Agatā asūn means the living force. While the living force is there, and when the living force is gone, two conditions . . . this body is moving very nicely because the living force is there. And as soon as the living force is gone out, this nice body will no longer move. It will decompose. "Dust thou art, dust thou beist." "Again become . . ." It is called pañca-bhūta. Mix with the earth. Earth, water, fire, air, sky—these five gross elements are the ingredients of this body. So as soon as the soul is out of this body, this body again . . . conservation of the energy. The earthly energy goes to the earth, the waterly energy goes to the water. It is a combination of earth, water, air, fire. So they become decomposed and become distributed to different elements. And that is the scientific law, it is called conservation of energy. The energy is never lost. It comes back again to the original stock.
So Kṛṣṇa says this body, either in living force or without living force . . . without living force it is called dead. With living force it is called living. In both the condition, a learned man . . . learned man means one who knows brahma-bhūtaḥ, one who knows Brahman, one who has realized Brahman. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54). As soon as one is on the stage of brahma-bhūtaḥ stage, he can understand that, "I am not this body. I am separate from this body." This knowledge was very common knowledge. At least we can see five thousand years ago that the kṣatriyas were fighting severely one another, but still they are not in bodily concept of life.
So Arjuna, being kṣatriya, is so much embarrassed with the bodily concept of life; therefore Kṛṣṇa chastised him that, "You are not a very learned man. You are talking just like a learned man, but you are not learned man." So this conclusion is to be taken by us. That anyone within this world, if he has got bodily concept of life, he's not a learned man—he's a fool. So this world, at the present moment at least, it is a fool's paradise. Nobody is learned. Because everyone is working under the bodily concept of life. This is chastise. This is the first chastisement. Just like before giving lesson, if the student is writing or reading wrongly, then the teacher immediately says: "You fool, it is not like this. It should be like this."
So the first step Kṛṣṇa took in educating Arjuna . . . the Bhagavad-gītā is now being actually spoken, bhagavān uvāca. The first basic principle is explained to Arjuna that, "You do not know anything. Don't talk just like a learned man." But actually, that is our own . . . every one of us in the same position. Just like yesterday, two boys came. No philosophy; talking like nonsense, starvation, as if he has taken . . . what is called? Contract for stopping starvation. So he's starving, everyone is starving, this law . . . the nature will go on. Somebody . . . because there are three qualities of the nature—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. So the natural laws will go on under the three laws. Therefore always we shall find three classes or three status of living condition. That will be explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Even . . . everywhere there are different species of life. Everywhere these three qualities are working.
Just like there are some good trees. Good trees means which are producing nice fruits and flowers. They are good trees. And there are trees—no fruit, no flower, very long-standing. No use. No useful purpose. I've seen in Los Angeles, big, big palm trees, very long, but there is no fruit. In India there are palm trees like that, they bear fruit, very nice fruit, tāla, very sweet fruit. So any tree which does not give us nice fruit or nice flower, that is sinful. Amongst the trees also there are pious trees, there are sinful trees; amongst the animals also there are pious animals, sinful animals. Just like dog and the cow. Cow is pious animal and the dog is sinful animal. So nature's, amongst the birds, this crow is sinful bird. And the ducks, white swan, they are pious bird, the peacocks.
So similarly, in the human society also, there are pious men and sinful men. Those who are pious they have got different position. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī . . . (SB 1.8.26). Pious man means born in very good family, rich family. Janma, aiśvarya. Aiśvarya means riches, opulence. Janma, first-class aristocratic family, brāhmaṇa family. Janmaiśvarya-śruta, educated, highly educated; śrī, beautiful. These are the signs of pious life. And similarly, just the opposite—ugly, no education, born in poor family or low-grade family, poor. These are the things. So either you take human life or animal life or birds' life, beasts' life, trees' life, anywhere you go, these three laws are working—goodness, passion and ignorance. Therefore, always there must be three classes—middle class, high class and lower class. There must be. So you cannot make one classless. That is not possible. So long the bodily concept of life is there, there must be these three classes: high class, middle class and lower class.
So those who are condemned, they must suffer. Everyone is condemned in this material world. But first-class condemned, second-class condemned, third-class condemned. So you'll find this first class, second class, third, you cannot stop it. Just like in Bombay sometimes I showed to my disciples, say in 1935—1935 means about fifty years ago—fifty years ago when I was in Bombay, that time I was doing some business. So a class of men, they were living on footpath. Their home is on the footpath. They have got a box or a bag and lying on the footpath and eating on the footpath, their, everything on the footpath. Now the same class of men are still there.
Now economically, fifty years ago, the value of money was greater. At that time, fifty years ago we were purchasing, say ghee, utmost one rupee per kilo. So now you cannot get first-class ghee unless you pay twenty-five rupees per kilo. So the value of money has decreased. So that means, in other words, people are getting more money. Formerly, one servant was engaged, ten rupees or twelve rupees per month. Now you cannot get a servant unless you pay one hundred rupees. So in that comparison, everyone is getting more money, but still the condition is the same. Condition is the same. This will go on. Even if you get more money, the other circumstances will force you to remain in the same condition as you were fifty years ago. Because you are destined. This is called destiny. You cannot change your destiny. That is not possible.
Therefore Bhāgavata says that do not try to change your destiny. Everyone is trying to change the destiny. "I am poor man. I must be very rich man." But you cannot change your destiny. Tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ (SB 1.5.18). In this world we are, every one of us, are bound up by the laws of karma, destiny. We have got our destiny. So much happiness, so much distress we must have. Because this is a mixture of happiness and distress. Here you cannot have unadulterated happiness. That is not possible in this world. Unadulterated happiness, real happiness can be achieved in the spiritual world, not in the material world. So certain amount of happiness and certain amount of distress we have to enjoy and suffer. You cannot change it. This is the law of nature in this material world.