Learning the Science of the Soul 41
danta (or Sdriraka) siitras, which were compiled by Srila Vyasadeva. The
Vedanta-stitras are the topmost Vedic literature, and they contain the
nucleus of basic inquiries about the transcendental subject of spiritual
knowledge. Yet although Srila Vyasadeva compiled this great treatise, his
mind was not satisfied. Then he happened to meet Sri Narada, his spiri-
tual master, who advised him to describe the identity of the Personality
of Godhead. Upon receiving this advice, Vydsadeva meditated on the
principle of bhakti-yoga, which showed him distinctly what is the Ab-
solute and what is the relativity, or mdyd. Having achieved perfect
realization of these facts, he compiled the great narration of the Srimad-
Bhagavatam, or beautiful Bhdgavatam, which begins with actual historical
facts concerning the life of Maharaja Pariksit.

The Vedanta-sttra begins with the key inquiry about the Transcen-
dence, athdto brahma-jijfidsa: ‘‘One should now inquire about Brahman,
or the Transcendence.”

As long as a man is in the full vigor of life, he forgets the naked truth of
death, which he has to meet. Thus a foolish man makes no relevant in-
quiry about the real problems of life. Everyone thinks that he will never
die, although he sees evidence of death before his eyes at every second.
Here is the distinction between animalism and humanity. An animal like
a goat has no sense of its impending death. Although its brother goat is
being slaughtered, the goat, being allured by the green grass offered to it,
will stand peacefully waiting to be slaughtered next. On the other hand, if .
a human being sees his fellow man being killed by an enemy, he either
fights to save his brother or leaves, if possible, to save his own life. That
is the difference between a man and a goat.

An intelligent man knows that death is born along with his own birth.
He knows that he is dying at every second and that the final touch will be
given as soon as his term of life is finished. He therefore prepares himself
for the next life or for liberation from the disease of repeated birth and
death.

A foolish man, however, does not know that this human form of life is
obtained after a series of births and deaths imposed in the past by the
laws of nature. He does not know that a living entity is an eternal being,
who has no birth and death. Birth, death, old age, and disease are exter-
nal impositions on a living entity and are due to his contact with material
nature and to his forgetfulness of his eternal, godly nature and qualitative
oneness with the Absolute Whole.

Human life provides the opportunity to know this eternal fact, or truth.
