Prabhupāda: Now, suppose I am old man. If by some medical process, if I am given a young man's body to be more enthusiastic for working, is it not benefit for me? Similarly, in old age, when the body is changed, he gets another new body. That is a profit. There is no loss. The old body, it cannot work nicely. It cannot move nicely. Just old car.... If your old car is changed into new car, will you not accept it? So it is just like machine, car.
Brian Singer: You're not aware of this...
Prabhupāda: Aware? You have to aware, become aware by the books, by the knowledge.
Brian Singer: How was the soul originally created? This...
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Brian Singer: The original creation...
Prabhupāda: There is no creation. That you have to understand.
Brian Singer: It always is.
Prabhupāda: It is eternal. There is no creation. If soul is created by some combination of matter, then you could create. That you cannot do.
Brian Singer: So there was no starting point in time.
Prabhupāda: No, eternal. And that is explained there. Antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ (BG 2.18). Antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ. And another, na jāyate mriyate vā kadācit: "It is never created; it is never annihilated." You open that verse, na jāyate mriyate vā kadācit.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa:
- na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
- nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
- ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇo
- na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
- (BG 2.20)
"For the soul there is never birth nor death, nor having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."
Brian Singer: Without the consciousness, what happens to the soul when the body dies?
Prabhupāda: He enters another body. Suppose if by force I get you out of this room, then you enter another room. That's all. But this is illegal, that you are living in this room.... By force if I get you out, that is illegal. Then I have to await for the punishment, "Why you have driven out this?" So similarly, although soul is immortal, but taking the soul is immortal, you cannot cut anyone's throat. He has got a right to live in that body for some time by the ordained order of the Supreme. I cannot get you out by force. That is sinful. By nature's way, when he gives up this body, that's all right. But I cannot force the soul to go out of this body by killing. That is sinful.
Brian Singer: How do.... In the Gītā, Bhagavad-gītā, there was a problem to understand when a person was told by Kṛṣṇa to fight.
Prabhupāda: Well, that is.... That.... That we shall discuss. First of all you understand that you are not this body.
Brian Singer: But how can you...
Prabhupāda: Then we discuss other things. This is the primary education of spiritual life. First of all you have to understand that you are not this body. You are living entity, different from the body. Just like you are different from the shirt-coat. But the difficulty is, the person who is in a different type of shirt-coat, he is identifying with the shirt-coat, and they are fighting. You have got black coat. You have got white coat. You have got yellow coat. But they do not understand, none of us belong to the coat. We are different from the coat. That is ignorance. The whole world is going on under this impression that "I am this body." So how there will be peace? That kind of thinking is there in the dogs, in the cats. So our point is that if you remain like cats and dogs, how you can attain peace? You are endeavoring for peace. It is not possible. First of all you understand yourself. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). These things are discussed there.
Brian Singer: It is good to work towards understanding of God and Kṛṣṇa consciousness. How do you know.... How does the individual person know.... If he makes decision every day.... But we must make decisions on certain things...
Prabhupāda: No, in ignorance, whatever decision you make, that is foolishness.
Brian Singer: Any?
Prabhupāda: Any decision. If you are on the wrong platform, whatever decision you make, that is foolishness. And therefore we are being baffled. Every time we are making decision, and next time it is found useless, another decision, because on the wrong platform, the basic principle being wrong, whatever decision you make, this is all foolishness. What is the value of the children's decision? Is there any value? Because he's not in proper understanding, what is the meaning of his decision? So one child makes one decision. Another child makes another decision. There is fight. The dog also do that.