66 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 10, Ch. 1

another foot; gacchati—goes; yathd—as; trna-jalauka—a worm on a
vegetable; evam—in this way; dehi—the living entity; karma-gatim—
the reactions of fruitive activities; gatah—undergoes.

TRANSLATION

Just as a person traveling on the road rests one foot on the
ground and then lifts the other, or as a worm on a vegetable
transfers itself to one leaf and then gives up the previous one, the
conditioned soul takes shelter of another body and then gives up

the one he had before.

PURPORT

This is the process of the soul’s transmigration from one body to
another. At the time of death, according to his mental condition, the liv-
ing being is carried by the subtle body, consisting of mind, intelligence
and ego, to another gross body. When higher authorities have decided
what kind of gross body the living entity will have, he is forced to enter
such a body, and thus he automatically gives up his previous body. Dull-
minded persons who do not have the intelligence to understand this pro-
cess of transmigration take for granted that when the gross body is
finished, one’s life is finished forever. Such persons have no brains with
which to understand the process of transmigration. At the present
moment there is great opposition to the Hare Krsna movement, which is
being called a “brainwashing” movement. But actually the so-called
scientists, philosophers and other leaders in the Western countries have
no brains at all. The Hare Krsna movement is trying to elevate such
foolish persons by enlightening their intelligence so that they will take
advantage of the human body. Unfortunately, because of gross ig-
norance, they regard the Hare Krsna movement as a brainwashing move-
ment. They do not know that without God consciousness one is forced to
continue transmigrating from one body to another. Because of their
devilish brains, they will next be forced to accept an abominable life and
practically never be able to liberate themselves from the conditional life
of material existence. How this transmigration of the soul takes place is
very clearly explained in this verse.
