no one is aware of this fact, but one who understands this has attained perfection and is therefore called siddha. When one understands that the soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Soul and one thus engages in the devotional service of the Supreme Soul, one becomes siddha-sattama. One is then eligible to live in Vaikuntha or Krsnaloka. The word siddha-sattama, therefore, refers to a pure devotee of the Lord.

Since the Yamadutas are servants of Yamaraja, who is also one of the siddha-sattamas, they knew that a siddha-sattama is above the demigods and sub-demigods and, indeed, above all the living entities within this material world. The Yamadutas therefore inquired why the Visnudutas were preventing them from carrying out the orders of such an exalted soul as Yamaraja.

It should also be noted that Ajamila was not yet dead, for the Yamadutas had been stopped before they could snatch the soul from his heart. Ajamila was simply on the verge of death as the argument progressed between the Yamadutas and the Visnudutas. The conclusion of that argument was to be a decision regarding who would claim the soul of Ajamila.

Spiritual Beauty

The Visnudutas exactly resembled Lord Visnu. The Yamadutas had never seen them before, because the Yamadutas stay in an atmosphere where only sinful activities are executed. Therefore they were astonished at the presence of these beautiful personalities and said, "By your bodily features you appear to be very exalted gentlemen, and you have such celestial power that you have dissipated the darkness of this material world with your effulgence. Why then should you endeavor to stop us from executing our duty?" It will be explained that the Yamadutas, the order-carriers of Yamaraja, mistakenly considered Ajamila sinful. They did not know that although he was sinful throughout his entire life, he was purified by constantly chanting the holy name of Narayana.

The Visnudutas were so effulgent because they were residents of the spiritual world, where everyone and everything is self-effulgent. As Lord Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (15.6), na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah: "My abode is not illuminated by the sun, the moon, fire, or electricity." The Yamadutas did not know where the Visnudutas had come from, but they could see that the Visnudutas were not ordinary, since they were so effulgent, they had four arms, and they were extremely beautiful.

The dress and bodily features of the residents of Vaikuntha are accurately described in these verses. The residents of Vaikuntha, who are decorated with garlands and yellow silken garments, have four arms holding a disc, flower, club, and conchshell. Thus they exactly resemble Lord Visnu--except for one very prominent feature: the Kaustubha jewel, which the Lord wears on His chest. The residents of Vaikuntha have the same bodily features as Narayana because they have attained the liberation of sarupya, but they nevertheless act as servants. All the residents of Vaikunthaloka know perfectly well that their master is Narayana, or Krsna, and that they are all His servants. They are all self-realized souls who are nitya-mukta, everlastingly liberated. Although they could conceivably declare themselves Narayana, they never do so; they always remain Krsna conscious and serve the Lord faithfully. Such is the atmosphere of Vaikunthaloka. Similarly, one who learns the faithful service of Lord Krsna through the Krsna consciousness movement will always remain in Vaikunthaloka and have nothing to do with the material world.

Beyond the Material World

In our conditioned state, we cannot know about the spiritual world. But the spiritual world exists. As Lord Krsna states in the Bhagavad-gita (8.20), paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo: "Besides this inferior, material nature there is another, superior nature." This material nature is one nature, comprised of millions and trillions of universes clustered together in one corner of the spiritual sky. We cannot even measure the sky covered by this one universe, within which there are innumerable planets; yet there are millions and trillions of universes in the entire material creation. And the entire material creation is only one fourth of existence. In other words, this whole material world is existing in one fourth of Krsna's energy. The other three fourths comprise the spiritual sky. Unfortunate persons think that this planet is all in all, but this is frog philosophy. A frog in a well cannot understand anything beyond the well, and he measures everything in terms of his well. When he is told about the ocean, he cannot imagine it. Similarly, persons with such a frog's mentality imagine, "God is like this," or "God's kingdom is like that," or "I am God," or "There is no God." But this is all foolishness.

