So this ātmā is being transferred from one body to another. How it is being transferred? Just like air is passing from one field to another. Air is passing from this field to another field, another field, another field, and, as he's passing, as he's associating, the air, if it is passing over the nice, fragrant garden, it is, I mean to say, taking with him, with it, the nice flavor, and if it is passing in nasty place, then it is taking the bad smell. Similarly, we are passing from one body to another, and according to the atmosphere we are creating here in this body, we are taking again, transferring ourself to another body.
- etad dvāro hi saṁsāro
- guṇa-karma-nibandhanaḥ
- ajñāna-mūlaḥ apārtho 'pi
- puṁsaḥ svapna ivārpyate
- (SB 7.6.27)
So Prahlāda Mahārāja says, etad dvāraḥ hi saṁsāraḥ. Material existence means we are passing on, I mean to say, do not know how long we are passing. They say, "We cannot remember," "Time immemorial." This is called saṁsāra. This is called material existence. Etad dvāro hi saṁsāro guṇa-karma-nibandhanaḥ. And this material body is there due to my material qualities and according to the quality, my work; and these two things are binding me. Guṇa-karma-vibhāga. So here the caste system, according to guṇa, according to quality, and karma, according to work.