Prabhupāda: So Parīkṣit Mahārāja, you know, I have several times spoken, he had only seven days to meet his death. He was young man, but some way or other, he was cursed by a brāhmaṇa—boy, not a brāhmaṇa—that he would meet death within seven days, and... This is Vedic culture, that before death one should prepare very nicely to go back to Godhead. This is Vedic culture.
The modern civilization, they do not know what is going to happen after death. But our Vedic culture is not so blind. Vedic culture has got a aim, what is the aim of human life, not aimless life. Aimless life is animal life. They have no aim. By the laws of nature they are going on, transforming from one body to another, and ultimately they are coming by evolutionary process to the human form of life. And especially this civilized human form of life, it is very responsible life.
One has to make his choice whether he wants to continue his materialistic way of life and change the body, one after another. That is very risky job. You should always remember that if in my next body I am given a body like a tree, just see, in this part of the world, how condemned life. They are standing in the snowfall. You have got house. You are protecting yourself. They cannot even move. So there is possibility of getting such life.
So we should be so much responsible how to avoid such laws of nature. We can have any form of life out of 8,400,000 species that are before you. You should always remember that "If by chance I slip to one of them, then how I have wasted my time." This is responsible life. Labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte (SB 11.9.29). Bahu-sambhavānte means after many, many appearances. This is appearance. This body, present body, is one of the appearances. It will never appear again. He'll... I will have to or you will have to appear in a different body. But this human form of life is great opportunity. Bahu-sambhavānte. Bahu means many, and sambhava means appearance. After many, many appearances, we have got this.
Labdhvā su-durlabham. Su-durlabham. Su means very costly; durlabham means to gain with great difficulty. This responsibility must be there in the human form of life. Labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte. After many, many appearances. And what is this? Mānuṣya, man, human form of body. Artha-dam: and you can achieve a great success in this life. This is the hint given. Therefore for that great success everyone should try his best.
And one may think that "Now we are young men, young boys and girls. Let us enjoy life." And that facility is very much easy to obtain in your country. In the school, college or in society, the young boys and young girls, they have got ample facility for enjoying material life. Enjoying material life means sex life. So Bhāgavata says, "No. You should immediately try for the ultimate success of your life. Don't spoil your life."
If we become absorbed in the thoughts of materialistic way of enjoyment, then naturally we have to take birth again in any other form of body, may be human body or may not be human body. But unless we purify our mind and consciousness, we must have to accept the material body. And if we accept a material body, then all the miserable conditions that we are undergoing with this body, we have to accept it.
This is not pessimistic view of life, but this is a fact. Only responsible persons, they can understand.
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Boston, December 22, 1969)
.
