Learning the Science of the Soul 29
dition of the mind at the time of death, the minute spirit soul enters into
the womb of a particular mother through the semen of a father, and then
the soul develops a particular type of body given by the mother. It may be
a human being, it may be a cat, a dog, or anything.
Mike Robinson: Are you saying that we were something else before this
life?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.
Mike Robinson: And we keep coming back as something else the next
time?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, because you are eternal. According to your
work, you are simply changing bodies. Therefore, you should want to
know how to stop this business, how you can remain in your original,
spiritual body. That is Krsna consciousness.
Mike Robinson: I see. So if I become Krsna conscious, I wouldn’t risk
coming back as a dog?
Srila Prabhupada: No. [To a devotee:] Find this verse: janma karma ca
me divyam...
Disciple:

janma karma ca me divyam

evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so ’rjuna .

‘‘One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and ac-
tivities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this
material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”’ [Bg. 4.9]
Srila Prabhupada: God is saying, ‘‘Anyone who understands Me is free
from birth and death.’’ But one cannot understand God by materialistic
speculation. That is not possible. One must first come to the spiritual
platform. Then he gets the intelligence required to understand God. And
when he understands God, he does not get any more material bodies. He
goes back home, back to Godhead. He lives eternally; no more change of
body.
Mike Robinson: I see. Now, you’ve read twice from your scriptures.
Where do these scriptures come from? Can you briefly explain that?
Srila Prabhupada: Our scriptures are coming from Vedic literature,
which has existed from the beginning of creation. Whenever there is
some new material creation—like this microphone, for instance—there is
also some literature explaining how to deal with it. Isn’t that so?
