At the time of death (Lectures, BG)

Expressions researched:
"At the time of point of his death" |"at the end of death" |"at the last moment of our death" |"at the last point of your death" |"at the point of death" |"at the point of our death" |"at the time of death" |"at the time of his death" |"at the time of my death" |"at the time of your death" |"at the verge of your point of death"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

It is said like this:

anta-kāle ca mām eva

smaran muktvā kalevaram

yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ

yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

Anta-kāle, at the end of life, at the time of death. Anta-kāle ca mām eva, one who thinks of Kṛṣṇa, smaran, if he can remember. A dying person, at the time of death, if he remembers the form of Kṛṣṇa and while remembering in that way, if he quits the present body, then surely he approaches the spiritual kingdom, mad-bhāvam. Bhāvam means the spiritual nature. Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti. Mad-bhāvam means just like the nature or the transcendental nature of the Supreme Being.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

So you are reading Bhagavad-gītā throughout the whole life, but when the Lord speaks something which does not tally with our imagination, we reject it. That is not the process of Bhagavad-gītā reading. Just like Arjuna said that sarvam etaṁ ṛtam manye, "I believe in everything, whatever You have said." Similarly, hear, hearing. The Lord says that at the time of death, whoever thinks of Him, either as Brahman or Paramātmā or the Personality of Godhead, certainly he enters into the spiritual sky and there is no doubt about it. One should not disbelieve it. And the process is, general rule is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, how one can, how it is possible to get into the spiritual kingdom simply by thinking of the Supreme at the time of death.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

All the energies are viṣṇu-śakti. All the energies, they are different potencies of the Lord Viṣṇu. Now, that energy is parā, transcendental. And kṣetra-jñākhyā tathā parā, and the living entities, kṣetra-jña, they are also belonging to the group of that superior energy, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā also. We have already explained. And the other energies, the material energy is tṛtīyā karma-saṁjñānyā (CC Madhya 6.154). The other energy is in the mode of ignorance. So that is material energy. So material energy is also bhagavad-(indistinct). So at the time of death, either we can remain in the material energy, or this material world, or we can transfer into the spiritual world.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

Just like the materialist is always engaged in reading some material literature like newspaper, magazines, and fiction, novel, etc., and so many scientific or philosophies, all these things of different degrees of thought. Similarly, if we transfer our, that reading capacity for these Vedic literatures, as presented by, as very kindly presented by Vyāsadeva, then it is quite possible for us to remember at the time of death the Supreme Lord. That is the only way suggested by the Lord Himself. Not suggested, it is the fact. Nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ (BG 8.5). Undoubtedly. There is no doubt about it. Tasmāt, the Lord suggested therefore, tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca (Bg. 8.7). He advises Arjuna that mām anusmara yudhya ca. He does not say that "You simply go on remembering Me and give up your present occupational duty." No. That is not suggested. The Lord never suggests something impractical.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

In the human society, either as laborer or as mercantile men, or as politicians, administrators, or as the highest class of intelligent class of men in literary career, scientific researches, everybody is engaged in some work, and one has to work, struggle for existence. So Lord advises that "You need not give up your occupation, but at the same time you can remember." Mām anusmara (BG 8.7). That will make you, that will help you in remembering Me at the time of death. If you don't practice remembering Me always, along with your struggle for existence, then it is not possible." It is not possible. The same thing is advised by Lord Caitanya, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā. One should practice to chant the name of the Lord always. The name of Lord and the Lord is not different.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

The Lord advises that tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca (BG 8.7). "As a kṣatriya you cannot give up your fighting business. You have to fight. So at the same time if you practice remembering Me always, then it will be possible," anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran (BG 8.5), "then it will be possible to remember Me also at the time of death." Mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ. Again He says that there is no doubt. If one is completely surrendered into the service of the Lord, into the transcendental loving service of the Lord, mayy arpita-mano-buddhir (BG 8.7). Because we work not with our body actually.

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

This body, why we have got this body, material body? Because we have forgotten Kṛṣṇa and we wanted to lord it over the material nature. This is our position. Therefore, according to our different desires, we have got different bodies. Here we are sitting, say fifty or hundred men. Nobody's body will tally with other's body. Face and everything, different. Because every one of us has got different desires. Therefore their facial expression, bodily construction, everything is made according to the mind. So at the time of death also, the constitution of mind will transfer me to another, different type of body. The mind will carry the soul. These are all explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6).

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

So if you train up your mind, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Always remembering Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. Then it may be possible that at the time of death you remember Kṛṣṇa and your life is successful. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Immediately you are transferred to Kṛṣṇaloka. This is training.

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

If we are serious of being transferred to the loka, to the place, where Kṛṣṇa is, then we have to train up the mind so nicely that at the time of death I can remember Kṛṣṇa. Therefore one great king, Kulaśekhara, he is praying to Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa tvadīya pada-paṅkaja... What is that verse? Tvadīya, kṛṣṇa tvadīya pada-paṅkaja (MM 33). I am just forgetting. The idea is, Kulaśekhara, King Kulaśekhara is praying to Kṛṣṇa, adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ. Adyaiva. Prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ smaraṇaṁ kutas te. He is praying, "Kṛṣṇa, I am now in good health. So kindly award me death immediately." Adyaiva. "Immediately, so that my mind, who is just like a swan, he can take pleasure by entering into stem of Your lotus flower feet." Kṛṣṇa's feet is always compared with lotus flower, and the lotus flower has got a stem.

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

The mind should be kept in healthy condition. Saṁjña. Therefore one who dies with full sense remembering Kṛṣṇa, oh, he is successful. In Bengali it is said, bhajana kara sādhana kara mūrti yāṅre haya. (?) You may be very great devotee. That's all right. But it will be tested at the time of your death, how you remember Kṛṣṇa. That will be the test examination. At the time of death, if we forget, if we become parrotlike... Just like parrot, he chants also, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa." But when the cat catches the neck, "Kanh! Kanh! Kanh!" No more Kṛṣṇa. No more Kṛṣṇa. So artificial practice will not help us. Then "Khan, khan." That kapha-pitta-vātaiḥ, kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te (MM 33).

Lecture on BG 1.32-35 -- London, July 25, 1973:

There are two kinds of bodies. So when the gross body is annihilated, the subtle body carries me to another gross body. Just like the air carries the flavor of a certain place. If the air is passing over rose garden, it carries the flavor. Although we cannot see, but we can smell. We can understand the breeze is so fragrant, means it is coming over a rose garden. Similarly, filthy place, a bad smell, the air carries. So the subtle body carries the mental situation of the soul and puts him into a particular body according to that mental situation. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). At the time of death, the mental situation will give me chance for another gross body. If we have created my mind Kṛṣṇa conscious, then he will give me, the mental situation will give me a body by which I can make further progress. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo 'bhijāyate (BG 6.41). Yoga-bhraṣṭaḥ. Suppose one has begun yoga.

Lecture on BG 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25, 1968:

Devotee: How does the devotee go about practicing this Kṛṣṇa consciousness when he's asleep?

Prabhupāda: Yes, Sleep means your gross senses are stopped, but your mind works. Therefore you dream. So if you practice your mind to be engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in dream also you'll see that you are preparing prasādam. "I am going to sell Back to Godhead." (chuckles) That's all. Sometimes some nights when I feel hungry, I dream that I'm eating Kṛṣṇa prasādam very sumptuous. (laughing)

Devotee: Oh, haribol! (laughing)

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Somebody is supplying me nice paraṭā and I am eating. (laughs) But, being hungry, oh, my hunger is not satisfied. I'm eating, eating, till the dream is end. So if you practice, this is the technique. We have to practice in this way, that when all functions of this body will be stopped at the time of death, oh, we shall remember some way or other, Kṛṣṇa. Then successful. Immediately successful. That is the technique.

Lecture on BG 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25, 1968:

I think you have seen, Jayānanda, when we were walking in Seattle in that park, in a lake the swan were diving near the lotus. You have seen? Yes. That is the practice. The swan takes pleasure where there is, I mean to say, what is called, lotus or lily, lilies. There's a stem. They dive and they entangle their long neck with the... That is their sporting. So Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, we call, lotus feet. So he says that "My mind may be entangled with the stem of Your lotus feet just like the swan. Immediately. I can do that now because I am in healthy state. Otherwise at the time of death, kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ, when mucus, bile, everything will be disordered, and my throat will be choked up, I will not be able to speak or chant. So why shall I wait for that time? Now I am fit. Let my mind be absorbed with Your thought and let me die." That is the technique.