Chapter 7

Authorized Discrimination

Sukadeva Gosvami continued: Being thus addressed by the messengers of Yamaraja, the servants of Vasudeva smiled and spoke the following words in voices as deep as the sound of rumbling clouds: "If you are actually servants of Yamaraja, you must explain to us the meaning of religious principles and the symptoms of irreligion. What is the process of punishing others? Who are the actual candidates for punishment? Are all persons engaged in fruitive activities punishable, or only some of them?" (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.37-39)

What the Representatives of Dharma Should Know

The Yamadutas protested to the Visnudutas, "You are so exalted that it is not very good for you to interfere with our business." The Yamadutas were surprised to see that the Visnudutas, although exalted souls, were hindering the rule of Yamaraja. Similarly, the Visnudutas were also surprised that the Yamadutas, although claiming to be servants of Yamaraja, the supreme judge of religious principles, were unaware of the principles of religion. Thus the Visnudutas smiled, thinking, "What is this nonsense they are speaking? If they are actually servants of Yamaraja, they should know that Ajamila is not a suitable candidate for them to carry off."

The Visnudutas began to speak in grave voices: "You claim to be the representatives of Dharmaraja [Yamaraja], the superintendent of death and the maintainer of religion, and you accuse us of interfering in your business, which he has entrusted to you. Therefore would you kindly explain what is dharma, or religion, and what is adharma, or irreligion? If you are actually representatives of Yamaraja, then you can answer this question."

This inquiry put by the Visnudutas to the Yamadutas is most important. A servant must know the instructions of his master. The servants of Yamaraja claimed to be carrying out his orders, and therefore the Visnudutas very intelligently asked them to explain religious and irreligious principles. A Vaisnava knows these principles perfectly well because he is well acquainted with the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: "Give up all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me." Therefore surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the actual principle of religion. Those who have surrendered to the demands of material nature instead of to Krsna are all impious, regardless of their material position. Unaware of the principles of religion, they do not surrender to Krsna, and therefore they are considered sinful rascals, the lowest of men, and fools bereft of all knowledge. As Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (7.15):

na mam duskrtino mudhah

prapadyante naradhamah

mayayapahrta-jnana

asuram bhavam asritah

"Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are the lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me."

The question posed by the Visnudutas was very suitable. One who represents someone else must fully know that person's mission. The devotees in the Krsna consciousness movement must therefore be fully aware of the mission of Krsna and Lord Caitanya and the philosophy of Krsna consciousness; otherwise they will be considered foolish.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said, yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya: "One must know Krsna--then he can become a guru." Not just anyone can become a guru. Thus the Visnudutas challenged the Yamadutas: "If you are truly representatives of Dharmaraja, then you must explain what is religion and what is irreligion." That should be the criterion for determining who is actually representative of religion. It is not that everyone should be accepted as religious or as a guru. Widespread ignorance has given rise to many persons calling themselves God, representing so much nonsense in the name of dharma. When someone says, "I am God," or "I have become God by mystic yoga," one should challenge him. In America a man claimed, "I am God, everyone is God," and thus gathered disciples. One day he was suffering from a toothache, and I asked him, "What kind of God are you that you are suffering so much from a toothache?" Only a lunatic or a cheater claims, "I am God."

Officers of Law Enforcement

One who has the power to punish others should not punish everyone. There are innumerable living entities, most of whom are in the spiritual world and are nitya-mukta, everlastingly liberated. There is no question of judging these liberated living beings. Only a small fraction of the living entities, perhaps one fourth, are in the material world. And the major portion of the living entities in the material world--8,000,000 of the 8,400,000 forms of life--are lower than human beings. They are not punishable, for under the laws of material nature they are automatically evolving. Human beings, who are advanced in consciousness, are responsible for their actions, but not all humans are punishable. Those engaged in advanced pious activities are beyond punishment. Only those who engage in sinful activities are punishable. Therefore the Visnudutas particularly inquired about the criteria Yamaraja uses to determine who is punishable and who is not. How is one to be judged? What is the basic principle of authority? These are the questions raised by the Visnudutas.

The Yamadutas felt that they were faultless because they were following the orders of Yamaraja, who himself is faultless. Just because a magistrate has to direct the punishment of those who transgress the law does not mean the magistrate is a criminal. He is a representative of the government. Similarly, although Yamaraja has jurisdiction over the regions of hell and deals with all sinful persons, he is a pure representative of Krsna and simply executes the order of his master.

