Text 23]
The Demigods Appeal to the Lord
163
dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati
“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Bg. 2.13) Although the soul is within the body, nevertheless, because of misunderstanding and animal propensities one accepts the body as the self. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore says,  ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam . To cleanse the core of the heart, which is full of misunderstanding, is possible only through  śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana . The leaders of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should very seriously take this opportunity to be kind to the fallen souls by delivering them from the misunderstanding of materialistic life.
One cannot be happy in any way within this material world. As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā  (8.16):
ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna
“From the highest planet in this material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place.” Therefore, not to speak of going to the moon, even if one is promoted to the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka, there cannot be any happiness in this material world. If one actually wants happiness, one must go to the spiritual world. The material world is characterized by a struggle for existence, and survival of the fittest is a well-known principle, but the poor souls of this material world do not know what is survival and who is fit. Survival does not mean that one should die; survival means that one should not die, but should enjoy an everlastingly blissful life of knowledge. This is survival. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant to make every person fit for survival. Indeed, it is meant to stop the struggle for existence. The  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  and  Bhagavad-gītā  give definite directions on how to stop the struggle for existence and how to survive in eternal life. The  saṅkīrtana  movement, therefore, is a great