There is a verse in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
- etāvaj janma-sāphalyaṁ
- dehinām iha dehiṣu
- prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā
- śreya-ācaraṇaṁ sadā
- (SB 10.22.35)
Etāvaj janma-sāphalyam. In order to make our life successful, dehinām iha dehiṣu. There are many embodied souls, 8,400,000 of species of life. Out of that, this civilized form of life, especially those who are followers of Vedic regulations, they are called the Aryans or the advanced civilized persons. So, it is obtained after many, many evolutionary process. Bahunam janmanam ante (BG 7.19). Labdhvā sudur... Sudurlabhaṁ idam bahūnāṁ janmanām ante. So dehinām iha dehiṣu, of all the embodied souls, this embodied soul, this human form of life is meant for liberation. We are entangled in this chain of repeated birth and death, old age and disease, but we are not yet fed up. We think that, "All right, let us go on like this," but that is not actually advancement of knowledge. That is ignorance. There is a way to stop this repetition of birth, death, old age, and disease. Therefore in this age, in this life especially, we should try to get out of this entanglement. That is the special function of this human form of life. Dehinām iha dehiṣu. There are many dehī Dehī means one who accepts this material body, he is called dehī In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said, kaumāraṁ yauvanam jara, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). Dehinām iha dehiṣu. So dehī means I am not this body, but I have accepted this body. Just like we accept a kind of dress. Similarly, according to my desire, according to my karma, I have accepted a certain type of body and according to that body, I am subject to different types of pains and pleasures. This is going on. Therefore Bhāgavata says especially in this body it is the duty of everyone, śreya ācaraṇam. There are two words in the Vedic literature—śreya and preya. Preya means... Just like ordinarily everyone is engaged in some sort of duty for sense gratification. Everyone is working very hard to satisfy the senses according to his standard of desire. So that is called preya, immediate benefit. But besides this preya, there is another departmental activities which is śreya. Just like children, they like to play. That is preya. But his guardians are anxious that the child may not be spoiled, he may be educated for his future life. That is śreya. So Bhāgavata says that in this life, we should not be after preya, immediate benefit or immediate object of sense gratification. We should be thoughtful what I am, why I am put into these material conditions of life, and what is the way to get out of it. That is śreya. Śreya ācaraṇam.