Change of Body - The First Instruction of Spiritual Knowledge
The fear of death is universal, yet it is based entirely on a misunderstanding of our true identity. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the first lesson of spiritual knowledge is recognizing that the eternal soul never dies; it simply changes its temporary material dress in a continuous cycle of transmigration.
The Observable Fact of Change
The concept of a changing body is not a mystical abstraction; it is a scientifically observable reality. Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently points out that our physical form is transforming every second, yet our conscious identity remains entirely unbroken throughout these changes.
- We may say that the body is growing, but actually, the fact is, body is changing. It is medically admitted that we are changing our body every second.
- Changes (of material body), you can understand, that you had a body like a baby; a body like a child; you had a body like a boy. Now you have got youthful body. Some days after, you will get a body like me. So the body is changing, and I am the same.
- Although I have changed many bodies, I remember my baby body and my childhood body - I am the same person, soul.
- The body is changing, but I am not changing. I am eternal. Therefore I am not this body. I am not changing. This simple truth. After Arjuna has accepted His (Krsna's) discipleship, the first instruction is this.
The Final Change Called Death
If the soul survives the constant physical changes during a single lifetime, logic dictates it will survive the ultimate deterioration of the form. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that what society calls "death" is merely the final change of an unworkable body.
- This is the proof. There is no difficulty to understand. As I am still living, in spite of my changing childhood body, babyhood body, boyhood body, youthhood body, so naturally it should be concluded when I give up this body.
- As the soul is within the body and the body is changing every moment, similarly, the last stage of change is called death.
- When my cloth is too worn out or old, I cannot put it on; I have to take a new cloth. It is similar with the soul. When the body is too old or unworkable, I have to change to another body. This is called death.
- We live forever. By change of body you do not die. You live forever, I live forever. Death means we change this body, that's all. Just like you change your dress.
The Mechanics of Transmigration
The destination of the soul after giving up the gross body is not random. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the subtle body carries the soul to a new physical form, which is awarded by higher authorities based entirely on the living entity's past activities and desires.
- I cannot see what is the result, what you are dreaming. I am fool. I do not know. But the man who is dreaming, he is experiencing. Similarly, change of body means we are carried by the subtle body to another gross body. This is the process, nature's way.
- You have to change your body. And that will be selected not by you, not by your government, not by your father, not by your so-called guru. It will be decided by the laws of nature. That you cannot avoid.
- How can you save yourself, not become a cockroach? Because the body is changing. That is in other's hand, Karmana daiva-netrena (SB 3.31.1). By superior supervision. It is not your choice.
- The change his (of the living entity) body undergoes depends upon him. At the time of death, the consciousness he has created will carry him on to the next type of body.
The Ignorance of Modern Society
Despite immense technological advancement, modern civilization completely misses the most crucial point of existence. Śrīla Prabhupāda severely criticizes the current educational systems and material scientists for ignoring the fundamental reality of the changing body.
- When this body will be changed, I will exist. Where is the difficulty to understand? But this plain thing they cannot understand. And they are passing as educated, philosopher, scientist. This plain truth is they cannot understand.
- I am old man, the body is no more possible to be changed; somehow or other then I'll have to accept another body. That is called transmigration. The modern so-called scientists, philosophers, they do not understand this plain truth.
- They (modern age people) don't believe in the next life, although practically we see, every moment you are changing bodies. So on the whole, lokasya ajanatah, they do not know what is the value of life. This is the position.
- We do not know the value of life, how nature is working, how we are changing our body. No education all over the world. Simply making plans how to eat, how to sleep, how to enjoy senses, how to defend, that's all. This is animal life.
The Forgetfulness of the Conditioned Soul
The trauma of death and the assumption of a new biological form erase the memories of the past. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that while the conditioned soul is forced to change bodies and suffer amnesia, the Supreme Lord never changes His body and therefore remembers everything perfectly.
- In material life, as soon as a conditioned soul changes his body he forgets everything of his past body.
- As we change our body, we forget. Just like at night we dream, but we forget the body, this body. In another body we go to some dreamland. So because we change body therefore we forget.
- If Krsna, the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is considered by the impersonalists to be maya, to be material, then He would, like the living entity, change His body and forget everything in His past life.
- This means that He never dies. Forgetfulness is due to death. As we die, we change our bodies and forget. Krsna, however, is never forgetful. He can remember everything that has happened in the past.
The Ultimate Solution
The goal of human life is not to repeatedly upgrade to better material bodies, but to stop the cycle entirely. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that by perfecting Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the living entity secures an eternal spiritual body and never has to undergo the miseries of material change again.
- If you become simply Krsna conscious, then no more botheration of changing this body. You get your spiritual body, go back to home, back to Godhead.
- The human life is meant for making a solution to this repeated change of bodies and thereby attaining a place in the spiritual sky, where everything is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge.
- Our business is to go back to the spiritual world, not that we remain in the material world and change body from bad to worse or worse to good. That is not our business.
- You have to change body. But our method, this tyaktva deham punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). You don't get anymore material body.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully demystifies the phenomenon of death by proving that the change of body is a continuous, observable process. The physical form is never static; it transforms from babyhood to youth to old age at every second, yet the conscious observer—the eternal spirit soul—remains absolutely unchanged. Death is nothing more than the final, inevitable shedding of an unworkable material garment. Upon the dissolution of the gross form, the soul is carried by the subtle mind and intelligence into a new material body, meticulously assigned by the laws of karma. The great tragedy of modern civilization is its complete ignorance of this simple science. Society wastes its human energy trying to perfect the temporary bodily dress while remaining entirely blind to the impending forced change of body. To escape this miserable cycle of birth, forgetfulness, and death, the intelligent soul must cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness. By doing so, the living entity breaks the cycle of material transmigration, attains an eternal spiritual body, and returns to the spiritual sky, where the painful change of body never occurs again.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Change Of Body. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.