Worm (Books)

Expressions researched:
"earthworm" |"earthworms" |"glowworm" |"glowworm's" |"glowworms" |"worm" |"worms"

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 13.22, Purport:

It is explained in the Second Chapter that the living entity is transmigrating from one body to another just as one changes dress. This change of dress is due to his attachment to material existence. As long as he is captivated by this false manifestation, he has to continue transmigrating from one body to another. Due to his desire to lord it over material nature, he is put into such undesirable circumstances. Under the influence of material desire, the entity is born sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a saintly man, as a bug. This is going on. And in all cases the living entity thinks himself to be the master of his circumstances, yet he is under the influence of material nature.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.9.2, Purport:

The different forms of the living entities are different dresses offered by the illusory, external energy of the Lord according to the modes of nature the living being desires to enjoy. The external, material energy is represented by her three modes, namely goodness, passion and ignorance. So even in the material nature there is a chance of an independent choice by the living entity, and according to his choice the material energy offers him different varieties of material bodies. There are bodies, 1,100,000 worms and reptiles, 1,000,000 forms of birds, together there are 8,400,000 varieties of bodies in different planets of the universe, and the living entity is traveling by so many transmigrations according to different modes of enjoying spirit within himself.

SB 2.9.36, Purport:

Therefore the devotional service of the Lord with perfect knowledge through the training of a bona fide spiritual master is advised for everyone, even if one happens not to be a human being. This is confirmed in the Garuḍa Purāṇa as follows:

kīṭa-pakṣi-mṛgāṇāṁ ca

harau sannyasta-cetasām

ūrdhvām eva gatiṁ manye

kiṁ punar jñānināṁ nṛṇām

"Even the worms, birds and beasts are assured of elevation to the highest perfectional life if they are completely surrendered to the transcendental loving service of the Lord, so what to speak of the philosophers amongst the human beings?"

SB Canto 3

SB 3.31.5, Translation:

Deriving its nutrition from the food and drink taken by the mother, the fetus grows and remains in that abominable residence of stools and urine, which is the breeding place of all kinds of worms.

SB 3.31.6, Translation:

Bitten again and again all over the body by the hungry worms in the abdomen itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition.

SB 3.31.10, Translation:

Thus endowed with the development of consciousness from the seventh month after his conception, the child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo during the weeks preceding delivery. Like the worms born of the same filthy abdominal cavity, he cannot remain in one place.

SB 3.31.10, Purport:

At the end of the seventh month the child is moved by the bodily air and does not remain in the same place, for the entire uterine system becomes slackened before delivery. The worms have been described here as sodara. Sodara means "born of the same mother." Since the child is born from the womb of the mother and the worms are also born of fermentation within the womb of the same mother, under the circumstances the child and the worms are actually brothers. We are very anxious to establish universal brotherhood among human beings, but we should take into consideration that even the worms are our brothers, what to speak of other living entities. Therefore, we should be concerned about all living entities.

SB 3.31.24, Translation:

The child thus falls on the ground, smeared with stool and blood, and plays just like a worm germinated from the stool. He loses his superior knowledge and cries under the spell of māyā.

SB 3.31.27, Translation:

In his helpless condition, gnats, mosquitoes, bugs and other germs bite the baby, whose skin is tender, just as smaller worms bite a big worm. The child, deprived of his wisdom, cries bitterly.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.7.44, Purport:

This spell of māyā is called āvaraṇātmikā śakti because it is so strong that the living entity is satisfied in any abominable condition. Even if he is born as a worm living within the intestine or abdomen in the midst of urine and stool, still he is satisfied. This is the covering influence of māyā. But the human form of life is a chance to understand, and if one misses this opportunity, he is most unfortunate.

SB 4.25.47, Purport:

The two names Khadyotā and Āvirmukhī mean "glowworm" and "torchlight." This indicates that of the two eyes, the left eye is less powerful in its ability to see. Although both eyes are constructed in one place, one is stronger than the other in the power to see.