Lecture on BG 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25, 1968:

So if by Kṛṣṇa's grace, at the time of that last moment of quitting this body, when every function of the body will be disordered we can remember Kṛṣṇa, then our life is successful. So we have to practice this. This, everything, whatever we are doing, it is practicing for the last moment. There is a Bengali proverb, bhajana kara sādhana kara matte janle haya.(?) How you are advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that will be tested at the time of your death. The examination will be at that time. So if that technique becomes perfect, then our life is perfect. At once you are transferred to the Kṛṣṇaloka. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). "My dear Kaunteya, My dear Arjuna, that person, after quitting this body, he never comes back again to this nonsense material world, but he comes to Me." That is perfection. People have no knowledge who is transferred, where it is transferred, what is God, what is... No, nothing of the sort. Simply eat, drink, be merry and enjoy, and die like cats and dogs. That's all.

Lecture on BG 2.8-12 -- Los Angeles, November 27, 1968:

So Śaṅkarācārya says, bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ mūḍha-mate. Mūḍha, mūḍha I've several times explained. Mūḍha means rascal, ass. You are depending on your grammatical understanding, dukṛn karaṇe. Dukṛn, these are grammatical affix and prefix, pratya, prakaraṇa. So you are depending on this verbal root, that verbal root, and creating, interpreting your meaning in a different way. All this is nonsense. This dukṛn karaṇe, your grammatical jugglery of words, will not save you at the time of death. You rascal, you just worship Govinda, Govinda, Govinda. That is the instruction of Śaṅkarācārya also. Because he was a devotee, he was a great devotee. But he pretended to be an atheist because he was to deal with the atheists. Unless he presents himself as an atheist, the atheist followers will not hear him. Therefore he presented Māyāvāda philosophy for the time being. The Māyāvāda philosophy cannot be accepted eternally. The eternal philosophy is Bhagavad-gītā. That is the verdict.

Lecture on BG 2.9 -- London, August 15, 1973:

Just like Bhārata Mahārāja, little mistake. At the time of..., he was thinking of a deer. Next life he got the life of a deer. Little mistake. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajanty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Because nature is so perfect, at the time of your death, what is the mental condition, you will get a similar body, next life. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). Because daiva, Kṛṣṇa is with you. Kṛṣṇa will see, "Now he is thinking of become a king. Now he is thinking to become a dog." So Kṛṣṇa immediately gives you. You take the body of a dog. You take the body of a lion. You take the body of a king. Take the body. Similarly, if you are thinking of Kṛṣṇa, take the body of a Kṛṣṇa, immediately. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, how to train the mind to die thinking of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Rotary Club Address -- Hotel Imperial, Delhi, March 25, 1976:

So the bodies are according to my desire. I am desiring something. Just like here we are sitting, so many ladies and gentlemen, but not one of them is similar to anyone else. They have got different bodies. That body is created according to one's desire. The mind, the subtle mind, is the creator of the next body. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). At the time of death whatever I am thinking, a similar body will be offered to me by the laws of nature. Subtle body. The mind, intelligence and ego, they are subtle body, and the gross body is made of earth, water, air, fire, ether. So when we give up this gross body, the subtle body carries me to another gross body. This is the way of transmigration of the soul. The prakṛti, nature, nature's law, is very strict and stringent. The nature will immediately offer you a similar body according to the thinking at the time of your death. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13).

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Mexico, February 12, 1975:

Dhīra means one who is sober by education. He is not disturbed. Just like when a man dies, his relatives lament, cry, "My father is gone. My father is gone. My father is no more," or "My son is no more." Anyway, they lament like that. But if he is little sober, he can understand, he can study, that "I am lamenting, 'My father is gone,' 'my son is gone,' but he's not gone. He's lying on the bed or on the floor. Then why I am speaking 'gone'?" If some friend asks him, "Why you are lamenting, 'my father is gone,' 'my son is gone'? He's lying here," but still he will say, "No, he's not. He may be lying there, but he's gone." That is puzzle. He's lying there and gone? What is this contradiction? That is the point to understand about the soul. The relative is lamenting, crying, "My father is gone." That means he never saw his father; he saw the body only. But at the time of death of his father he understands that this father is not this body; that is soul.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, December 12, 1976:

Ataḥ param, "after this," means after this body is ended the individuality continues; simply we change our body. This is the version, and it is explained in the next verse, dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). We are individual always, but we are changing this body from one type of body to another body according to our karma. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha-upapatti (SB 3.31.1). By superior examination we get a body, karmaṇā. So at the time of death it is decided what kind of body you are going to have next. That is decided by superior authority. You cannot dictate that "Give me this body," or "I don't want this body. I want a body..." No. That is not in your hand. You can do, you are given freedom. In the human form of life you are given freedom to act although there is direction that "You act like this." But if you don't like, you can act.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, December 12, 1976:

Tāmasāḥ means very abominable activities. The other day I was speaking. I saw one gentleman, Indian gentleman. He was eating the intestines of hog in the airplane. That is very palatable, they say. Tamo-guṇa, most tamo-guṇa. Hog, the stool-eater, and its intestine, that is cooked, and he's eating. How much tamo-guṇa. Jaghanya. Jaghanya guṇa-vṛtti, very abominable. So next life he is going to be a hog. This is going on. We are in this material nature. Puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān (BG 13.22). We are in this material world according to our association with different modes of nature. We are making one type of mentality, and at the time of death, that mental position is responsible for carrying me in a different type of body. In this way we are changing body one after another.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- London, August 19, 1973:

If you prepare yourself... Just like in childhood, boyhood, if you prepare yourself, nicely educated, then you get nice job, nice situation, you will be happy. Preparation for the next life. Similarly, if you prepare yourself in this life for going back to home, back to Godhead, then where is perplexity? There is no perplexity. "I am going to Kṛṣṇa I am going back to home, back to Godhead. Now I will have not to change material body. I will have my spiritual body. I shall now play with Kṛṣṇa, dance with Kṛṣṇa, eat with Kṛṣṇa." This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Prepare yourself for the next life. Don't be... The man, dying man cries because maybe he is dreaming next life, horrible life. Because according to karma... Those who are very, very sinful, they cry, because they see horrible scenes at the time of death, and he is going to accept some type of body... But those who are pious, those who are devotees, they are dying without any anxiety. They are dying.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- London, August 19, 1973:

The example is given that... Foolish people may say that "You devotees, you are dying, and the sinful men, or non-devotees, they are also dying. So where is the difference?" No, there is difference. There is difference. This has been described by the example: just like a cat catches its cub and catches the mouse. So formerly we see that the cat has caught the mouse in the mouth and the cub also in the mouth, but there are difference of catching. The cub is feeling pleasure, "My mother is carrying me." And the mouse is feeling death knell, "Oh, now I am going to die." This is the difference. So although a devotee is dying and nondevotee is dying, there is difference of feeling at the time of death. Like the mouse and the cub. And don't consider that both of them are dying in the same process. The process may be same, but the situation is different.

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- Germany, June 21, 1974:

Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). To take birth either as a dog or as a king, the distress is the same. There is no difference because the dog has to keep itself within the womb of the mother in an airtight condition for so many months, and the man, either he is king or anything, he has also undergo that tribulation. There is no excuse. Because you are taking birth in a king's family, it does not mean that to remain compact within the mother's womb the distress is less, and because he is taking birth in a dog's mother's womb, therefore his is great. No. That is the same. Similarly, at the time of death, the distress... At the time of death there is great distress. It is so strong that one has to leave this body. Just like when the distress becomes very strong, one commits suicide. He cannot tolerate: "Finish this body."

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- Germany, June 21, 1974:

So nobody wants to leave this body, but the distress is so strong that one is forced to leave this body. That is called death. In the Bhagavad-gītā you will find that mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś ca aham. Kṛṣṇa says that "I am death." And what is the meaning of death? Death means "I take everything from him. Finished. I take his body, I take his association, I take his country, I take his society, I take his bank balance, and everything finished." Sarva-haraḥ. Sarva means everything. Everyone is trying to accumulated big bank balance and big house, big family, big motorcar... But with the death, everything is finished. So that is great distress. Sometimes one cries. You will find at the time of death, in coma, his eye drops are coming out. He is thinking, "I made so many things so nicely to live comfortably, and now I am losing everything." Great distress.

