Now why . . . one may say: "If I get next life in a very rich family and becomes very rich man and becomes very learned man, very beautiful man, why shall I not take this opportunity?" But intelligent man says that, "Even if I get such opportunities, the material miseries are there." It is not that because a child is born of a very rich family, he hasn't got to go into the womb of his mother and suffer the consequence. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). The distress of birth, death, disease and old age equally there, either you become born in a very high family or either you born in a very low family, either you're born in India or you are born in America.
This suffering, the four kinds of sufferings, are everywhere. Not only India and America, they are in this planet, but even if you go to the moon planet or if you go to the sun planet, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ, even the highest planet . . . the modern scientist says that if we want to go to the highest planet it will take forty thousands of years . . . no. Four hundred thousands of years. Something like that they say. By sputnik. So anywhere you go . . . Lord Kṛṣṇa says, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna (BG 8.16): That repetition of birth and death, that will continue. Therefore intelligent person, those who are intelligent, they will take it up: "Oh, why shall I continue this birth and death process? Why not have my eternal life?"
If I am, by constitution, if I am eternal, if I am constitutionally blissful and if I am eternally full of knowledge, now I am covered by this material nature, why not take up this process so that this karma-bandhana, this continuous birth and death of transmigration of myself from one place to another, that should be stopped?
The Bhāgavata says therefore that yad-anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ karma-granthi-nibandhanam (SB 1.2.15). If one can surpass this chain of birth and death, why an intelligent man should not take up this process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
What is that Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Just we are demonstrating. We are hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we are hearing Bhagavad-gītā and chanting—hearing and chanting. Then we are thinking of. Unless you think of . . . because whatever we hear and chant, naturally we have to think of. And pūjyaś ca, and offering a little flower and a little fruit and offer our respect to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. He is here. So is there any difficulty?
So Bhāgavata says: "Who will not take up this process? Forget what you are. Take this process, and you will be relieved of repeated birth and death." Karma-granthi-nibandhanam. Chindanti kovidās tasya ko na kuryāt kathā-ratim (SB 1.2.15). "Who is such a fool who will not do this?" Or "Which intelligent man will not do this?" It is very nicely put, "Which intelligent man will not do this?" Rather, who is such a fool who will not do this? So:
- śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya
- vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ
- syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ
- puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt
- (SB 1.2.16)
Now this mentality, to have some attraction to hear about Vāsudeva . . . Vāsudeva-kathā means Kṛṣṇa, to hear about Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has many activities. In the world there are many scriptures—undoubtedly they accept God. But there is no information of God's activities. That is the difference between Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other scriptures.