We are Creating our Next Life by Karma

httpv://youtu.be/ogE_vez_3vk
video: Prabhupada singing Sri Sri Sad-Gosvamy-Astaka

Pradyumna, Bombay, April 12, 1974 — Translation: “The work of a man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental knowledge merges entirely into transcendence.”

Srila Prabhupada:

gata-sangasya muktasya jnanavasthita-cetasah yajnayacaratah karma samagram praviliyate

The difficulty in the conditioned state, that we are creating our next life by karma… We are…. just at the present moment we are acting according to our past karma, and again we are creating another karma so that we have to enjoy or suffer in the next life. The transmigration of the soul takes place according to karma. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. Karanam guna-sango ’sya sad-asad-janma-yonisu.

Sad-asat, good and inferior, janma. So one has to take his birth in a nice family or in nice nation, good education, good looking, nice opulence…. Janmaisvarya-sruta-srih. Janma means to take birth in good family, good nation, and aisvarya, opulence, very rich. Janmaisvarya-sruta. Sruta means knowledge, education. And sri, and beauty.

I repeatedly say to the American people that “You have got your this position, richest nation in the world, janma…” Practically in America there is no poor man. That I have seen. They do not know what is poor man. Because the poorest man gets five thousand rupees per month.

The poorest man. So actually there is no poor man. There cannot be. The government arrangement is so nice that nobody is in want of money. He can get money in so many ways. So it is very good, fortunate position to take birth in America. Janma, rich family, rich nation.

And aisvarya. Janma-aisvarya-sruta, education. Now they are advanced education. By scientific advancement, they are trying to go to the moon planet. Not only that. Many machine up to date they have discovered, using…. There is very big company IBM. Machine, business machine, IBM. International Business Machine. You know everything.

So janma-aisvarya-sruta, education, and sri. Most American boys and girls, they are all beautiful. So why this position? This position is due to punya, karma. Karma means papa-karma, punya-karma. This is the way karmana daiva-netrena jantur dehopapattaye [SB 3.31.1].

This is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. By karma, the jantu, the living entity, jantu, he is getting particular type of body. In Bhagavad-gita also it is stated that karanam guna-sango ’sya. Prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah [Bg. 3.27].

Karanam guna-sango ’sya sad-asad-janma-yonisu. We are associating with a particular type of modes of nature, goodness, passion and ignorance or mixed. So on account of this, we are working differently and we are preparing our next life, karanam. This is the karanam.

So those who are karma-kandiya, they are interested, next life in the heavenly planet or higher standard of life. So that is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita. Urdhvam gacchanti sattva-sthah. If you associate with the modes of goodness, then you are promoted to the higher planetary system, beyond heavenly planets.

Janaloka, Tapoloka, Maharloka, Satyaloka, Siddhaloka, Brahmaloka. So that is possible. But our problem is not to promote ourself to go to the heavenly planet or higher than that, Janaloka, Satyaloka, Maharloka, or Brahmaloka.

Krishna advises a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino ’rjuna [Bg. 8.16]. He does not encourage that “You go to the Brahmaloka.” No. He never encourages. He says, a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino ’rjuna [Bg. 8.16]. Even if you become promoted to the Brahmaloka, then again you have to come back. Ksine punye punar martya-lokam visanti. As soon as your punya, the duration of life, is finished, then you have to come back again. This is going on. Full Lecture