SB 4.28.10, Purport:

Due to long association with a particular type of material body and also due to the grace of Kālakanyā and her māyā, one becomes overly attached to a material body, although it is the abode of pain. Even if one tries to separate a worm from stool, the worm will be unwilling to leave. It will return to the stool. Similarly, a hog generally lives in a very filthy state, eating stool, but if one tries to separate it from its condition and give it a nice place, the hog will be unwilling. In this way if we study each and every living entity, we will find that he will defy offers of a more comfortable position.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.5.21-22, Translation:

Of the two energies manifest (spirit and dull matter), beings possessing living force (vegetables, grass, trees and plants) are superior to dull matter (stone, earth, etc.). Superior to nonmoving plants and vegetables are worms and snakes, which can move. Superior to worms and snakes are animals that have developed intelligence. Superior to animals are human beings, and superior to human beings are ghosts because they have no material bodies. Superior to ghosts are the Gandharvas, and superior to them are the Siddhas. Superior to the Siddhas are the Kinnaras, and superior to them are the asuras. Superior to the asuras are the demigods, and of the demigods, Indra, the King of heaven, is supreme. Superior to Indra are the direct sons of Lord Brahmā, sons like King Dakṣa, and supreme among Brahmā's sons is Lord Śiva. Since Lord Śiva is the son of Lord Brahmā, Brahmā is considered superior, but Brahmā is also subordinate to Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because I am inclined to the brāhmaṇas, the brāhmaṇas are best of all.

SB 5.9.11, Translation:

Jaḍa Bharata used to work only for food. His stepbrothers took advantage of this and engaged him in agricultural field work in exchange for some food, but actually he did not know how to work very well in the field. He did not know where to spread dirt or where to make the ground level or uneven. His brothers used to give him broken rice, oil cakes, the chaff of rice, worm-eaten grains and burned grains that had stuck to the pot, but he gladly accepted all this as if it were nectar. He did not hold any grudges and ate all this very gladly.

SB 5.26 Summary:

God has given advanced consciousness to the human being. Therefore he can feel the suffering and happiness of other living beings. The human being bereft of his conscience, however, is prone to cause suffering for other living beings. The assistants of Yamarāja put such a person into the hell known as Andhakūpa, where he receives proper punishment from his victims. Any person who does not receive or feed a guest properly but who personally enjoys eating is put into the hell known as Kṛmibhojana. There an unlimited number of worms and insects continuously bite him.

SB 5.26.17, Translation:

By the arrangement of the Supreme Lord, low-grade living beings like bugs and mosquitoes suck the blood of human beings and other animals. Such insignificant creatures are unaware that their bites are painful to the human being. However, first-class human beings—brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas—are developed in consciousness, and therefore they know how painful it is to be killed. A human being endowed with knowledge certainly commits sin if he kills or torments insignificant creatures, who have no discrimination. The Supreme Lord punishes such a man by putting him into the hell known as Andhakūpa, where he is attacked by all the birds and beasts, reptiles, mosquitoes, lice, worms, flies, and any other creatures he tormented during his life. They attack him from all sides, robbing him of the pleasure of sleep. Unable to rest, he constantly wanders about in the darkness. Thus in Andhakūpa his suffering is just like that of a creature in the lower species.

SB 5.26.18, Translation:

A person is considered no better than a crow if after receiving some food, he does not divide it among guests, old men and children, but simply eats it himself, or if he eats it without performing the five kinds of sacrifice. After death he is put into the most abominable hell, known as Kṛmibhojana. In that hell is a lake 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles) wide and filled with worms. He becomes a worm in that lake and feeds on the other worms there, who also feed on him. Unless he atones for his actions before his death, such a sinful man remains in the hellish lake of Kṛmibhojana for as many years as there are yojanas in the width of the lake.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.16.46, Translation:

O unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead, whatever a living entity does in this material world is well known to You because You are the Supersoul. In the presence of the sun there is nothing to be revealed by the light of a glowworm. Similarly, because You know everything, in Your presence there is nothing for me to make known.

