Prabhupada, October 17, 1976: [...] One who does not know about the spirit soul, he is not a pandita. Dhiras tatra na muhyati. This transmigration of the soul… Just like you condoled one Rotarian who has died. But Krishna says, dhiras tatra na muhyati. “Yes, he’s not dead. He has transmigrated to another body. He’s not dead.” That is the… Na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20] This is the instruction of Krishna, that “Don’t think that because the body is annihilated, therefore the person is annihilated. No.”

Na jayate na mriyate va kadacit: “That soul never takes birth, never dies.” Nityah sasvato ’yam, na hanyate hanyamane [Bg. 2.20]. This is the first instruction of Bhagavad-gita. There are so many students of Bhagavad-gita, but because they are not actually pandita, they do not take account of the simple thing, how the soul transmigrates from one body to another. This is the position. And therefore we should not continue to remain apanditah, nanusocanti panditah, and lament. So long we are not panditah, our business is to lament and to hanker. We lament what is lost, and we hanker what is not in our possession. This is material disease. So when we understand that aham brahmasmi… That hint is given by Krishna, that asmin dehe dehinah: “The proprietor of the body is there, asmin dehe. On account of presence of the proprietor of the body, the body is changing.” Dehino ’smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara [Bg. 2.13]. The kaumara, the childhood, the boyhood, the youthhood— these changes of body is taking place on account of presence of the dehina. So where is this education all over the world? There is no such education. But there is knowledge. This is Bhagavad-gita. We don’t take advantage of Bhagavad-gita; therefore there is no such education, athato brahma jijnasa, or to understand Brahman.

So everything is very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gita, and you have got a nice club. So I request you to discuss on the Bhagavad- gita as it is, without any malinterpretation. Then it will be beneficial for your club. Because Canakya Pandita… You have heard the name of Canakya Pandita. In New Delhi there is a Canakya Puri. He was a great politician, very learned scholar, brahmana and great moralist also. So he has instructed about this Brahman knowledge in various ways. So our point is that we should not spoil this life. We should utilize every moment of our life very properly. This Canakya Pandit I am referring because he has given very good instruction how to utilize our life. He says,

ayusah ksana eko ’pi na labhyah svarna-kotibhih na cen nirarthakam nitih ka ca hanis tato ’dhika

We are calculating of loss and gain. Canakya Pandita says that “Even one moment of our life, if it is lost, then you cannot get it back even by paying hundreds and thousands of dollars.” One moment of this day, if it is lost, you cannot get it back by paying hundreds and thousands of dollars. So if the moments of your life is spent uselessly, then how much loss you are suffering, you just imagine. Therefore our request is that we have got this valuable life, human form of life, bahu-sambhavante, after many, many births in the evolutionary process. Now we should try to understand what is Brahman. Athato brahma jijnasa. Don’t spoil it otherwise. And that brahma-jijnasa and answer is there in the Bhagavad-gita. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma [Bg. 18.54]. Bhagavad-gita instruction is given just to bring you back to Brahman consciousness or Krishna consciousness, not this bodily consciousness. Bodily consciousness is there in the dog and the cat. So that is not very glorification. We should come to the Brahman consciousness, then brahma-bhutah prasannatma. Then you’ll be jubilant. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati-samah sarvesu bhutesu [Bg. 18.54]. And when you come to that platform of understanding Brahman, then there is question of sama, samata. Samah sarvesu bhutesu. And on that stage you can attain the para-bhakti, or devotional life to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.