Secrets of the Soul 26

dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.13]

Here in Bhagavad-gita, Kṛṣṇa says dehino ’smin yatha dehe. Deha means this body, and dehi means the owner or occupant of the body. Who lives in this body? The embodied spirit soul is considered the owner of the body. Now, modern scientists and philosophers may be very highly materially educated, but they do not know that this body is not the person; the person is the spirit soul within the body. Asmin dehe: within this body, there is the proprietor of the body, or the soul.

Then, kaumaram yauvanam jara: the changes that take place in the body do not affect the owner of the body, but transform only the outward, external bodily shell. Just like if you live in a house, when the house needs some repair, it does not mean that you are becoming ill or need an operation. Even if the house is demolished, the owner of the house is not affected. Similarly, the changes of the body do not affect the soul, but they are due to the fact that the soul is transmigrating through different types of bodies, from infancy to youth to adulthood to old age. Similarly, the soul transmigrates to a different body at death.

Jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati: there are 8,400,000 different forms or species of material bodies, and the eternal spiritual living entity transmigrates from one body to another, to another, to another. As it is stated in the Padma Purana: asatims caturams caiva laksams tan jiva-jatisu. Jiva-jati: there are 8,400,000 different forms of material bodies in material existence, and one has to pass through all of them from the beginning. Jalaja nava-laksani: 900,000 species of aquatics, and 2,000,000 kinds of plant life. Krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksanam: there are 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles, and 1,000,000 species of birds. Finally, trimsal-laksani pasavah catur-laksani manusah: there are 3,000,000 varieties of beasts, and 400,000 human species, from vastly intelligent and powerful demigods like Lord Brahma down to the most primitive aborigines and apes. So we must pass through 8,000,000 different forms of material bodies before we can come to the human form of life. Because of this, the human form of body is very rarely obtained.

kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam

[Prahlada Maharaja said:] “One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life—in other words, from the tender age of childhood—to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.1]

Manusam durlabham janma: this human form is very rarely obtained. Therefore, it should be properly utilized for devotional service pursuant to the instructions of the Esoteric Teaching. In the human form of life one should try to understand that “I am Brahman. I am spirit soul, part and parcel of God.” This is the beginning of the Esoteric Teaching of Bhagavad-gita.

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