A police constable is supposed to know the law and whom to arrest for breaking the law. If he arrests anyone and everyone, then he himself is a criminal. He may not arrest the law-abiding citizens. Similarly, the Yamadutas cannot take away just anyone and everyone to the court of Yamaraja. They can take only the nondevotees to be punished for their sinful acts. Yamaraja has especially cautioned the Yamadutas not to approach Vaisnavas.

However, because Ajamila had been very sinful, the Yamadutas could not understand why he should not be considered a criminal and be brought to Yamaraja for punishment.

Devotees and Demons

There are two classes of people in this material world: those who are servants of God, called devas or suras, and those who are servants of maya (illusion), called asuras.

In the spiritual world, however, there is only one class, because the inhabitants are all servants of God. Therefore the spiritual world is called absolute. There is no disagreement in the spiritual world, as the center is Krsna, or God, and everyone there is engaged in His service out of love, not as a paid servant. A paid servant will serve in proportion to the money he receives, but in Vaikuntha there is no question of being a paid servant. Everyone is liberated, and everyone is as opulent as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but everyone is still a servant. In the material world people serve out of need, but in the spiritual world everyone serves out of love. There is no need for anything, because everything there is complete. The Brahma-samhita says that in the spiritual world there are kalpa-vrksa, or desire trees, from which one can get anything he desires.

In the material world, service is forced upon everyone. If someone does not render service, he will starve. Even a king has to work, what to speak of the poor man. Under the direction of the Supreme Lord, the material energy makes everyone into a dancing dog. The master says, "Please dance," and the dog dances, because he knows that unless he performs, he will starve.

Whether in the material world or the spiritual world, everyone is a servant, but here people are under the impression that they are masters. The head of the family thinks, "I am the master of my wife and children." But in fact he is serving each and every member of his family. The state executive officer thinks, "I am the king" or "I am the president," but actually he is the servant of the citizens. Servitude is his position, and unless he serves the citizens according to their expectations, he will be deposed or fail to win reelection.

In the material world everyone is trying to become master of all he surveys, and thus there is competition on every level--between self-acclaimed "Gods," between heads of state, even between friends and family members. In this illusory competition to be master, everyone fails. Mahatma Gandhi was respected as the father of India, but after all he was just a servant, and when one man didn't like his service, Gandhi was killed. Similarly, President Kennedy was a very popular president, but somebody saw some discrepancy in his service, and he was also killed. No one is really the master here. Everyone is either a servant of maya (illusion) or a servant of God.

Everyone has to obey the government laws. Under the spell of illusion, however, the criminal thinks, "I do not accept the government laws." Yet when he is caught he is forced to obey the government laws in the prison house. He has no choice. Similarly, we are all servants of God, but the demoniac class of men (asuras) do not care about God and God's laws. These rascals think that there is no God, or that everyone is God, or that they themselves are God. But such "Gods" must also follow the laws of God in the form of birth, death, disease, and old age.

Only persons who are totally illusioned refuse to serve God. Instead of voluntarily rendering service to God, they are the slaves of maya, the illusory energy of God. A person who is haunted by ghosts speaks all kinds of nonsense. Similarly, when a living entity is haunted by maya, or engrossed by the illusory effects of the material nature, he also talks foolish nonsense, and the most foolish talk is to claim that he is God.

Among the two classes of men--the divine (devas) and the demoniac (asuras)--there is an ongoing struggle. The asuras are always rebelling against God, and the devas are always surrendering to God. In the story of Prahlada Maharaja, we see that even among family members there are devas and asuras. Prahlada Maharaja's father, Hiranyakasipu, was an asura, whereas Prahlada Maharaja was a deva. Naturally a father is affectionate toward his child, but because Hiranyakasipu was a demon, he became the enemy of his son. That is the nature of demons.

Of course, even a tiger has affection for her cubs, and so at first Hiranyakasipu showed affection for Prahlada Maharaja, who was a very well mannered and attractive child at five years old. One day Hiranyakasipu asked his son, "My dear boy, what is the best thing you have learned in school? Tell me."

