Text 47] The Movements of the Living Entities 1363

dravya—of objects; upalabdhi—of perception; sthanasya—of the place;
dravya—of objects; iksa—of perception; ayogyata—incapability; yada—
when; tat—that; paficatvam—death; aham manat—from the misconception
of “I”; utpattih—birth; dravya—the physical body; darsanam—viewing;
yatha—just as; aksnoh—of the eyes; dravya—of objects; avayava—parts;
darsana—of seeing; ayogyata—incapability; yada—when; tada—then; eva—
indeed; caksusah—of the sense of sight; drastuh—of the seer; drastrtva—of
the faculty of seeing; ayogyata—incapability; anayoh—of both of these.

TRANSLATION

When the eyes lose their power to see color or form due to morbid
affliction of the optic nerve, the sense of sight becomes deadened. The
living entity, who is the seer of both the eyes and the sight, loses his
power of vision. In the same way, when the physical body, the place where
perception of objects occurs, is rendered incapable of perceiving, that is
known as death. When one begins to view the physical body as one’s very
self, that is called birth.

PURPORT

When one says, “‘I see,” this means that he sees with his eyes or with his
spectacles; he sees with the instrument of sight. If the instrument of sight
is broken or becomes diseased or incapable of acting, then he, as the seer,
also ceases to act. Similarly, in this material body, at the present moment
the living soul is acting, and when the material body, due to its incapability
to function, ceases, he also ceases to perform his reactionary activities.
When one’s instrument of action is broken and cannot function, that is
called death. Again, when one gets a new instrument for action, that is
called birth. This process of birth and death is going on at every moment,
by constant bodily change. The final change is called death, and acceptance
of a new body is called birth. That is the solution of the question of birth
and death. Actually, the living entity has neither birth nor death, but is
eternal. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita, na hanyate hanyamane Sarire: the
living entity never dies, even after the death or annihilation of this material

body.
TEXT 47
TAU BU! TAA A BTN A AEA: |
Tee Haas sat THaRTeARE loll