SB 6.18.25, Translation:

When dead, the bodies of all the rulers known as kings and great leaders will be transformed into worms, stool or ashes. If one enviously kills others for the protection of such a body, does he actually know the true interest of life? Certainly he does not, for if one is envious of other entities, he surely goes to hell.

SB 6.18.25, Purport:

The material body, even if possessed by a great king, is ultimately transformed into stool, worms or ashes. When one is too attached to the bodily conception of life, he is certainly not very intelligent.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.1.27, Purport:

Śrīmān Nārada Muni, the topmost pure devotee, praises Kṛṣṇa's enemies like Śiśupāla because their minds are always completely absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, he thinks himself deficient in the inspiration of being feelingly absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This does not mean, however, that the enemies of Kṛṣṇa are more elevated than Kṛṣṇa's pure devotees. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (CC Adi 5.205) Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī also thinks of himself in such a humble way:

jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha

purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha

"I am a worse sinner than Jagāi and Mādhāi and am even lower than the worms in the stool." A pure devotee always thinks himself more deficient than everyone else. If a devotee approaches Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to offer some service to Kṛṣṇa, even Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī thinks that the devotee is greater than She. Thus Nārada Muni says that according to his opinion the enemies of Kṛṣṇa are better situated because they are fully absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa in terms of killing Him, just as a very lusty man always thinks of women and their association.

SB 7.3.15-16, Purport:

Hiraṇyakaśipu performed a severe type of tapasya, austerity, for many long years. Indeed, it is said that he performed the tapasya for one hundred heavenly years. Since one day of the demigods equals six of our months, certainly this was a very long time. By nature's own way, his body had been almost consumed by earthworms, ants and other parasites, and therefore even Brahmā was at first unable to see him. Later, however, Brahmā could ascertain where Hiraṇyakaśipu was, and Brahmā was struck with wonder to see Hiraṇyakaśipu's extraordinary power to execute tapasya.

SB 7.3.18, Translation:

I have been very much astonished to see your endurance. In spite of being eaten and bitten by all kinds of worms and ants, you are keeping your life air circulating within your bones. Certainly this is wonderful.

SB 7.9.8, Purport:

A Vaiṣṇava who is fully qualified to serve the Lord still thinks himself extremely low while offering prayers to the Lord. For example, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, the author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, says:

jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha

purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha

(CC Adi 5.205)

Thus he considers himself unqualified, lower than the worms in stool, and more sinful than Jagāi and Mādhāi. A pure Vaiṣṇava actually thinks of himself in this way. Similarly, although Prahlāda Mahārāja was a pure, exalted Vaiṣṇava, he thought himself most unqualified to offer prayers to the Supreme Lord.

SB 7.10.39, Translation:

Not only Śiśupāla and Dantavakra but also many, many other kings who acted as enemies of Kṛṣṇa attained salvation at the time of death. Because they thought of the Lord, they received spiritual bodies and forms the same as His, just as worms captured by a black drone obtain the same type of body as the drone.

SB 7.15.37, Translation:

Sannyāsīs who first consider that the body is subject to death, when it will be transformed into stool, worms or ashes, but who again give importance to the body and glorify it as the self, are to be considered the greatest rascals.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.3 Summary:

One day, Śaryāti, along with his daughter, known as Sukanyā, went to the āśrama of Cyavana Muni. There Sukanyā saw two glowing substances within a hole of earthworms, and by chance she pierced those two glowing substances. As soon as she did this, blood began to ooze from that hole. Consequently, King Śaryāti and his companions suffered from constipation and inability to pass urine. When the King asked why circumstances had suddenly changed, he found that Sukanyā was the cause of this misfortune. Then they all offered prayers to Cyavana Muni just to satisfy him according to his own desire, and Devajña Śaryāti offered his daughter to Cyavana Muni, who was a very old man.

