Ātmānaṁ sarvato rakṣet. One should give first protection to the ātmā. What is that protection? Protection from the onslaught of māyā, material nature. That is protection. At the present moment, I am under the influence of māyā, under the influence of the three qualities of māyā. So when I get the opportunity of this human form of life, my first business is how to protect this ātmā, soul.
The soul is transmigrating from one body to another. How foolish they have become! We are enjoying this nice body, human body or American body or very beautiful body. But next moment I do not know what body I am going to get. But those who are in the knowledge how transmigration takes place, they can say what kind of body you are going to take next by your activities.
We are preparing our body in our present life. Just like we have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Our attempt is to prepare for having a spiritual body. That is the whole attempt. And those who are not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in material consciousness, they'll have also a body, but this material body means full of miseries. Any body you take, either you take the body of king or you take the body of a dog, the body is miserable. It does not mean that when there is disease, only the dog's body suffers, not the king's body. Everyone has to suffer.
So, ātmānaṁ sarvato rakṣet means . . . real meaning is you should give protection to the ātmā, means trying to save this soul, your soul, or yourself, from this transmigration of the body. And the plain truth, very simple truth, is given in Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Simply by understanding what is Kṛṣṇa . . . that is also not very difficult to understand if you follow the scriptural injunction. What is Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). He is not ordinary man. His body is sac-cid-ānanda, full of bliss, eternal, and full of knowledge.
So is it very difficult to understand? He has given proof that Kṛṣṇa is always enjoying bliss. And Kṛṣṇa's instruction, knowledge, there is no comparison, Bhagavad-gītā and so many other instructions. And He is eternal. Just like the sun—sun is eternal, day and night. It is our adjustment of this planet. So Kṛṣṇa is there, just like the sun is there always in the sky, but we think, "This is night, this is day."
That is adjustment of this planet. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is always there. When He is visible we say that "Kṛṣṇa is living," and when He's not visible we say: "Kṛṣṇa is dead." So simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa, janma karma me divyaṁ tattvataḥ (BG 4.9), in truth, not whimsically. Not by your fertile brain, speculation—"like this," "like that," "maybe," "perhaps . . ." Not this nonsense. Just try to understand Kṛṣṇa.
So simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ tyaktvā deham, that person, after leaving this body, mām eti, he goes to Kṛṣṇa. And who can go to Kṛṣṇa unless he has got a spiritual body, the same sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1)?
Unless one has the same vigrahaḥ . . . just like we can understand that when we take birth in a particular place, say in Greenland, which is always full with ice, or some other place, so you have got a particular type of body you get. There the animals, there the man, they have got a particular type of body. They can bear the severe cold. We cannot.