Prahlada Maharaja replied, "One should sacrifice everything to realize God. This human form of life is the best opportunity we have for making spiritual progress, and it must be utilized for realizing God."

Hiranyakasipu angrily inquired from his son's teachers, "Why have you taught all this nonsense to my boy?"

They fearfully answered, "Sir, we did not teach these things to this boy. He is naturally inclined toward God, so what can we do? As soon as he gets the opportunity, he begins to teach God consciousness to the other boys in the class." In the absence of his teachers, Prahlada Maharaja would immediately stand up on the bench and address his friends, "My dear boys, this life is not for enjoying sense gratification. It is for realizing God. Do not forget this."

Similarly, we have taken up this preaching mission because people in general are interested only in immediate sense gratification, which is not good for them. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.4) Lord Rsabhadeva says, nunam pramattah kurute vikarma yad indriya-pritaya aprnoti: "Simply for sense gratification people are committing so many sinful activities. They are just like madmen." A madman does not know what he is doing. Materialistic persons are so much engrossed in their pursuit of sense gratification that they have become maddened and commit all kinds of sins.

Lord Rsabhadeva says that the materialistic way of life is very risky. For those who indulge in sense gratification, Krsna gives the facility, forcing them to take birth again in the material atmosphere. A monkey has very good facility for enjoying sex. In some ways a monkey is renounced: he lives naked in the forest, he eats only fruit. But his nature is that he must have at least three dozen wives for sex enjoyment. So-called renunciants who wear the cloth of a sadhu but secretly enjoy illicit sex with women are just like monkeys. This is demoniac.

Demons, or asuras, do not believe in God and act according to their own whims. In the Bhagavad-gita (7.15), Krsna describes them as follows:

na mam duskrtino mudhah

prapadyante naradhamah

mayayapahrta-jnana

asuram bhavam asritah

"Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me." Here Krsna clearly states, asuram bhavam asritah: because the demons have taken shelter of atheistic philosophy, they are the lowest of mankind despite their advancement of education, science, and politics. Someone might object, "How can you call an atheistic gentleman with a university degree a demon? He is so educated and highly qualified." The verdict of the sastra is that although he appears to be very learned, his actual knowledge has been stolen away by maya on account of his being atheistic.

Scriptural injunctions may not be very palatable; nonetheless, they are authoritative, and we have to preach the truth. We cannot play hide and seek with the problems of life. We must know our real position, and we must know what is religion and what is irreligion. Religion means action according to the orders of God, and irreligion means action that goes against the orders of God.

Chapter 8

Religion

The Yamadutas replied, "That which is prescribed in the Vedas constitutes dharma, and the opposite of that is irreligion. The Vedas are directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, and are self-born. This we have heard from Yamaraja."(Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.40)

Hearing from Authority

Vedic principles are accepted as authoritative because they originate with Krsna. Thus the Vedas carry the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the same way that lawbooks carry the authority of the government.

When it comes to determining what is religion and what is irreligion, there is no such thing as "This is my opinion" or "I think it means this." Opinion is nonsense. We have to understand God by the process of susruma, hearing from the authorized representative of God. In the Bhagavad-gita (4.1) Krsna says,

imam vivasvate yogam

proktavan aham avyayam

vivasvan manave praha

manur iksvakave bravit

"I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku." This is the way to understand the Vedas: by hearing from the proper authority, the spiritual master.

So the Yamadutas were claiming that the Visnudutas should not hinder them in the performance of their duty since they were acting under the order of a bona fide authority, Yamaraja. Yamaraja is one of the twelve mahajanas, great personalities who are authorities in both spiritual and material affairs. He is a Vaisnava, but his thankless task is to punish all the souls who perform sinful activities. Just as the superintendent of police is a responsible, faithful servant of the government, so Yamaraja is a faithful servant of Lord Narayana, or Krsna. His task is to chastise sinful persons. If a high-court judge is required in ordinary government, why not in God's government?

There are twelve mahajanas mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam: Lord Brahma; Narada Muni; Lord Siva; the four Kumaras; Lord Kapila, the son of Devahuti; Svayambhuva Manu; Prahlada Maharaja; Bhismadeva; Janaka Maharaja; Sukadeva Gosvami; Bali Maharaja; and Yamaraja. These authorities know exactly who God is, and they can direct us to Him. Therefore the sastras advise us to follow them.

