Text 47] What Prahlada Learned in the Womb 105

body; a@tma-anuvartina—which is received according to his desire and
past activities; karmabhih—by such material activities; tanute—he ex-
pands; deham—another body; ubhayam—both of them; tu—indeed;
avivekatah—due to ignorance.

TRANSLATION

The living entity, who has received his present body because of
his past fruitive activity, may end the results of his actions in this
life, but this does not mean that he is liberated from bondage to
material bodies. The living entity receives one type of body, and by
performing actions with that body he creates another. Thus he
transmigrates from one body to another, through repeated birth
and death, because of his gross ignorance.

PURPORT

The living entity’s evolution through different types of bodies is con-
ducted automatically by the laws of nature in bodies other than those of
human beings. In other words, by the laws of nature (prakrteh
kriyamanani) the living entity evolves from lower grades of life to the
human form. Because of his developed consciousness, however, the
human being must understand the constitutional position of the living
entity and understand why he must accept a material body. This chance
is given to him by nature, but if he nonetheless acts like an animal, what
is the benefit of his human life? In this life one must select the goal of
life and act accordingly. Having received instructions from the spiritual
master and the sdstra, one must be sufficiently intelligent. In the human
form of life, one should not remain foolish and ignorant, but must in-
quire about his constitutional position. This is called athato brahma-
Jyfiasd. The human psychology gives rise to many questions, which
various philosophers have considered and answered with various types of
philosophy based upon mental concoction. This is not the way of libera-
tion. The Vedic instructions say, tad-vijfidndrtham sa gurum
evabhigacchet: to solve the problems of life, one must accept a spiritual
master. Tasmdd gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam: if one is ac-
tually serious in inquiring about the solution to material existence, one
must approach a bona fide guru.
