What is the perfection of life? Perfection of life is no more birth, no more death, no more disease, no more old age. That is perfection. That the people do not know, that there is possibility of attaining a stage when there is no more birth, no more death, no more old age. There are so many universities, so many educational institution all over the world, but nowhere there is department of understanding this science, how to stop birth, death, old age and disease. In the chemical laboratory, they are trying to manufacture chemicals for stopping birth—contraceptive. But there is no medicine that after taking this medicine or these chemicals there will be no more death or no more birth, no more old age and no more disease. You can manufacture chemical or combination of medicine as counteracting the disease, just like in the Western countries the cancer disease. There are so many chemicals and medicines they are discovering, but there is no medicine, no chemical, which can say that no more cancer disease. That is not possible.
So actual siddhi means to overcome these four principles of miserable condition of life. That is perfection. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). Everything is being attempted to suppress our miserable condition of life. That is going on. All advancement of science, knowledge, philosophy, theology—anything—the idea is how to stop the miserable condition of life. But the real miserable condition of life, according to Bhagavad-gītā, is birth, death, old age and disease. Don't go, take seriously, the side—miserable condition. Just like people are very much anxious to feed the hungry, the hungry men. Well, that you can do. That is nice business. But why don't you try that . . . the hungry man and the welfare man both will die. You cannot stop death, either you feed him well or he is hungry. Death is there. "As sure as death."
So actual benefit is . . . if you can stop death, that is actual benefit. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to stop death. You will be surprised. You may not be very much pleased, but it is possible. It is possible. Because we are eternal. We living entities, soul, we are part and parcel of God, we are eternal. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). These are the statements. First of all we have to understand the constitutional position of ourself. That is self-realization. Our nature: we are eternal. We are not dying. When this body dies or is annihilated, it does not mean I die. I exist. Just like my childhood body is no more existing. It is died. My youthhood body is no more existing. So, so many bodies I had in the past, they are no more existing. But I am existing. I remember. Therefore I am eternal.