Lecture on BG 2.16 -- Mexico City, February 16, 1975:

So as the color painter, er, painter knows how to mix and make varieties of colors, similarly, the three modes of material nature being mixed up, they are represented in so many different forms of body. So at the present moment, in your human form of body, you are also mixing the same qualities in your different desires. That means you are creating your next body. So at the time of death the thoughts and the activities which will be prominent within your mind, you will get a similar body in next life. Therefore the intelligent man should be very cautious to get the next body. We can get the body like God; we can get the body like the dog. Therefore the best intelligent person should try to endeavor to get the next body like God. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that you endeavor in this life so long you are alive to get a body like God. That will solve your all problems, namely birth, death, old age and disease.

Lecture on BG 2.20 -- Hyderabad, November 25, 1972:

Indian: But yesterday you also represented that there was some devotee, he renounced this whole world, went to forest, and he was chanting the name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, this and that. But he was, some step of (?) bhakti-yoga, and he was having the love of one deer. So at the time of death, he got idea of deer, and next birth, he become deer. So there was no desire intentionally, but anyhow he came in that...

Prabhupāda: No, there was desire. He was thinking of a deer. There was desire.

Indian: We think about so many things...

Prabhupāda: So that is the practice. You should simply come to the thinking of Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection. And if you become embarrassed with so many things, then there is risk of becoming a cat, dog, deer, or demigod, anything.

Indian: Mahārāja, why you...?

Prabhupāda: Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Your, at the time of death, whatever you desire, you get the next body. That is the nature's law.

Lecture on BG 2.22 -- Hyderabad, November 26, 1972:

What is this Hindustan and Pakistan or Russia? This is this body. Next life, you can take birth in Russia, or you can take birth in... There is no certainty. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi. But according to Bhagavad-gītā, you can understand, at the, at the time of death, if you are going on thinking, "Oh, Pakistan, my, is my enemy, enemy," then you get a birth in Pakistan. (laughter) Yes. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Because I shall get my next body according to my mental condition at the time of death. So just like our women are taught to become very chaste. Why? That is a process to give her a chance to become a male next life. A, a woman, if he's, if she is educated to become chaste, attached to the husband, then naturally at the time of death, she'll think of the man, and she gets immediately... That is promotion. That is promotion. Similarly, if a man is very much attached to his wife, he'll think at the time of his... He becomes woman. These are the science.

Lecture on BG 2.22 -- Hyderabad, November 26, 1972:

Take birth once, and becomes, defy God: "I don't care for God." And when Yamarāja comes, "All right. Whatever you like, you do." Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). These atheist class of men, who defy the authority of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they'll meet Kṛṣṇa. When? At the time of death, when Kṛṣṇa will take him, take everything, his body, his society, his country, his family, his bank balance, his house. Everything will be taken away. Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham. Mṛtyuḥ. Kṛṣṇa is appearing to the atheist class of men as sarva-haraḥ. Sarva-haraḥ means "Taking everything." I am very much proud. "Oh, I have got so much bank balance. I am the leader of this country. I am the father of so many children. I have got so beautiful wife and so..." So many things I am thinking, puffed-up. "I don't care for God. I am God." All right. At the time of death, are you God? Are you God at the time of death? God means controller. Can you control your death? Then how you are God? God, īśvara... Īśvara means controller. Are you īśvara? Are you controller? Can you control birth? Can you control death? Can you control disease? Can you control old age? Then what kind of God you are? The foolish, foolish person, mūḍha. They are called mūḍha. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ (BG 9.11). "The rascals only, avajānanti, defy Me."

Lecture on BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973:

So because he was pet to that youngest child Nārāyaṇa, he thought, "My son, this Nārāyaṇa can save me." He chanted, "Nārāyaṇa!" Oh, this "Nārāyaṇa" immediately gave him consciousness, that "What this Nārāyaṇa can help me? If Nārāyaṇa whom in my younger days I worshiped, He can save me." Immediately. Immediately Nārāyaṇa-sena came here, "Yes." Just see. Svalpam api—because in the childhood he served Nārāyaṇa for a few days or few years, he was remembering Nārāyaṇa, "If that Nārāyaṇa can save me." So Nārāyaṇa actually saved him, Nārāyaṇa. Ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ (SB 2.1.6). At the time of death, somehow or other, if you can remember Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, your life is successful. Therefore, practice, practice, while you are strong, while you are in good life, practice how to remember Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, always.

Lecture on BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973:

Therefore Kulaśekhara, Mahārāja Kulaśekhara, he has written his Stotra-mālā, very important. In the first stotra he said:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

He's thinking, "My Lord, Kṛṣṇa, now I am strong. Kindly give me the chance to die immediately. Give me the chance. Because now I can remember. But if I die in the natural way, when I am too old, it may be that kapha-pitta, because this is the body of tri-dhātuka, kapha, pitta, vāyu, so my throat will be choked up by mucus and I may be unconscious, I may not be able to chant at the time of death Your name. So now I am strong, please immediately give me death."

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

That is this... I mean, the technique of death. At the time of death, whatever you are thinking, that means you are preparing your next life like that. Therefore the whole life shall be so processed but at the same time, at the end of our life we can at least think of Kṛṣṇa. Then sure and certain you go back to Kṛṣṇa. This practice has to be done. Because unless we practice while we are strong and stout and our consciousness is right thinking. So instead of wasting time in so many things for sense gratification, if we go on concentrating on Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that means we are making a solution of all the miseries of our material existence. That is the process, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Melbourne, June 27, 1974:

Just like in the Western world they are thinking that "We are enjoying life." Of course, enjoying life in his consideration. But how long, sir, you will enjoy this life? You have got very nice car or very nice building and you are enjoying as Australian, as American. That's all right. But how long you shall remain American and Australian? That question does not come to the dull brain because he does not know that he is eternal. And this is temporary dress. I... Somehow or other, I wanted this, and prakṛti, nature, has given me. But nature has not given me the right to remain as American, Australian, Indian, no. That is not possible. You wanted; you enjoyed this life for a certain time, and then again you create your desire." Now I am very powerful, very happy. Let me love dog instead of God"—that means you are preparing your next life as dog because it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that at the time of death the mentality which you have created throughout the whole life, that will carry you to other body process. It is very scientific. Anta-kāle tu māṁ smaran.

Lecture on BG 3.31-43 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1969:

Madhudviṣa: The Bhagavad-gītā has stated that whatever one's consciousness is during his lifetime will be at the time of his death, and that will determine his next body. Now, one who is living very lustily during his lifetime, his mind will be on that body.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So there are many varieties of life. Just like somebody is very lusty, and he wants sex enjoyment so many times a day. So there are many animals, many birds. They are given the opportunity like that. Just like the pigeons, the sparrows. Or there are many birds, the swans, the ducks. They have got every day twenty times, sex intercourse. So this facility is given to them. You see? Similarly, somebody wants to eat meats and blood. He is given the chance to become a tiger. So Kṛṣṇa is giving chance everyone. And one who is very dull, cannot understand simply, oh, the sense gratification, they are made the dullest possible, like trees, stand up for thousands of years.

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Montreal, August 24, 1968:

So this nature of material world is like that. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). Chewing the chewed. You chew something, you throw it, and again somebody comes, chewing it. You see: punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). Bhāgavata says that they are engaged with this material body and material activities. Just like you are changing, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19), we are changing our body from one body to another. Similarly, as, with the change of my body my activities are also changed. The material is supplied by the material nature and my activities are different. In this way I am going on. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). But we cannot come to the conclusion that if there is any possibility for eternal life or eternal activity or no change, because you don't want change. Even at the time of death you are very sorry because you have to change the body. Even for changing one apartment for another apartment you are sorry. Therefore for a sannyāsī it is recommended that he should not live more than three days in a place. Because as soon as he lives more than three days, he'll get some attachment. Attachment. So he is forbidden.

