136 THE PATH OF PERFECTION The Path of Perfection 137
Brahmaloka, there is still birth and death. The words punar dvar- ratrim yuga-sahasrantam

tinah mean ‘‘returning again,” or ‘repetition of birth and death.” te *ho-ratra-vido janah

We are changing bodies just as we change clothes, leaving one (Bg. 8.17)

body and entering another. All planets are filled with living en-

tities. We shouldn’t think that only the earth is inhabited. There The duration of the material universe is limited. It is manifested in
are living entities on the higher planets and lower planets as well. cycles of kalpas. A kalpa is a day of Brahma, and one day of
From our experience, we can see that no place on earth is vacant Brahma consists of a thousand cycles of four yugas, or ages: Satya,
of living entities. If we dig into the earth, we find some worms, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali. The cycle of Satya is characterized by
and if we go into the water we find many aquatics. The air is filled virtue, wisdom, and religion, there being practically no ignorance
with birds, and if we analyze outer space, we will find many living and vice, and the yuga lasts 1,728,000 years. In the Tretd-yuga
entities. It is illogical to conclude that there are no living entities vice is introduced, and this yuga lasts 1,296,000 years. In the
on the other planets. To the contrary, they are full of living Dvapara-yuga there is an even greater decline in virtue and
entities. religion, vice increasing, and this yuga lasts 864,000 years. And

In any case, Krsna says that from the highest planet to the finally, in Kali-yuga (the yuga we have now been experiencing
lowest planet, there is repetition of birth and death. Yet again, as over the past 5,000 years), there is an abundance of strife, ig-
in the former verse, He says, mdm upetya: “‘If you reach My norance, irreligion, and vice, true virtue being practically non-
planet, you don’t have to return to this miserable material world.” existent, and this yuga lasts 432,000 years. In Kali-yuga vice
To stress this point, Sri Krsna repeats that upon reaching Goloka increases to such a point that at the termination of the yuga, the
Vrndavana, His eternal abode, one is liberated from the cycle of Supreme Lord Himself appears as the Kalki-avataéra, vanquishes
birth and death and attains eternal life. It is the duty of human life the demons, saves His devotees, and commences another Satya-
to understand these problems and attain a blissful, eternal life that yuga. Then the process is set rolling again. These four yugas rotat-
is full of knowledge. Unfortunately, people in this age have ing a thousand times comprise one day of Brahma, the creator
forgotten the aim of life. Why? Durdsayd ye bahir-artha-maninah god, and the same number comprise one night. Brahma lives one
(Bhdg. 7.5.31). People have been trapped by the material glitter— hundred of such ‘tyears’’ and then dies. These ‘thundred years”
by skyscrapers, big factories, and political activities. People do not by earth calculations total 311 trillion and 40 million earth years.
stop to consider that however big the skyscraper may be, they will By these calculations, the life of Brahma seems fantastic and inter-
not be allowed to live there indefinitely. We should not spoil our minable, but from the viewpoint of eternity, it is as brief as a
energy, therefore, in building great cities but should employ our lightning flash. In the Causal Ocean there are innumerable
energy to elevate ourselves to Krsna consciousness. Krsna con- Brahmas rising and disappearing like bubbles in the Atlantic.
sciousness is not a religious formula or some spiritual recreation Brahma and his creation are all part of the material universe, and
but is the most important factor in our lives. therefore they are in constant flux.

People are interested in attaining higher planets because there In the material universe, not even Brahma is free from the pro-
one’s enjoyment is a thousand times greater and the duration of cess of birth, old age, disease, and death. Brahma, however, is
life much longer. directly engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord in the

management of this universe; therefore he at once attains libera-
sahasra-yuga-paryantam tion. Elevated sannyadsis are promoted to Brahma’s particular
ahar yad brahmano viduh planet, Brahmaloka, which is the highest planet in the material
