Learning the Science of the Soul 5
children of these families do not consult the Bhagavad-gitd, being
misguided by maya (illusion).

Birth in a well-to-do family solves the problem of having to find suffi-
cient food from the beginning of life, and later a comparatively easier and
more comfortable way of life can be led. Being so situated, one has a good
chance to make progress in spiritual realization, but as ill luck would
have it, due to the influence of the present iron age (which is full of
machines and mechanical people) the sons of the wealthy are misguided
for sense enjoyment, and they forget the good chance they have for
spiritual enlightenment. Therefore nature, by her laws, is setting fires in
these golden homes. It was the golden city of Lanka, under the regime of
the demonic Ravana, that was burned to ashes. That is the law of nature.

The Bhagavad-gitad is the preliminary study of the transcendental
science of Krsna consciousness, and it is the duty of all responsible heads
of state to chalk out their economic and other programs by referring to
the Bhagavad-gitd. We are not meant to solve economic questions of life
by balancing on a tottering platform; rather, we are meant to solve the
ultimate problems of life which arise due to the laws of nature. Civiliza-
tion is static unless there is spiritual movement. The soul moves the
body, and the living body moves the world. We are concerned about the
body, but we have no knowledge of the spirit that is moving that body.
Without the spirit, the body is motionless, or dead.

The human body is an excellent vehicle by which we can reach eternal :
life. It is a rare and very important boat for crossing over the ocean of
nescience which is material existence. On this boat there is the service of
an expert boatman, the spiritual master. By divine grace, the boat plies
the water in a favorable wind. With all these auspicious factors, who
would not take the opportunity to cross over the ocean of nescience? If
one neglects this good chance, it should be known that he is simply com-
mitting suicide.

There is certainly a great deal of comfort in the first-class coach of a
train, but if the train does not move toward its destination, what is the
benefit of an air-conditioned compartment? Contemporary civilization is
much too concerned with making the material body comfortable. No one
has information of the real destination of life, which is to go back to
Godhead. We must not just remain seated in a comfortable compart-
ment; we should see whether or not our vehicle is moving toward its real
destination. There is no ultimate benefit in making the material body
comfortable at the expense of forgetting the prime necessity of life,