Lecture on BG 4.8 -- Montreal, June 14, 1968:

So similarly, the ultimate change of this body is called death. When this body is no more workable, then we transmigrate to another body. That body is offered to us according to our consciousness. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). At the time of death, the situation of your consciousness makes you ready for accepting a similar body. And if you quit this body in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you get a body by which you can associate with Kṛṣṇa. That is to be understood, how it is possible. Therefore the training should be Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Lecture on BG 4.9 -- Montreal, June 19, 1968:

There are 8,400,000 different kinds of bodies, species of bodies. And by our activities, as we prepare our mentality at the last moment of our death, then we get the similar body. We carry the mind, mind is the subtle body. So the mentality carries me to a certain position in the womb of a mother where I get this gross material supplies and again I develop a certain kind of body and come out from the mother's womb and begin to work according to that body. This is the process.

Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:

In India there is a common saying. They say, bhajan koro pūjān koro morte janle haya. The meaning is that however you may meditate upon... You may be very great meditator, or you may be a great religionist or yogi or a very learned scholar or whatever you may be, but everything will be tested at the time of your death. How far you have made progress, that will be tested at the time of your death. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Ante. Ante means at the end. Because this body is sure to end. Antavanta ime dehāḥ. This body is antavat; it is destined to be ended. "As sure as death." But nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ. Śarīriṇaḥ means the spirit spark which is occupying this body. That is nitya; that is eternal.

Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:

Now, just like we are trying to understand from Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, Arjuna is trying to understand. Arjuna also said to Kṛṣṇa, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam: (BG 2.7) "Just I am surrendering unto You. Oh, accept me as Your disciple, śiṣya." Śiṣya means disciple. Śiṣya, this is a grammatical word. Śās-dhātu. Śās-dhātu, it is a verb from which this word śiṣya comes. Śiṣya means one who accepts voluntarily the disciplinary measures from the higher authority. He is called a śiṣya. So in order to acquire, in order to be situated in that higher nature, we have to approach a personality like Kṛṣṇa or His representative, and so the best thing is that... Arjuna. Arjuna, he got this instruction from Bhagavad-gītā, and he developed that higher nature. So we have to take from Arjuna as it is. So we have to keep ourself always in the higher nature. Then the result will be that at the time of death, at the end, tyaktvā deham, tyaktvā deham.

Lecture on BG 4.14 -- Bombay, April 3, 1974:

It doesn't require education. Formerly everyone was taking education simply by hearing. There was no book. Formerly everyone was taking education simply by hearing. There was no book. Therefore all the Vedic knowledge is called śruti. Śrutibhir apanya.(?) Śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ. Śruti. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is opening centers just to give you chance to hear about Kṛṣṇa, only hearing. Sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṇ-manobhiḥ. Simply by hearing, you become perfect. Just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja. At the time of point of his death, he had no time to perform any yajña or any big, big thing. He simply heard Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam carefully. Śrī-viṣṇoḥ śravaṇe parīkṣid abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane. And he became perfect simply by hearing.

Lecture on BG 6.30-34 -- Los Angeles, February 19, 1969:

So if you practice your life in this way, never lost to Kṛṣṇa, so at the time of death you are sure to go to Kṛṣṇa. Where you are going? You are not lost to Kṛṣṇa. Kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31). And Kṛṣṇa promises, "My dear Arjuna, My pure devotee is never lost to Me." Don't be lost to Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection of life. That is perfection of life. Simply don't be lost to Kṛṣṇa. You can forget all things, but don't forget Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hyderabad, April 27, 1974:

This is very intelligent question. Kṛṣṇa says therefore that "You have solved all the problems of miserable condition of life. That is all right. But you should always keep in front these problems, prominently: janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānu..." Janma, the tribulations of janma, to live within the womb of the mother, everyone, we have suffered, but we have forgotten. Similarly, we are awaiting another suffering at the time of death. That is also suffering. Janma-mṛtyu. Then, when we take birth, we get old. That is also suffering. And we suffer from diseases. But as we are spirit soul... That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). The spirit soul does not die after the annihilation of this body. That is our position. We are accepting different types of bodies, but we are eternal, part and parcel of the Supreme. Not only eternal, full of knowledge and blissful.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- London, August 4, 1971:

Kṛṣṇa teaches. Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācin..., nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). "This ātmā is never born and he never dies." Na jāyate mriyate vā. Nitya, eternal; śāśvata, ever-existing, śāśvata. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. "Don't think that because the body is finished, therefore he is finished. No." In another place Kṛṣṇa says, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). As we are changing body from babyhood to childhood, childhood to boyhood, boyhood to youth-hood, youth-hood to grown-up and old age—this is our practical experience, I have several times explained—similarly, this old body, when I give it up, I shall accept another body. What is that body? That will be given to you by the laws of nature according to your mentality. As you create your mentality, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke (BG 8.6), absorb your thought and mind at the time of death, then you are given a particular type of body, either in the womb of a human being or a cat or a dog or a demigod or a tree or so many.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- Nairobi, October 28, 1975:

Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda, it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā that if one thinks at the time of death, if he thinks of Kṛṣṇa, he goes to Kṛṣṇa. What if one thinks of his spiritual master?

Prabhupāda: He will go to Kṛṣṇa, because spiritual master is also going to Kṛṣṇa. (laughter) Now these questions should be on the subject matter which we have discussed. Don't bring outside question. Then there..., it will be no end. This is not the process. When we invite question—on the subject matter which we have spoken.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Montreal, June 3, 1968:

So if one dies... It is not for simply Kṛṣṇa conscious man. It is true for everyone that at the moment of his death, whatever he is thinking of, his next life is going to happen like that. So if you practice this Kṛṣṇa consciousness while you are strong enough, then naturally at the time of your death, when everything is oblivion... Because at the time of death you do not know what is the condition of my health, of my body. But therefore, if I practice... This is called abhyāsa-yoga. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gaminaḥ (BG 8.8). If one practices this yoga process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then paramaṁ puruṣam adyam—he can attain, he can arrive the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). If one goes to that place, he hasn't got to come back again to this miserable world.

Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Bombay, February 19, 1974:

Just like old garments we give up and take another garment, similarly, so long we are in the material world, we accept another material body. This is called transmigration of soul, death and birth. But when you are liberated from this conditioned life—you are fit for going to the spiritual world in your spiritual body—that is perfection of life. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9). That is wanted. That is wanted. You give up this body. Don't accept any more any material body, either Indra's body, Brahmā's body, or the body of the worm of the stool. You can have any body, according to your mentality. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Your body, are you making now. So at the time of death, the condition of your mind will transfer you with mind, intelligence, subtle body. They are seeing that this gross body's finished, but they cannot see that there is another body which is made of mind, intelligence and ego. That is called subtle body. That will be explained, next verse.

Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Nairobi, October 31, 1975:

Indian man (3): When the soul leaves the body does it go with the intelligence and ego and...

Prabhupāda: This material covering, that forces him to get another body according to the mind desires. At the time of death the mind's desire—he gets the similar body. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Therefore we have to practice how to remember Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. Then immediately we are transferred to the spiritual world.

Indian man (4): At the time of death, soul goes with the actions, the past?

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is action. If you... Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām (BG 9.25). If you practice devotional service, then at the time of death there is great possibility of understanding or remembering Kṛṣṇa. Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām. So you have to practice. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means we are leading person to make the mind absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then there is chance of remembering Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. And as Kṛṣṇa says, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti: (BG 4.9) "That person, after giving up this body, he does not get any more material body." Then what kind of body? Mām eti. He gets the similar body as Kṛṣṇa, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), for eternal life of blissfulness.

Indian man (2): But suppose a rascal remembers at the time of death Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: A rascal cannot. (laughter) But even if he remembers...

Indian man (2): He'll go to Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Nairobi, October 31, 1975:

Indian man (5): At the time of death some people becomes unconscious...

Prabhupāda: No unconscious. Consciousness there is. So long one is not death, mean, the soul is gone out of the body, his consciousness is there even in the sleeping condition.

Indian man (5): But can he hear? We say "Rāma, Rāma." Can he hear that?

Prabhupāda: If he is fortunate.

