There are 8,400,000 species of life, forms of life. You have to accept one of them. That is our real problem. If we forget the real problem and blindly or foolishly say that "God is dead . . ." God may be dead, but God's law is not dead. Suppose a king dies, a president dies; does it mean the government dies? Huh? The government will go on. You can say, "God is dead." God is not dead, neither you are dead. But if you foolishly say that God is dead, that does not mean His law is also dead. The law will go on. One king may be dead; the next, his son or somebody will become king, and the government law will go on. So what is the use of talking foolishly like "God is dead. God may be dead?" God is never dead. This is going on. This morning we were talking.
So we are concerned with the laws of God. God may be dead or alive—it doesn't matter. Suppose by law we are prisoners, we are in the prison house, and all of a sudden the president or the king dies. Does it mean you shall be free? No. You have to rot. Just like Bengali proverb says raja morle rajya atakay na, (if the King dies, his country won't be stopped,) that if the king dies, his government is not stopped. We should remember that. That government is prakṛti, the material nature. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). You are reading Bhagavad-gītā. So this is . . . these are all foolish things, that "God is dead," "I don't care for God." But God, actually, God is not dead—you are dead. You are dead because . . . you are dead actually, because this body, the bodily concept of life, this body is dead. Just like you are driving one car. But if you think that "I'm the car . . ." The car is dead. The car is moving because you are alive. Similarly, this dead body . . . this body is dead, already dead from the very beginning, but it is moving on account of the soul. This is knowledge. It is dead from the very beginning. Therefore in the śāstra it is said that . . . what is that? I am just now forgetting. Aprāṇasya hi dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 3.11). Aprāṇasya hi dehasya. Deha, deha means this body. So either it is dead or alive, it has no life. Aprāṇasya hi dehasya. Deha, it is not alive. It is always dead. Simply we understand, because we are foolish rascals, we understand that this body is dead when the soul is away. The body is always dead. So bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jatiḥ japas tapaḥ kriyaḥ (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 3.11). If one is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, bhāgavata-bhakti-hīnasya, then his big nationality, jatiḥ, his achievement, japas tapaḥ, his activities, everything, bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jatiḥ japas tapaḥ kriyaḥ, all these things are like decoration of the dead body. Aprāṇasya hi dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. Maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam. We are decorating this body with flower, ornaments, nice cloth. How long? So long the life is there. Then it is beautiful. Otherwise no more beautiful. If you garland . . . suppose I become dead and you garland. It may be pleasing to somebody, but what is the value? There is no value.