28 Krsna Consciousness: the Topmost Yoga System

this child will be grown up, like you or me. But the same soul
will continue. So, by intelligence, you can understand that
although the body is changed, the soul is there. The same soul
which was existing in the body of the child is still continuing
in the body of the old man. Therefore the soul is permanent,
and only the body has changed. This is a very easy thing to
understand. And the last change of this body is death. As at
every moment, every second, every day, every hour, the body
is changing, so the last change is when one cannot act with the
body, and so he has to take another one. Just as, when my
cloth is too worn out or old, I cannot put it on; I have to take
a new cloth. It is similar with the soul. When the body is too
old or unworkable, I have to change to another body. This is
called death.

This is the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita, when the pre-
liminary knowledge of the soul is there. And you will find that
there are only a few who can understand the existence of the
soul as permanent, and of the body as changeable. Therefore
Bhagavan, Lord Krsna, says that, out of many, many millions
of people, one may understand it. But still, the knowledge is
there. If you want to understand it, it is not difficult. You can
understand it.

Now, we should inquire into the existence of the ego, the
finest material substance. What is ego? I am pure soul, but
with my intelligence and mind I am in contact with matter,
and I have identified myself with matter. This is false ego. I am
pure soul, but I am identifying falsely. For example, I am
identifying with the land, thinking that I am Indian, or that I
am American. This is called ahankara. Ahankara means the
point where the pure soul touches matter. That junction is
called ahankara. Ahankara is still finer than intelligence.

Krsna says that these are the eight material elements: earth,
water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego. False
ego means false identification. Our nescient life has begun