SB 9.3.3, Translation:

While that Sukanyā, surrounded by her friends, was collecting various types of fruits from the trees in the forest, she saw within the hole of an earthworm two things glowing like luminaries.

SB 9.3.4, Translation:

As if induced by providence, the girl ignorantly pierced those two glowworms with a thorn, and when they were pierced, blood began to ooze out of them.

SB 9.3.8, Translation:

After hearing this statement by his daughter, King Śaryāti was very much afraid. In various ways, he tried to appease Cyavana Muni, for it was he who sat within the hole of the earthworm.

SB 9.24.58, Purport:

Both the Lord and the living entity, being qualitatively spirit soul, have the tendency for peaceful enjoyment, but when the part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead unfortunately wants to enjoy independently, without Kṛṣṇa, he is put into the material world, where he begins his life as Brahmā and is gradually degraded to the status of an ant or a worm in stool. This is called manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. There is a great struggle for existence because the living entity conditioned by material nature is under nature's full control (prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27)). Because of his limited knowledge, however, the living entity thinks he is enjoying in this material world. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. He is actually under the full control of material nature, but still he thinks himself independent (ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate). Even when he is elevated by speculative knowledge and tries to merge into the existence of Brahman, the same disease continues.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.40, Translation:

Just as a person traveling on the road rests one foot on the ground and then lifts the other, or as a worm on a vegetable transfers itself to one leaf and then gives up the previous one, the conditioned soul takes shelter of another body and then gives up the one he had before.

SB 10.10.10, Translation:

While living one may be proud of one's body, thinking oneself a very big man, minister, president or even demigod, but whatever one may be, after death this body will turn either into worms, into stool or into ashes. If one kills poor animals to satisfy the temporary whims of this body, one does not know that he will suffer in his next birth, for such a sinful miscreant must go to hell and suffer the results of his actions.

SB 10.10.10, Purport:

In this verse the three words kṛmi-vid-bhasma are significant. After death, the body may become kṛmi, which means "worms," for if the body is disposed of without cremation, it may be eaten by worms; or else it may be eaten by animals like hogs and vultures and be turned into stool. Those who are more civilized burn the dead body, and thus it becomes ashes (bhasma-saṁjñitam). Yet although the body will be turned into worms, stool or ashes, foolish persons, just to maintain it, commit many sinful activities. This is certainly regrettable. The human form of body is actually meant for jīvasya tattva jijñāsā, enlightenment in knowledge of spiritual values.

SB 10.13.45, Translation and Purport:

As the darkness of snow on a dark night and the light of a glowworm in the light of day have no value, the mystic power of an inferior person who tries to use it against a person of great power is unable to accomplish anything; instead, the power of that inferior person is diminished.

When one wants to supersede a superior power, one's own inferior power becomes ludicrous. Just as a glowworm in the daytime and snow at night have no value, Brahmā's mystic power became worthless in the presence of Kṛṣṇa, for greater mystic power condemns inferior mystic power. On a dark night, the darkness produced by snow has no meaning. The glowworm appears very important at night, but in the daytime its glow has no value; whatever little value it has is lost. Similarly, Brahmā became insignificant in the presence of Kṛṣṇa's mystic power. Kṛṣṇa's māyā was not diminished in value, but Brahmā's māyā was condemned. Therefore, one should not try to exhibit one's insignificant opulence before a greater power.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.20.8, Translation:

In the evening twilight during the rainy season, the darkness allowed the glowworms but not the stars to shine forth, just as in the age of Kali the predominance of sinful activities allows atheistic doctrines to overshadow the true knowledge of the Vedas.

SB 10.51.50, Translation:

The body that at first rides high on fierce elephants or chariots adorned with gold and is known by the name "king" is later, by Your invincible power of time, called "feces," "worms," or "ashes."

SB 10.64.39, Translation:

Whether it be his own gift or someone else's, a person who steals a brāhmaṇa's property will take birth as a worm in feces for sixty thousand years.

