46 Krsna Consciousness: the Topmost Yoga System

boy and girl. They are already there, they are living like
friends—what is the use of this marriage ceremony? It is Vedic:
the Vedas account for living together, sex life, but under some
special regulations so that you may be happy. The ultimate
end is to become happy. If you follow the Vedic rules and
restrictions, that will not mean that you will be kept from
eating or not allowed to sleep, not allowed to defend or to
have sex life. It is not like that. Your bodily necessities are the
same as those of the animals; the animals also eat, they also
sleep, they also mate and also defend. So we require these
things also. But the Vedas prescribe some regulations: you
act in this way, so that you will not be unhappy. If you follow
the regulation, ultimately the result will be that you will be
free from the material entanglement.

This material life is not meant for the spirit soul. It is simply
a misunderstanding that you want to enjoy this material life.
But Krsna, the Supreme Lord, gives us specific orders so that
we can enjoy, in such a way that, at the end, we will under-
stand that this is not our proper life—our proper life is
spiritual. This human form of life is perfected as soon as we
come to the understanding of spiritual existence—that I am
Brahman. Otherwise, if 1 do not take care of my spiritual life,
then the result is that I must live as the cats and dogs do. There
is every possibility that my next life will be an animal life. And
if, by chance or by a freak of nature, I get into animal life,
then millions and millions of years will be required before
again coming to this human form of life. So the human form
of life is meant for self-realization, and the Vedas are the
direction.

Now in the Bhagavad-gita: you will find that Krsna says that
to study or to follow the rules and regulations of the Vedas
actually means to come to the understanding of Krsna con-
sciousness. That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam also. So
the Vedas give you the chance to gradually come to the point
