unfortunately we take this ocean of nescience as very pleasant place. This is the spell of māyā. Where there is danger in every step, but we are thinking we are very happy, we are advancing in material civilization, and, as far as we can imagine, that we are very prosperous and everything. This is called māyā. He cannot appreciate that in every step there is danger in this material world. Take, for example, just like I am coming from Boston here by aeroplane. It is very nice discovery. But as soon as you get on the aeroplane, every second there is danger—because there is no guarantee. There is no guarantee. So similarly, we may crossing over the street... Oh, there is danger. Recently in Delhi one of our Godnephew, oh, he was crushed by motor accident, completely crushed. He fell down, and the motor car passed over him, and all the bones were crushed. I have received that letter. So we should know that this place is not at all safe. At any moment there is danger. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām. Therefore in the Cāṇakya Paṇḍita's version it is said that "If you want to have spiritual realization, then you should always think that 'Death is coming, and danger is coming immediately.' " That should be our attitude.
And in the Bhagavad-gītā it is also said that those who are intelligent persons, those who are making progress to become wiser, for them four things should be kept always in view. What is that? Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-dosanudarśanam BG 13.9 . We may think very..., that we are very safe and we are making good advancement in economic development, but there is no solution for these four problems, as enunciated by Bhagavad-gītā, janma, mṛtyu, jarā, vyādhi. Oh, there is no solution for birth. There is so much attempt for birth control all over the world, but still, in every minute or in every second some percentage of population is increasing. Janma, mṛtyu. Similarly, there are so many attempts to discover scientific measures to stop death, but it is not possible. Death is taking place. Rather, in the present age, death is taking place earlier than in years before. Formerly people were living, say, hundred years, eighty years, ninety years, and nowadays a man is living, utmost, seventy years, sixty years. If a man lives for eighty years, then he is considered to be very... But time will come, as we get information from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that at the end of this age, Kali-yuga, if a man lives for twenty to thirty years he'll be considered as the grand old man. So practically we are not making any progress. And materially it is not possible to make progress. It is... That is called māyā, illusion. We are actually not making any progress, but we are thinking that we are making progress. This is called spell of māyā.
But the real problem is that we should understand that this place is full of danger, and in the Bhagavad-gītā it is certified, this place, that duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam BG 8.15 . This place is full of miseries and aśāśvatam. Even if you accept, "Oh, let it be miserable. I don't mind. I shall remain here..." People say frankly that "We don't want any other world. We don't want, don't believe in it, heaven" or "We don't believe in Vaikuṇṭha. We want to make ourself happy in this world." They say. But from authorities like Kṛṣṇa or Bhagavad-gītā, we understand that this place is meant for suffering. This is called duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam BG 8.15 . Even if we agree to live in this miserable place... Because everyone, we want to live. Nobody wants to die. Nobody wants to die. Suppose we are sitting here, and if there is some death signal, oh, we shall at once flee away from this place, if there is fire, because we do not want to die. That is a fact.