Without following the mahajanas, it is impossible to know God, because we cannot understand the path of religion by our mental speculation. Religious principles are enunciated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead (dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam). Therefore real religion means to abide by the words of the Supreme Lord and His representatives. In the Bhagavad-gita (18.66) Krsna says, mam ekam saranam vraja: "Simply surrender unto Me." That is true religion. Anything else is irreligion. Manmade religion is not religion; it is cheating. Nowadays it has become fashionable for everyone to manufacture his own religion without reference to the authorities. One should know that dharma, or religion, means the laws given to man by God. The path of dharma is strictly followed by the mahajanas, and so we have to follow them. Otherwise there is no possibility of understanding what religion is or who God is.

Everyone in the material world is puzzled about what religion is. Therefore, the Mundaka Upanisad (1.2.12) says, one should approach a guru: tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet. "If someone wants to learn the transcendental science, he has to approach a guru." There are no exceptions. One cannot say, "I shall learn the transcendental science without going to a spiritual master." No. That is not possible. The Vaisnava principles enjoin, adau gurv-asrayam: the first step in understanding spiritual knowledge is to take shelter of a bona fide guru. And there are three principles to observe in taking shelter of a guru: tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya. We must surrender to the spiritual master, we must inquire from him, and we must render service to him. Then we will be able to understand real spiritual knowledge.

When Sanatana Gosvami approached Lord Caitanya to become His disciple, Sanatana surrendered himself and said, "My dear Lord, when I was a minister, people used to address me as a learned man, and so I accepted that I was learned and intelligent. But actually I am neither learned nor intelligent, because I do not know what I am. This is the result of my learning: I know everything except what I am and how to get out of this miserable material condition of life."

We see that modern education fails here also. The professor talks about so many things, but if we ask him what he is, he has no answer. Universities award degrees to the graduates, who think, "I am a Ph.D., a very learned man," but if we ask that Ph.D. to explain what he is and what the purpose of life is, he will refer only to his bodily designations: "I am American, I am male, etc." He can only state his identification with the body, which he is not, and therefore he is fool number one.

At first Arjuna was also thinking in terms of bodily connections: "Krsna, how can I fight? On the other side there are my cousins, my brothers, my uncles, my nephews, and my brothers-in-law. If I kill them, their wives will become widows and be polluted, and there will be unwanted children." Arjuna was a very learned man, but he was perplexed. He said, "My dear Krsna, now I am puzzled. I am a ksatriya, and it is my duty to fight, but I am deviating from this duty because I am bewildered and cannot reason clearly. I know You can explain to me what I should do; therefore I surrender unto You as Your disciple. Please instruct me." (Bhagavad-gita 2.7)

The Vedic literature advises us first of all that the guru is not a plaything. One should not think, "I must have a guru because it is fashionable, but there is no need to obey his order." That kind of guru is useless, and that kind of disciple is useless also. Accepting a guru is very serious. You must seriously find out who is a bona fide spiritual master, one who can solve the problems of your life. Only when one is serious about getting out of the blazing fire of material existence should one approach a spiritual master.

The Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.3.21) says,

tasmad gurum prapadyeta

jijnasuh sreya uttamam

sabde pare ca nisnatam

brahmany upasamasrayam

One who wants the ultimate benefit in his life must surrender to a guru. The guru must be well versed in the Vedic literature and know its conclusions. And not only must he be well versed in the scripture, but in his life he must have adopted the path of Vedic principles, without deviating in any way. He must be finished with all hankerings for wealth, women, and prestige, and he must be fully situated in spiritual life, completely surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. One should try to find such a personality and accept him as one's spiritual master.

So the servants of Yamaraja replied quite properly. They did not manufacture principles of religion or irreligion. Instead, they explained what they had heard from their spiritual master, Yamaraja. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah: one should follow the mahajana, the authorized person. Yamaraja is one of twelve authorities. Therefore the servants of Yamaraja, the Yamadutas, replied with perfect justification when they said susruma: "We have heard from our master, Yamaraja."

