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The Nectar of Devotion
in either state because of our eternal constitutional position. Sense gratification does not endure for long, and it is therefore called  capala-sukha , or flickering happiness. For example, an ordinary family man who works very hard day and night and is successful in giving comforts to the members of his family thereby relishes a kind of mellow, but his whole advancement of material happiness immediately terminates along with his body as soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death. At death everything is finished, and one has to begin a new chapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or lower than the last one. In any field of activity, political, social, national or international, the result of our actions will be finished with the end of life. That is sure.
Bhakti-rasa , however, the mellow relished in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, does not finish with the end of life. It continues perpetually and is therefore called  amṛta , that which does not die but exists eternally. This is confirmed in all Vedic literatures. The  Bhagavad-gītā  says that a little advancement in  bhakti-rasa  can save the devotee from the greatest danger, that of missing the opportunity for human life. The  rasas  derived from our feelings in social life, in family life, or in the greater family life of altruism, philanthropism, nationalism, socialism, communism, etc., do not guarantee that one's next life will be as a human being. We prepare our next life by our actual activities in the present life. A living entity is offered a particular type of body as a result of his action in the present body. These activities are taken into account by a superior authority known as  daiva , or the authority of God. This  daiva  is explained in the  Bhagavad-gītā  as the prime cause of everything, and in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  it is stated that a man takes his next body by  daiva-netreṇa , which means by the supervision of the authority of the Supreme. In an ordinary sense  daiva  is explained as destiny.  Daiva  supervision gives us a body selected from 8,400,000 forms; the choice does not depend on our selection, but is awarded to us according to our destiny. If our body at present is engaged in the activities of Kṛṣṇa