Lecture on BG 7.4-5 -- Bombay, March 30, 1971:

So the material existence, external feature of the Lord, is the, are these eight elements, namely bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca (BG 7.4). They are subtle forms. Ahaṅkāra, egotism, mind and intelligence. They are also material. They are not spiritual. One who thinks that mental speculation is spiritual speculation, that is wrong. Here from Bhagavad-gītā we understand the mind is also subtle form of matter, and actually that is so. Because we get another body after death according to the mental situation at the time of death. The mind, intelligence, the subtle body... Just like at night our subtle body, mind, intelligence works, and we think that we have got a separate body and have gone somewhere else from our house, from our room. We forget this material body. Similarly, after death, my mind and intelligence carry me to another separate body according to my thinking at the time of death. So false ego. This false ego is that "I am something of material product." This is called false ego.

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

So by our activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we become free from the contamination of these three modes of material nature, and thus, at the end, we become purely, purely spiritual, transcendental. Here it is stated:

sādhibhūtādhidaivaṁ māṁ

sādhiyajñaṁ ca ye viduḥ

prayāṇa-kāle 'pi ca māṁ

te vidur yukta-cetasaḥ

"One who understands this science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness," sa-adhibhūtam adhidaivam, "so even at the time of his death, he remains steady in that Kṛṣṇa consciousness." And therefore his next birth is not in this material world, but in the spiritual world.

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

Now next chapter, Kṛṣṇa inquires, er, Arjuna inquires, "What is this adhibhūtam, adhidaivam, adhiyajñam?" These three questions are being put by Arjuna.

arjuna uvāca

kiṁ tad-brahma kim adhyātmaṁ

kiṁ karma puruṣottama

adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ proktam

adhidaivaṁ kim ucyate

Now, this, these are technical terms. What are these technical terms? First technical term is "brahma." What is Brahman? Arjuna's question is first: "What is Brahman?" Then next question is: "What is adhyātmā? What is adhyātmā, spirit?" Then next question is: adhibhūtam. Adhibhūtam means "What is these material elements?" And adhiyajña: "What is Supersoul?" And "At the time of death, what are the perception of these three things?" Very complicated questions. Very complicated question. Adhyātma-brahma, adhyātmā, adhibhūta and adhiyajña and adhidaiva.

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

Now, the real fact is that why these things are to be known? Now, Lord Kṛṣṇa says,

anta-kāle ca mām eva

smaran muktvā kalevaram

yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ

yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

(BG 8.5)

Now here is the critical point. The critical point is anta-kāle. Now, if you go on with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, your, the ultimate result of Kṛṣṇa consciousness... What is the ultimate result? The ultimate result is described here. Now, anta-kāle: "at the time of your death." That is called anta-kāle—now end everything, all our activities, all this proprietorship, everything is now ended. Not end. It is just going to, just at the verge of your point of death... Anta-kāle ca mām eva (BG 8.5). Mām eva. Kṛṣṇa says, mām: "unto Me, Kṛṣṇa." So therefore one who is always, constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, naturally, at the time of his death he'll think of Kṛṣṇa. This is a practice. This is a practice.

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

Just like that King, er, Kulaśekhara. He has got many nice verses about his devotional service, and in one verse he describes about his position. He says,

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

"Because at the time of death, my dear Kṛṣṇa, I do not know what will be my position, because at that time all the functions of my body will be stopped and naturally there will be a block in my throat of the coughs..." At the time of death... One who has seen a dying man, he'll see there is cough in this kaṇṭha, in this throat, in the channel, throat. So he prays, at the time of death, kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ: "By the derangement of the bodily function, when kapha will choke up my throat, then how I shall be able to chant? Because I am now healthy. I am now chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, but at that time, how I shall be able to chant? So therefore, while I am chanting now in good health, please let me die immediately so that I can die chanting." Yes. That is the prayer.

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

Here it is stated, anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram (BG 8.5). Just kalevaram. Kalevaram means this body, and when becomes freed from this body, he..., or gets out of the body and at the very same time he remembers Kṛṣṇa, then one who passes this body, life, in this way, yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti... Mad-bhāvaṁ yāti means he at once attains the nature of Kṛṣṇa: eternity, blissful and knowledge. This is the advantage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Because at the time of death, whatever you practice now in your healthy life, that will be... Just like asleep we dream of the things of our activities, similarly, this death is also a kind of dream. Death is a dream, er, sleep, sleeping. Death is nothing but sleeping for seven months. That's all. Sleeping for seven months, that is called death. Just like, in the operation table, one becomes unconscious for one hour, half an hour. Then he comes to his consciousness. Again he comes to the same point. So similarly, death is nothing but to remain practically unconscious for seven months. That's all.

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

ll. This body is left, and we enter into a particular womb of mother, and just to develop another body it takes about seven months. Then, after seven months, when the body is fit, then our consciousness comes back. Then we want to come out of the womb. And at the tenth month we come out. That is a very miserable condition. That is the miserable condition of birth. "But one who leaves his body in Kṛṣṇa consciousness," anta-kāle, "at the point of death," Kṛṣṇa says, yaḥ prayāti, "who leaves his body in this way," sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti (BG 8.5), "he at once attains the perfection like Me, like My nature. His nature is transcendental. Therefore one attains at once, transcendental." Yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ: "These things are to be taken up." Nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ: "There is no doubt about it."

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

So now Kṛṣṇa concludes... Of course, I shall conclude this portion after reading one verse. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran. Now, Kṛṣṇa has said that at the last point of your death, if you are in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then your next promotion is to the equal status of Kṛṣṇa. Mad-bhāvam: "in the same nature." Why? Now, the truth is:

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ

tyajaty ante kalevaram

taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya

sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

(BG 8.6)

The nature's law is, if you are practiced under certain condition of life, and at the end of death, if you think of that life, then your next birth... The next birth is, means, carrying the idea of this birth to the next birth. You are changing simply bodies, death. Suppose you are poet. You are a thoughtful poet. Now, when you change your body, oh, you'll still remain a poet. By changing your body, it does not become something else. So the thought is the real thing.

Lecture on BG 8.1 -- Geneva, June 7, 1974:

Then adhiyajñam. Adhiyajña, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu, Adhiyajña. Kathaṁ ko 'tra dehe 'smin madhusūdana: "Where the Adhiyajña, Supersoul, living within this body?" Prayāṇa-kāle ca kathaṁ jñeyo 'si niyatātmabhiḥ, niyatātmabhiḥ: "Those who are yogis or devotees, how do they meditate upon You, and at the time of death, prayāṇa-kāle, how he passes away?"

Lecture on BG 8.1 -- Geneva, June 7, 1974:

So after explaining all these different items, adhibhūtam adhiyajñam, the Supersoul, the material creation, the Puruṣottama, everything, then Kṛṣṇa said,

anta-kāle ca mām eva

smaran muktvā kalevaram

yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ

yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

(BG 8.5)

This is the ultimate end of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that anta-kāle, at the time of death, at the end of life, anta-kāle ca mām, "unto Me," anta-kāle ca mām eva (BG 8.5), "certainly," smaran, "remembering..." The Deity worship especially meant for this purpose, so that you go on worshiping the Deity of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, naturally you'll be practiced to think of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa always within your heart. This practice required. Anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā (BG 8.5). This is the mukti.