Chapter 9

Punishment

The Yamadutas continued, "The supreme cause of all causes, Narayana, is situated in His abode in the spiritual world, but still He controls the entire cosmic manifestation according to the modes of material nature--goodness, passion, and ignorance. In this way all living entities are awarded different qualities, different names (such as brahmana, ksatriya, and vaisya), different duties according to the varnasrama institution, and different forms. Thus Narayana is the cause of the entire cosmic manifestation.

"The sun, fire, sky, air, demigods, moon, evening, day, night, directions, water, land, and the Supersoul Himself all witness the activities of the living entity. The candidates for punishment are those who are confirmed by these many witnesses to have deviated from their prescribed duties. Everyone engaged in fruitive activities is suitable to be subjected to punishment according to his sinful acts.

"O inhabitants of Vaikuntha, you are sinless, but those within this material world are all fruitive workers, whether acting piously or impiously. Both kinds of action are possible for them because they are contaminated by the three modes of nature and must act accordingly. One who has accepted a material body cannot be inactive, and sinful action is inevitable for one acting under the modes of material nature. Therefore all the living entities within this material world are punishable. Thus in proportion to the extent of one's religious or irreligious actions in this life, one must enjoy or suffer the corresponding reactions of his karma in the next." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.41-45)

The Cause Behind All Activities

The Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.8) informs us,

na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate

na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate

parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate

svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca

Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is almighty, omnipotent. He has multifarious energies, and therefore He is able to remain in His own abode and without endeavor supervise and manipulate the entire cosmic manifestation through the interaction of the three modes of material nature--goodness, passion, and ignorance. These interactions create different forms, bodies, activities, and changes, which all occur perfectly. Because the Lord is perfect, everything works as if He were directly supervising and taking part in it.

Atheistic men, however, being covered by the three modes of material nature, cannot see that Narayana is the supreme cause behind all activities. Lord Krsna confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita (7.13),

tribhir guna-mayair bhavair

ebhih sarvam idam jagat

mohitam nabhijanati

mam ebhyah param avyayam

"Deluded by the three modes, the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and inexhaustible."

Compelled to Work

There are three energies of the Supreme Lord: the internal energy (para-sakti), the marginal energy, and the external energy. The living entities belong to the marginal energy because they can come under the influence of either the internal or external energy of the Lord. By nature they also belong to the para-sakti, but when they come under the control of the material energy they are known as ksetra-jna-sakti, "knowers of the material field." In other words, the direct, internal energy of God is spiritual (para), and the living entities have this same nature (para), but in contact with the material energy (ksetra), the living entity accepts a material body as his self and is thus forced to act, manipulating the five senses.

The Yamadutas say that everyone with a material body must work. An ant and an elephant both have to work. The ant requires only a grain of sugar for his sustenance, whereas the elephant requires three hundred kilograms of food daily, but both must work for it. Foolish people say that the Vaisnavas do not work, but the Vaisnavas work for Krsna twenty-four hours a day. They are not idle do-nothings. While we are in this material world, we have to work, but we work for Krsna. That is not really work, or karma: it is dharma, practical religion. Unless one works for Krsna, all his labor is adharma, irreligious sense gratification.

On the Basis of a Man's Nature

The real aim of life is to satisfy Krsna, and varnasrama-dharma is the institution of that ideal in human society. The varnasrama system divides society into four spiritual orders (asramas) and four social classes (varnas). The spiritual orders are the brahmacaris (celibate students), the grhasthas (householders living under spiritual regulation), the vanaprasthas (retirees), and the sannyasis (renunciants). The four social orders are the brahmanas (intellectuals), the ksatriyas (warriors and administrators), the vaisyas (farmers and businessmen), and the sudras (manual laborers). Without the principles of varnasrama-dharma, human society is almost animal society. Indeed, human civilization begins when human beings accept the four social and spiritual divisions of society, according to quality and work. As Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (4.13), catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah: "I have created the four social divisions according to quality and work."

