20 Raja-vidya: The King of Knowledge

and death. Aprapya mam nivartante mrtyu-samsara-
vartmani. Being subjected to samsara, the cycle of
birth and death, does not guarantee that one will
necessarily get a similar facility for understanding
Bhagavad-gita in the next life. One may not neces-
sarily be born again as a human being, or in America, -
or in India, or even on this planet. There is no cer-"
tainty; it all depends on our work. On the path of
birth and death we take our birth, remain for some
time, enjoy or suffer, then again give up this body
and enter into the womb of a mother, either human
being or animal, then prepare another body to come
out and begin our work again. This is called mrtyu-
samsara-vartmani. If one wants to avoid this path, he
must take to Krsna consciousness.

When Yudhisthira Maharaja was asked, ‘‘What
is the most wonderful thing in the world?” he
replied, “‘The most wonderful thing is that every
day, every moment, people are dying, and yet
everyone thinks that death will not come for him.”
Every minute and every second we experience that
living entities are going to the temple of death. Men,
insects, animals, birds—everyone is going. This world,
therefore, is called mrtyuloka—the planet of death.
Every day there are obituaries, and if we bother to
go to the cemetery or crematorium grounds we can
validate them. Yet everyone is thinking, ““Somehow
or other I'll live.” Everyone is subject to the law of
death, yet no one takes it seriously. This is illusion.
Thinking we will live forever, we go on doing what-
ever we like, feeling that we will never be held respon-
sible. This is a very risky life, and it is the densest