Lecture on BG 8.1 -- Geneva, June 7, 1974:

So that mukti you can have if you can remember Kṛṣṇa at the time of your death. So this is possible. If we are practiced to think of Kṛṣṇa always, naturally, at the time of death, at the time of end of this body, if we are so fortunate to think of Kṛṣṇa, His form, then we become materially free, no more this material body. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Practice. Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti (BG 8.5). In the fourth chapter, I think, we have read that,

vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā

man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ

bahavo jñāna-tapasā

pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ

(BG 4.10)

So that mad-bhāva, here it is said, yaḥ prayāti. Anyone who is passing away, who is leaving this body, thinking of Kṛṣṇa at the time of death, yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti (BG 8.5). Mad-bhāvam means spiritual nature, this spiritual world.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

In the Eighth Chapter, Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa says,

anta-kāle ca mām eva

smaran muktvā kalevaram

yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ

yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

(BG 8.5)

Anta-kāle means "at the time of death." "At the time of death, one who remembers Me..." Anta-kāle ca mām eva. Mām eva. Mām eva means... Eva means "certainly," and me means..., mām means "me." "Certainly Me." The Supreme Personality of Godhead says, "Certainly Me." That means Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa's expansion, the form—not formless. Mām. Formless... This is explained in the Twelfth Chapter, that kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām (BG 12.5). One who is attached to the impersonal Brahman, then his business is troublesome.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

We cannot perform real meditation. We cannot perform the preliminary activities. Yama niyama āsana prāṇāyāma. It is not possible at the present moment. So those principles are not rejected, but it is not possible at the present moment. Therefore Lord Caitanya says, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). As soon as you chant this transcendental vibration, Hare Kṛṣṇa, immediately the form of Kṛṣṇa is within yourself, without yourself. And here in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram (BG 8.5). "One who at the time of death simply thinks of Me," smaran, "simply by remembering," muktvā, "immediately he becomes liberated." Muktvā kalevaram, yaḥ prayāti. "Anyone who passes away from this body..." So what is the result? Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvam. Mad-bhāvam means he gets the next body just like Kṛṣṇa. That means that sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), eternal body, blissful life, and full of knowledge. Yaḥ prayāti sa mad...yāti. He attains, yāti. Nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ (BG 8.5). Do not be doubtful. It is fact.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

It is not a fact because somebody is thinking of Kṛṣṇa, he gets a body like Kṛṣṇa and goes to the Kṛṣṇa's abode. But it is the general rule. What is that? Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Anyone, at the time of his death, the mind, being absorbed by some kinds of thought, so he gets the body. And there are instances. Just like Bharata Mahārāja. Bharata Mahārāja, he was a great king, but at an early age, only—he was only twenty-four years old—he gave up his kingdom. Bharata Mahārāja means the king by whose name India is called Bhāratavarṣa. Not only India—this whole planet was known as Bhāratavarṣa. Gradually, it is declined. Just like recently we have partitioned, Pakistan. Similarly, the whole planet was known as Bhāratavarṣa. So anyway, that Bharata Mahārāja, at the time of his death, he had a pet deer. He thought of the deer and he became next life a deer. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa says that "It is not that because you think of Me you get a body like Me, but it is the general rule. If you think... At the time of your death, whatever you think, you carry the idea with your mind and you get the immediately a similar body." That means you are put into the womb of a mother to get a similar body. So instead of thinking of Kṛṣṇa always, if we think of our dog, as Bharata Mahārāja was thinking of the deer, oh, there is risk of getting a dog's body.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

So instead of thinking of Kṛṣṇa always, if we think of our dog, as Bharata Mahārāja was thinking of the deer, oh, there is risk of getting a dog's body.

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ

tyajaty ante kalevaram

taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya...

(BG 8.6)

"My dear Arjuna, he gets a similar body," sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ, "because he is always thoughtful of that particular body."

So this practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ. If you always think of Kṛṣṇa, naturally, you will think at the time of death Kṛṣṇa. And the result will be next life you get a body like Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Devotee: I'm not sure that I understand the process by which one might be thinking of something in his mind, and how that soul is put into a body similar to what that thought is. In other words, how can the soul be subject to what the mind is thinking of?

Prabhupāda: Because soul is now covered by the subtle body and the gross body. When the gross body stops to work... Just like at night the gross body is lying, but the subtle body mind is working. Therefore you are dreaming. The subtle body is working. So when you give up this body, your subtle body, mind, intelligence, that carries you very fine. Just like the flavor is carried by the air. If the air passes on some rose trees, the air becomes flavored like rose. There is no rose, but the flavor is there. Similarly, the flavor of your mentality, the flavor of your understanding, is carried. That is the subtle body. And you get a similar body. Therefore at the time of death the examination is tested, how one has advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The best thing is... It is said in the next verse, tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu (BG 8.7). Kṛṣṇa says, tasmāt sarveṣu... (break) ...of death you are transferred to a body like Kṛṣṇa in the abode of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Indian man: Supposing there is a person who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious during his life, but at the time of death he becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious. Then what his body...?

Prabhupāda: He goes to Kṛṣṇa.

Indian man: So that we can perform bad actions during our life and only at...

Prabhupāda: Yes, if you are so fortunate... Just like Ajāmila. Throughout the whole life he committed all sinful acts. But when he was at the point of death... He had a pet child whose name was Nārāyaṇa. So he was calling, "My dear boy Nārāyaṇa." So when he was calling Nārāyaṇa, he thought of Nārāyaṇa. So immediately he achieved Nārāyaṇa.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Indian man: But don't you think it is a contradiction that if a man is a bad throughout his life and only at the time of death he thinks of Kṛṣṇa and gets...?

Prabhupāda: No. That history of Ajāmila is different. In his childhood he was a son of a brāhmaṇa. He was faithfully discharging the duties of a brāhmaṇa. But accidentally, when he was young... He was married also. Accidentally, when he was young he was passing on the road and some śūdra girl and boy were embracing and kissing, and he became attracted. And he became attracted by the prostitute. And he left home, wife, and everything, and then he became a great dacoit and smuggler, and everything he did. But... And he had so many children. Youngest was Nārāyaṇa. So at the time of death..., because generally, people become attached to the youngest son, so he was calling "Nārāyaṇa." But he remembered, "Oh, that Nārāyaṇa." Reference to the context. As soon as he called Nārāyaṇa... In his boyhood he served Nārāyaṇa under the direction of his father, so he remembered Nārāyaṇa. Therefore it is not always possible, but therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. If somebody has executed devotional service even a little bit, oh, it may be, it can save him from the greatest danger.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Devotee or Guest: I have a question about the, taking a body of Kṛṣṇa after death if you're thinking of Kṛṣṇa at the time of death, or taking the body of a dog or a deer if you're thinking about that sort of thing when you die. There must be different kinds of taking of a body, because there are different kinds of bodies. The bodies of dogs and deers and things are not the same as the body of Kṛṣṇa. Now, how do you take on this form of Kṛṣṇa?

Prabhupāda: By thinking of Kṛṣṇa.

Guest: No, what I mean is how does the soul assume this form? How does it become...

Prabhupāda: Not become Kṛṣṇa. Just like you are spirit soul. When you take the body of a certain type of body, you act according to the body. Just like the dog is acting differently

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Guest (2): Swami, are we now... Are we all part of Kṛṣṇa and at the time of death if we think of Kṛṣṇa, like we become what? Like meshed in with Kṛṣṇa? Like now we're, say, suspended within Kṛṣṇa. But at the time of death, if we think of Him we merge. Is that what you're saying?

Prabhupāda: Yes. You merge means you merge into the spiritual existence, but that does not mean you lose your individuality. You are already merged in the matter. We are all merged. Now your soul, my soul, his soul, you cannot distinguish where is the soul. But body, the material body, we have got everyone. But in spite of our being merged in the matter, we have got our individuality. Similarly, to become merged in spiritual existence does not mean that we lose our individuality. Try to understand. Just like we are all merged into the matter. If you dissect my body, you won't find where is that small particle spirit. It is already merged, but still, we have got individuality. That means spirit soul is individual.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Devotee: Swamiji, while it's true that anyone who thinks of Kṛṣṇa as he is dying can take on the body of Kṛṣṇa, is it not true that if you don't spend your life thinking of Kṛṣṇa, it may be difficult at the time of death to remember Him because of attachment?

Prabhupāda: Certainly. If you don't practice, then at the time of examination, certainly you'll fail. (chuckles) If you say, "All right. I shall see in the examination hall. I shall write everything nice," that is nonsense. You have to study nicely before the examination. Therefore it is said, yudhya ca mām anusmara (BG 8.7). Practice it. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena. What is yoga? Yoga means practice. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā (BG 8.8). Yoga means you do not allow your mind to go anywhere else. Just try to engage. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). Always fix up in Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest type of yoga.

Lecture on BG 8.12-13 -- New York, November 15, 1966:

We have been discussing about the transmigration of the soul. The... There are different kinds of transcendentalists who are called yogi: jñāna-yogī, dhyāna-yogī and bhakti-yogī. All the yogis, they are eligible to be transferred to the spiritual world. The yoga system is meant for linking our connection. We are eternally connected with the Supreme Lord. Somehow or other, we are now in material contamination. The..., the process is that we have to go back again. So that linking process is called yoga. Yoga, the actual translation of the word yoga means plus, plus, just the opposite of minus. Now, at the present moment, we are minus God, or minus Supreme. So when we make ourself plus, connected, then our human form of life is perfect. So at the time of death we have to finish that perfection. So long we are alive, we have to practice how to approach that point of perfection, and at the time of death, when we give up this material body, that perfection has to be realized.

