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. Bhāgavata says that they are engaged with this material body and material activities. Just like you are changing, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate, 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.
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 we 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. But at the present moment everything has changed.
So bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate. We are in the existence of changing, always transforming from one platform to another, one form to another, one business to another. But our nature is eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). This is it . . . all this explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. So how we can get that eternal life, eternal nature, eternal happiness and eternal knowledge—the Bhagavad-gītā is meant for that purpose. If you are interested for eternity, then Bhagavad-gītā is very congenial.
So this science was spoken first of all to Vivasvān, the sun-god. He spoke to his son Manu, and Manu spoke to his son Ikṣvāku. And in the second verse, the Lord says, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam: "In this way, by disciplic succession," evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2). That means the process of understanding this particular type of yoga . . .
(break) . . . any yoga or this yoga—is to understand from disciplic succession. Paramparā. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). Rājarṣayaḥ means all the names mentioned here, either Vivasvān or Manu or Ikṣvāku, they were all great emperors and kings. Formerly the emperors and kings were familywise. Just like . . . at least, in England we have got the king by familywise, in every country it was . . . now monarchy is abolished. So these kṣatriyas, they were qualified.
There was no question of democracy. At the present moment, by democracy if somebody can some way or other acquire some votes, he becomes the chief man. But formerly the practice was that a qualified man who is trained, a king, he was on the seat. They were called rājarṣi. Rājarṣi means practically they were sages. Just like Mahārāja Janaka.