According to the activities of that particular person, he's awarded promotion, increment of pay, or sometimes degraded and fired off. Two things are there. Similarly, for all our activities which we are doing, there are witnesses. The sun is witness, the moon is witness, the day is witness, the air is witness and, above all witnesses, God Himself as the Supersoul, He's sitting in everyone's heart. He's also witness. So we cannot hide any activity from the eyes of God.
So according to our work . . . therefore in the śāstra it is said, daiva-netreṇa. Daiva means God, and netra, netreṇa means under supervision. So karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur deha upapattaye (SB 3.31.1). Jantu, jantu means living entities; deha means this body; upapattaye, "for manufacturing." Now we have got this human body. Next life it may not be human body—something else, better or lower. That will be decided by the superior examination. Daiva-netreṇa.
So this is going on, but people do not know what is this science, how the spirit soul is transmigrating from one body to another—not only in one duration of life. In one duration of life there are so many changes of body. The body first manufactured within the womb of the mother is very small, just like chick pea, small. And it develops. And there are holes.
The holes develop into nine holes: two eyes, two ears, two nostril, one mouth, one genital, one rectum. In this way the body develops. And so long it requires to develop within the embryo, within the mother's womb, it remains there. And when it is sufficiently developed to grow outside, it comes out. Then it grows the body grows. Grows means changing the body.
Growing, we . . . we are imperceptibly—cannot understand—but it is actually changing the body. Just like in your childhood you had a small body. That is no longer existing. That means you have changed your body. Similarly, you'll have to change this body. When this body will not work anymore . . . because it is material. Every material things deteriorate, and it becomes useless at certain length of time. Any machine, any cloth. Therefore it has been taken as dress, vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya (BG 2.22).
So this is going on, but unfortunately modern universities, educational system, they do not know anything about this. And still, they are very much proud of advancement of education. Actually, there is no education. Without this knowledge, spiritual knowledge, this education for earning bread—eating, sleeping, mating—that can be done without education. The animals, they are not educated. They are not technologist, or they have no education in the universities, degrees; they're also eating, sleeping, mating and defending.
So if our education is meant for simply eating, sleeping, mating and defending, then what is the difference? That is not education. Real education is to understand what you are. That is real education. Ātma-jñāna. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said:
- parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto
- yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam
- (SB 5.5.5)
So long a man does not develop consciousness to understand his self, ātma-tattvam, the truth of the self, then whatever he's doing in ignorance, it is all defeat for his life.