Lecture on BG 8.12-13 -- New York, November 15, 1966:

So for the last three days we have been discussing. Prayāṇa-kāle manasā 'calena. Prayāṇa-kāle means "at the time of death." Just like the students, they prepare two years, three years, five years, in their college education, and the final test is their examination, and if they pass in the examination, they get the degree. Similarly, in our living condition, if we prepare for the examination at the time of death and we pass the examination, then we are transferred to the spiritual world. So prayāṇa-kāle. The whole thing is examined at the time of death. Just the other day I recited one Bengali prover, proverb. This is a very common saying in Bengal. They say bhajan kara pūjān kara mṛtyu-kāle haya:(?) "Our, whatever you do for perfection, at the time of your death it will be tested." At the time of..., a tested.

Lecture on BG 8.12-13 -- New York, November 15, 1966:

So Bhagavad-gītā is describing what should we do at the, at the point of our death, when we are giving up this body, this present body. So for the yogis, dhyāna-yogis, this prescription is recited here, sarva-dvārāṇi saṁyamya mano hṛdi-nirudhya ca. Sarva-dvārāṇi means... This system is called pratyāhāra. In the technical language of yogic system it is called pratyāhāra. Pratyāhāra means "just the opposite." Now, the senses, my eye, my eyes are engaged in seeing the worldly beauty. Now I have to retract from enjoying that beauty, and I have to see inside the beauty. That is called pratyāhāra. Similarly, I have to hear the oṁkāra sound from within. So all the senses are to be stopped in their external activities—that is the perfection of yoga—and concentrate the mind on Viṣṇu-mūrti. Mano hṛdi. The mind is very agitating, so it has to be fixed up on the heart.

Lecture on BG 8.12-13 -- New York, November 15, 1966:

So for the yogi, the process is how to give up this body.

om ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma

vyāharan mām anusmaran

yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ

sa yāti paramāṁ gatim

At the time of death, point of death, "Ommmm," if he can pronounce om, oṁkāra... Oṁkāra is the concise form of transcendental vibration, oṁkāra. So om ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma vyāharan. If he can vibrate this sound, oṁkāra, at the same time, mām anusmaran, plus he remembers Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu... The whole yoga system is to concentrate his mind to Viṣṇu. But the impersonalists, they imagine that this is the form of Viṣṇu, or the Lord. But those who are personalists, they do not imagine; they see actual form of the Supreme Lord.

Lecture on BG 8.12-13 -- New York, November 15, 1966:

Therefore this Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you'll have full pleasure, full pleasure, the same pleasure. Not the same pleasure. Just like here the highest pleasure of this world is sex life. That is also perverted, so diseased. So even in the spiritual world there is sex pleasure in Kṛṣṇa, but that's not... We should not think that this is something like this. No. But janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Unless that sex life is there, it cannot be reflected here. It is simply perverted reflection. The actual life is there, in Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is full of pleasure. So best thing is to train ourself, train ourself in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and then it will be possible in this life at the time of death to transfer ourself into the spiritual world and enter into the Kṛṣṇaloka, or the Kṛṣṇa planet, and enjoy with the association of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

Last day we have been discussing the, how the impersonalists, they transfer themselves in the spiritual kingdom. The yogis and the jñānīs, they are generally impersonalists. So for them, the process—at the time of death, they vibrate the transcendental sound om, oṁkāra, and by that way they transfer to the spiritual world, but they do not enter into the spiritual planet. This point we have discussed. And the risk is that if we do not have any rest in the spiritual planet, if we remain in the outer space only, then there is risk of coming down again in this material world.

Lecture on BG 8.20-22 -- New York, November 18, 1966:

If we want to penetrate the outer space, we should be able to penetrate this outer space or this covering, then enter into that spiritual sky, and there it is called paramāṁ gatim. That sort of journey is called supreme. Not that you go up 25,000 away from this planet and again come back. This is not very heroism. Oh, you should have to penetrate the whole material space and then penetrate the cover and then reach the real sky. Yes. And that information is here also in the Bhagavad-gītā. Paramāṁ gatim. That is the superior journey. That you cannot do with your tiny sputniks. It is not possible. That you have to do by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ (BG 8.6). One who always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and if by fortune at the time of death he thinks of Kṛṣṇa, he is at once transferred within a second. That is the process.

Lecture on BG 8.20-22 -- New York, November 18, 1966:

Simply have some eating and sleeping and mating and some defense and quarreling like cats and dogs—this is not civilization. The human civilization is this, that he should properly utilize this human form of life and take advantage of this knowledge and prepare himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that always, twenty-four hours, cent percent, he will be absorbed in Kṛṣṇa and at the time of death at once transferred there. This should be the process of life. Therefore we have taken this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Join us. Cooperate with us. You'll... Yourself will be benefited, and the world will be benefited, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 8.22-27 -- New York, November 20, 1966:

If somebody dies accidentally during this period as stated, so somebody can attain liberation and somebody may not attain. And that is doubtful.

naite sṛtī pārtha jānan

yogī muhyati kaścana

tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu

yoga-yukto bhavārjuna

(BG 8.7)

But one person who is bhakti-yogī, who is always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for him there is no question of such chance. It is sure. It is sure. Even he dies at the time of this southern or northern, he has nothing to concern about that chance. Because we have already discussed that at the time of death if you can think of Kṛṣṇa, then at once you are transferred to the Kṛṣṇaloka, Kṛṣṇa platform.

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 7, 1972:

"Kṛṣṇa, now I am healthy and my mind is just like swan. The swan likes to entangle himself with the stem of lotus flower." So, kṛṣṇa tvadīya-padapaṅkaja-pañjarāntam adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ. So rāja-haṁsaḥ. The mind is rājahaṁsaḥ. It should be trained to be entangled with the lotus stem of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. Otherwise, at the time of death, kapha-vata-pittaiḥ, the three elements, kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ, they will be strong, and we may not remember. If we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa immediately, if we begin, practice this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and think of Kṛṣṇa always, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), this is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Very simple thing: always thinking of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 9.3 -- Toronto, June 20, 1976:

So we should take advantage of it. If you don't take advantage of it, aśraddadhānāḥ, no faith, no interest... Aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣāḥ, the human being. This is a chance of human form of life to accept the system which is offered by God Himself. That is our duty. But if one is not interested, then the result is that aprāpya mām. "He cannot get Me." Aprāpya mām. So if we don't get Kṛṣṇa, then what is the wrong there? Very, very wrong. That Kṛṣṇa says: nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani, (BG 9.3) then he remains in the cycle of birth and death. That is not very pleasing job. We are making material efforts to make nice road, nice cars, nice skyscraper building, nice other facilities of life. But why I am doing this? This is practical. If I am called by death. How, we are not very happy, "Oh, I am attempting to build this and now I am dying," this is very painful. Sometimes at the time of death, they cry, that "I could not finish my business."

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Melbourne, April 22, 1976:

Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayo yāḥ (BG 14.4). In every forms of life, as many living entities are there... I have explained, there are different forms of life. Even within the water there are 900,000 forms of life. This is Vedic knowledge. You can take directly knowledge. You can understand. You do not require to dive into the water and make study, aquatic research work. You take the knowledge from the Vedic literature. You immediately understand that there are 900,000 species of life. This is different forms. The living entity, soul, is everywhere. But according to his karma... Just like nowadays people are very fond of diving within the water and swim. This has become a fashion. So next life they are going to become fish. Yes. Because yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). If you at the time of death, if you think of that, how to swim very nicely within the water, that means next life nature will give you a fish life. You get it. That is God's mercy. Why you artificially try to become a fish? You become actually fish. That is nature's gift. So you'll get. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran. This is stated in the Bhagavad... Because whatever we practice in our life, so that concept of life, that imagination, continues.

