Remembrances of past lives can be fascinating, but the real goal of understanding reincarnation is to become free from the painful cycle of birth in death. In a lecture delivered in London in August of 1973, Srila Prabhupada warns: “This is not a very good business – to die and take birth again. We know that when we die, we’ll have to enter again into the womb of a mother – and nowadays mothers are killing the children within the womb.
“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth, and then 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])
Generally, people cannot understand this simple verse. Therefore, Krishna says, “Only a sober man can understand.” There are three stages of life. The first, kaumaram, lasts until one is 15 years old. Then, from the 16 year, one begins youthful life, yauvanam. Then, after the 40th or 50th year, one becomes an old man, jara. So those who are dhira – sober-headed, cool-headed – can understand: “I have changed my body. I remember how I was playing and jumping when I was a boy. Then I became a young man, and I was enjoying my life with friends and family. Now I am an old man, and when this body dies, I shall again enter a new body.”
In the previous verse, Krishna said to Arjuna, “All of us – you, me, and all the soldiers and kings who are present here – we existed in the past, we are existing now, and we shall continue to exist in the future.” This is Krishna’s statement. But rascals would say, “How was I existing in the past? I was born only in such-and-such a year. Before that, I was not existing. At the present time, I am existing. But as soon as I die, I’ll not exist.” Before our birth, we were existing, in a different body; and after our death we shall continue to exist, in a different body.
For example, 70 years ago, I was a boy, then I became a young man, and now I have become an old man. My body has changed; but I, the proprietor of the body, am existing unchanged. So where is the difficulty in understanding? Dehino ’smin yatha dehe (Bg. 2.13). Dehinah means “the proprietor of the body”, and dehe means “in the body”. The body is changing; but the soul, the proprietor of the body, remains unchanged. Anyone can understand that his body has changed. So in the next life, the body will also change. But we may not remember; that is another thing. In my last life, what was my body? I do not remember. So forgetfulness is our nature, but our forgetting something does not mean that it did not take place. In my childhood I did so many things I do not remember, but my father and mother remember.
Similarly, death simply means I have forgotten what I was in my past life. Otherwise I, as spirit soul, have no death. Suppose I change my clothes. In my boyhood, I wore certain clothes; in my youth, I wore different clothes. Now, in my old age, as a sannyasi (a renunciant), I am wearing different clothes. The clothes may change, but that does not mean that the owner of the clothes is dead and gone. This is a simple explanation of transmigration of the soul.
Also, all of us are individuals. There is no question of merging together. Every one of us is an individual. God is an individual, and we are also individuals. “Of all the eternal, conscious, individual persons, one is supreme.” The difference is that God never changes His body, but we change our bodies in the material world. When we go to the spiritual world, there is no more change of body. Just as Krishna has His sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, an eternal form of bliss and knowledge, so when you go back home, to the Godhead, you will also get a similar body. The difference is that even when Krishna comes to the material world, He does not change His body. Therefore, one of His names is Acyuta (“He who never falls”).
Krishna never changes. He never falls down, because He is the controller of maya, the material energy. We are controlled by the material energy, and Krishna is the controller of the material energy. That is the difference between Krishna and us. And not only does He control the material energy, but He controls the spiritual energy also – all energies. Just as heat and light are the energies of the sun, everything manifested is made up of the energies of Krishna.
There are many energies, but they have been divided into three principal ones: the external energy, the internal energy, and the marginal energy. We, living entities, are the marginal energy. Marginal means that we may remain under the influence of the external energy or we may remain under the influence of the internal energy, as we like. After speaking Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says to Arjuna, yathecchasi tatha kuru: “Whatever you like, you can do.” Krishna gives this independence to Arjuna. He does not force one to surrender. That is not good. Something forced will not stand.
Krishna comes here to deliver us from the clutches of the material energy. Because we are part and parcel of Krishna, we are all directly Krishna’s sons. And if a son is in difficulty, the father suffers also, indirectly. Suppose the son has become a madman – or, nowadays, a hippy. The father is very sorry: “Oh, my son is living like a wretch.” So, the father is not happy. Similarly, the conditioned souls in this material world are suffering so much, living like wretches and rascals. So Krishna is not happy. Therefore, He comes personally to teach us how to return to Him. When Krishna comes, He comes in His original form. Unfortunately we understand Krishna to be one of us. In one sense, He is one of us, since He is the father and we are His sons. But He’s the most powerful, the supreme powerful. Everyone is the servant of Krishna; Krishna is the only master.
The real problem is that we do not want to die, but death takes place. And Krishna says: “A sober man is not perplexed at the time of death.” If you prepare yourself in this life for going back home, back to Godhead, then where is your perplexity at the time of death? There is no perplexity. You’ll know, “I am going to Krishna. I am going back home, back to Godhead. Now I’ll not have to change material bodies; I’ll have my spiritual body. Now I shall play with Krishna and dance with Krishna and eat with Krishna.” This is Krishna consciousness – to prepare yourself for the next life. So make your life successful.