In this material world we associate with a particular combination of the modes of nature, and accordingly we mold our character and behavior, and by this criterion we fit into a particular social category. Today people say that there should be no more caste system, but how can they ignore the natural designation of classes in human society? There must be a class of intelligent men, the brahmanas, who are qualified to disseminate Vedic knowledge to the people in general. There must be a class of ksatriyas to offer administrative rule and protection. There must be a class of merchants and farmers, the vaisyas, who trade and perform agricultural duties such as cow protection. And there must be a class of sudras, who render service to the other classes. All men fit into these four classes, each according to his guna, or nature.

Prescribed Duty vs. Unlawful Action

Whatever our varna or asrama, however, the perfection of our work is to satisfy Visnu, or Krsna. The Lord states this in the Bhagavad-gita (3.9):

yajnarthat karmano 'nyatra

loko 'yam karma-bandhanah

tad-artham karma kaunteya

mukta-sangah samacara

"Work done as a sacrifice for Visnu has to be performed; otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O Arjuna, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage." This is the sum and substance of human life. Since we have to work, we should work for Krsna. Then we are saved from all sinful reactions.

But if we work for our personal sense gratification, we will become entangled in the reactions, lifetime after lifetime. It is not possible for a person to get out of the clutches of repeated birth and death as long as he continues to pursue sense gratification.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, jivera 'svarupa' haya--krsnera 'nitya-dasa' (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 20.108): "The constitutional position of the living entity is that he is eternally a servant of Krsna." If one takes that position, he is saved; otherwise not.

And how does one who accepts his position as a servant of Krsna work? Prahlada Maharaja explains in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.23):

sravanam kirtanam visnoh

smaranam pada-sevanam

arcanam vandanam dasyam

sakhyam atma-nivedanam

"Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia, and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering these, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything to Him--these are the nine processes of pure devotional service."

In order to take up these processes seriously, one must accept the regulative principles for spiritual life: no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no intoxication, and no gambling. Then one will be able to accept the injunction to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and always be engaged in the service of the Lord in one of the above nine ways. If we accept this authority, our life will be successful, both spiritually and materially. Otherwise, we will have to be satisfied with indulging in sense gratification, performing sinful activities, suffering like dogs and hogs, and enduring repeated birth, old age, disease, and death.

Forgetfulness

We accept the body as our self, thinking, "I am this body." However, we are not the body but rather the owner of the body, just as we are not our apartment but rather the owner or resident of the apartment. The soul is called dehi, "one who possesses a body." When we study our body, we say, "This is my hand, this is my leg." We do not say, "I am this hand, I am this leg." Yet the illusion that we are the body persists. The body is nothing but a vehicle for the soul. Sometimes a new motorcar is wrecked in an accident, and the driver is overwhelmed with the sense of loss, forgetting that he is not the motorcar. That is the effect of ahankara, false ego, or false conception of proprietorship.

Because we are covered by ignorance, we have forgotten what our previous body was. Even in this life we do not remember that we were once babies on the laps of our mothers. So many things have happened in our lifetime, but we do not remember them all. If we cannot even remember things that have happened in this life, how can we remember our last life?

A person engages in sinful activities because he does not know what he did in his past life to get his present materially conditioned body, which is subjected to the threefold miseries--those produced by his own body and mind, those caused by other living entities, and those arising from natural disasters. As stated by Lord Rsabhadeva in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.4), nunam pramattah kurute vikarma yad indriya-pritaya aprnoti: a human being who is mad after sense gratification does not hesitate to act sinfully. Na sadhu manye: this is not good. Yata atmano 'yam asann api klesada asa dehah: because of such sinful actions, one receives another body in which to suffer as he is suffering in his present body because of his past sinful activities.

A person who does not have Vedic knowledge always acts in ignorance of what he has done in the past, what he is doing at the present, and how he will suffer in the future. He is completely in darkness. Therefore the Vedic injunction is tamasi ma: "Don't remain in darkness." Jyotir gama: "Try to go to the light." This light is Vedic knowledge, which one can understand when one is elevated to the mode of goodness or when one transcends the mode of goodness by engaging in devotional service to the spiritual master and the Supreme Lord.

Knowledge through Service

How service to the Lord and the