Lecture on BG 9.7-10 -- New York, November 25, 1966:

You are eternal, I am eternal, God is eternal, and there is a place which is eternal. Why not transfer yourself? Then that is called eternal life. And the modes and the process which help you to transfer yourself into that eternal place, that is called sanātana-dharma. When we speak of sanātana-dharma, don't think that sanātana-dharma is meant for the Hindus. Sanātana means eternal, and dharma means occupation. So you have to take to that eternal occupation so that you can be transferred into that eternal kingdom. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the beginning of that eternal occupation. If you take to this, if you practice this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, eternal occupation, then, as we have already explained in the previous chapters, that at the time of your death when you leave this body, as soon as you think of these three eternals—Kṛṣṇa eternal; I am eternal; I want to be engaged in the eternal—you are at once transferred. It is very easy thing.

Lecture on BG 9.24-26 -- New York, December 12, 1966:

Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram. We have discussed this verse that at the time of death my mental condition, whatever my mental condition is at that time, at the time of my death, I am just going to have a similar body, according to the mental condition at the time of my death. So if we are in constantly engaged in Kṛṣṇa, transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then naturally we shall be thinking of Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. This is the practice. This is the practice. Sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitāḥ (BG 8.6). Unless you practice... Just like if you have to play on the stage, you have to perform several rehearsals, or if you have to appear in some examination, then you prepare yourself, what sort of question may be there, and so, similarly, if we at all want to transfer ourselves to that planet, Kṛṣṇaloka, cintāmaṇi-dhāma (Bs. 5.29), then we have to practice. We have to practice in this life.

Lecture on BG 9.34 -- New York, December 26, 1966, 'Who is Crazy?':

And we accepted another body not according to my selection. That selection depends on the law of nature. That selection depends on law of nature. You cannot say at the time of death, but you can think of. You can say that, I mean to say, individuality and that selection is all there. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Just, at the time of your death, your mentality, as your thoughts will develop, you'll get the next birth according to that body. So the intelligent man, who is not crazy, he should understand that I am not this body. First thing. I am not this body. Then he'll understand that what is his duty? Oh, as spirit soul, what is his duty?

Lecture on BG 13.1-3 -- Durban, October 13, 1975:

So God is so great friend of ours. He is always witnessing, witnessing. And as I am desiring, God is giving us facility. "All right, you want to enjoy like this? You take this body and enjoy." Actually you are not enjoying. When we have no discrimination of food, we can eat anything and everything, just like the hogs and pigs, so God says, "All right, you take the body of a pig and hog, and you can eat even up to stool. I give you the facility." That is as we are desiring.

So God is supplying a type of body for our enjoyment.

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati

bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni

yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

(BG 18.61)

He orders the material nature that "This individual soul wants a certain type of body to enjoy like this, so give him." So material nature immediately makes ready a type of body. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante... (BG 8.6). So at the time of death, as our desires, my mind is obsessed with certain type of desire—immediately a similar body is ready. The... Daiva-netreṇa, by superior law, the living entity is entered into the womb of a particular mother and he develops the particular body. Then he comes out and enjoys or suffers. This is going on.

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Bombay, December 30, 1972:

So this is not very good business. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). We accept... Just like we have got this now human form of body, Mr. Such-and-such, very good position, very good business, very good... But at any moment, I'll be kicked out. At any moment. That is no guarantee. And again I'll have to accept according to my karma, another body where I may not get this position. I may be... I may not be even human being. Because, according to my mentality, I'll get the body. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). Our next birth will be settled according to the mental condition at the time of death.

Lecture on BG 13.15 -- Bombay, October 9, 1973:

So we cannot see even mind, intelligence, what to speak of seeing the soul. So we cannot see even the individual soul which is living within your body, within my body. You cannot see my soul, I cannot see your soul. Just like when a person dies, his sons and daughters or relatives cry, "Oh, our father has gone." Now, father has gone, but the father which you have seen so long, the hands and legs and head, that is lying there. Why do you say father has gone? That means the thing which has gone from within the body of the father, he has never seen, neither it is possible to see. But at the time of death he understands that my real father, the soul, which was within this body, he has now gone. Therefore our vision is always imperfect.

Lecture on BG 13.17 -- Bombay, October 11, 1973:

So two things. We are at liberty to make our choice. If we want to enjoy this material world, Kṛṣṇa will provide it, provide all facilities. You can enjoy. But Kṛṣṇa says that you'll never be happy, never be happy. You'll simply be more entangled. More entangled means now I have got this human form of body, but according to my desire at the time of death I may get another body, which may not be human form of body. There are eight million four hundred thousand forms of bodies. I can get one of them. These are very subtle things. One has to understand it. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). At the time of death our next body will be decided according to my mental condition.

Lecture on BG 13.20 -- Bombay, October 14, 1973:

So the enjoyable is this matter, this material world, and the living entities, they are trying to enjoy. They are not actually enjoyer. They are suffering. They are becoming entangled because by this enjoying spirit we are developing different types of mentality, and at the time of death, according to that mentality, I get the next body. That means by this enjoying spirit I am getting entangled. I am not becoming free. If at the time of, if I live like dogs, dog mentality, then naturally at the time of death my mentality will be like a dog and naturally I get a dog's body. Then I enjoy. The dog is also enjoying. They forget. The animals... The ant is also enjoying, and Lord Brahmā is also enjoying. So this puruṣa spirit is material life.

Lecture on BG 16.11-12 -- Hawaii, February 7, 1975:

Kaṁsa was a great asura, but still, he was thinking of future life. When he was informed that his sister's son, eighth son, will kill him, so he was trying to kill his sister. "Because sister is the source of the nephew coming, so better finish the sister." So still he was thinking, "What people will say? I shall kill my sister." So they were also thinking of future. But at the present moment the asuras are so advanced that they don't think of future life also. Don't think. Therefore pralayantam. Pralayantam means annihilation. Sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ (BG 8.6). The result is at the same time... Because at the time of death, yaṁ yaṁ bhāvaṁ smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram. Pralayantam means at the time of death, when we give up this body. Upāśritāḥ. Then we get a similar body next life. That is, I mean to say, arranged by the nature's law. Nature has nothing to do. It will automatically follow.

Lecture on BG 16.11-12 -- Hawaii, February 7, 1975:

Just like you infect some disease, nature's law is that you must suffer from that disease. Nobody has got to do anything. The law is so... Nature's law is like that. If you take more food than you can digest... (aside:) (child crying) Where is that child? Then immediately there will be dysentery. This is nature's law. If you take more than you can digest, then immediately there will be indigestion, means you cannot assimilate so much food. That is nature's law. If you touch fire, either you touch or your innocent child touch, the fire will burn it. Fire will not consider that "Here is a child. Let me excuse." No, it will burn. This is nature's law. Similarly, the thoughts which you are maintaining during your lifetime, if that thought becomes prominent—naturally it becomes—at the time of death, then you are going to get a similar body. If you are thinking like a demon, then you get the demon's body next life. And if you are thinking like a devotee, then you get your next life back to home, back to Godhead. This is nature's law.

Lecture on BG 16.11-12 -- Hawaii, February 7, 1975:

Therefore, if you practice instead of thinking like the demons, how to gratify senses... That is the demonic thought. They are concerned with this body. If you think of Kṛṣṇa, how to serve Him, that is your perfection of life. Because you'll think at the time of death of Kṛṣṇa. Ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ (SB 2.1.6). That is the perfection of life. Ante, at the time of death, if you remember Kṛṣṇa, then your life is successful. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). So we have to do like that, not like the asuras or demons. Thinking must be there, but if you think of this body—how to keep it very comfortably, how to enjoy senses, how to have more money, how to have more men or women, how to see naked dance, how to do, how to this, how to this—then you are demon. And at the time of death, naturally we shall think of. Then I get again demonic life or animal life or tree life.

Lecture on BG 16.11-12 -- Hawaii, February 7, 1975:

There are so many different forms of life. That is in our presence. Before us there are so many examples. If you get a life of a tree, naked... Tree is naked. He's not ashamed to remain naked. And for ten thousand years you stand up. Wherefrom this life comes? It requires thought. Why the world is not full of one kind of forms of life? Why there are different types of life? Because different desires and nature's law. Nature's law, there is no excuse, the same thing, that if a child even touches fire, nature is not very merciful. It will burn. Similarly, at the time of death we have to think very rightly. That is required. That is human life. You have to train yourself in such a way that at the time of death you think of Kṛṣṇa.