10 Beyond Birth and Death

In Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna points out that all of
our miseries are due to false identification with the
body.

matra-sparsas tu kaunteya
sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah
agamapayino ’nityas
tams titiksasva bharata
“O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of
heat and cold, happiness and distress, and their dis-
appearance in due course, are like the appearance and
disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They
arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata,
and one must learn to tolerate them without being
disturbed.” (Bg. 2.14)

In the summertime we may feel pleasure from
contact with water, but in the winter we may shun
that very water because it is too cold. In either case,
the water is the same, but we perceive it as pleasant
or painful due to its contact with the body. All feel-
ings of distress and happiness are due to the body.
Under certain conditions the body and mind feel
happiness and distress. Factually we are hankering
after happiness, for the soul’s constitutional position
is that of happiness. The soul is part and parcel of
the Supreme Being, who is sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah—
the embodiment of knowledge, bliss and eternity. In-
deed, the very name Krsna, which is nonsectarian,
means “the greatest pleasure.’’ Krs means greatest
and ma means pleasure. Krsna is the epitome of
pleasure, and being part and parcel of Him, we