SB 11.26.21, Translation:

What difference is there between ordinary worms and persons who try to enjoy this material body composed of skin, flesh, blood, muscle, fat, marrow, bone, stool, urine and pus?

SB 11.27.54, Translation:

Anyone who steals the property of the demigods or the brāhmaṇas, whether originally given to them by himself or someone else, must live as a worm in stool for one hundred million years.

SB 12.2.41, Translation:

Even though a person's body may now have the designation "king," in the end its name will be "worms," "stool" or "ashes." What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 5.205, Translation:

I am more sinful than Jagāi and Mādhāi and even lower than the worms in the stool.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.198, Purport:

If we do not take to devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we have to remain within this material world and endure the repetition of birth and death due to the effects of jñāna-kāṇḍa and karma-kāṇḍa. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says:

nānā yoni sadā phire, kadarya bhakṣaṇa kare

tāra janma adhaḥ-pāte yāya

"One travels throughout various species of life and eats all kinds of nonsense. Thus he spoils his existence." A man in material existence and attached to ku-viṣaya or su-viṣaya is in the same position as that of a worm in stool. After all, whether it be moist or dry, stool is stool. Similarly, material activities may be either pious or impious, but because they are all material, they are compared to stool. Worms cannot get out of stool by their own endeavor; similarly, those who are overly attached to material existence cannot get out of materialism and suddenly become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

CC Madhya 7.136, Translation:

There was also a brāhmaṇa named Vāsudeva, who was a great person but was suffering from leprosy. Indeed, his body was filled with living worms.

CC Madhya 7.137, Translation:

Although suffering from leprosy, the brāhmaṇa Vāsudeva was enlightened. As soon as one worm fell from his body, he would pick it up and place it back again in the same location.

CC Madhya 15.261, Purport:

""One who criticizes Lord Viṣṇu and His devotees loses all the benefits accrued in a hundred pious births. Such a person rots in the Kumbhīpāka hell and is bitten by worms as long as the sun and moon exist. One should therefore not even see the face of a person who blasphemes Lord Viṣṇu and His devotees. Never try to associate with such persons.""

CC Madhya 20.6, Purport:

When one is determined to get out of material bondage, the prakṣepātmikā-śakti, the spell of diversion, impels one to remain in conditioned life fully satisfied by sense gratification. Due to the other power (āvaraṇātmikā), a conditioned soul feels satisfied even if he is rotting in the body of a pig or a worm in stool. To release a conditioned soul from material bondage is very difficult because the spell of māyā is so strong. Even when the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself descends to deliver conditioned souls, asking them to surrender unto Him, the conditioned souls do not agree to the Lord's proposal. Therefore Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī said, "Somehow or other, if one helps another gain release from the bondage of māyā, he is certainly recognized immediately by the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.173, Translation:

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī said, “In your presence, which is just like brilliant sunshine, I am as insignificant as the light of a glowworm.

CC Antya 4.189, Translation:

“You embraced the leper Vāsudeva, whose body was fully infected by worms. You are so kind that in spite of his condition You embraced him.

CC Antya 6.193, Purport:

ord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu specifically drew attention to the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa. That mercy is more powerful than anything else, for it had saved Raghunātha dāsa from the strong bondage of materialistic life, which the Lord compared to a hole where people pass stool. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave His verdict that those addicted to the materialistic way of life are like worms that are living in stool but cannot give it up. A gṛha-vrata, one who has decided to live in a comfortable home although it is actually miserable, is in a condemned position. Only the mercy of Kṛṣṇa can save one from such misery. Without Kṛṣṇa's mercy, one cannot get out of the filthy entanglement of materialistic life. The poor living entity cannot give up his materialistic position on his own; only when granted the special mercy of Kṛṣṇa can he give it up. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew very well that Raghunātha dāsa was already liberated. Nevertheless He emphasized that Raghunātha dāsa's life of material comfort as a very rich man's son with a very beautiful wife and many servants to attend him was like a ditch of stool. The Lord thus specifically indicated that ordinary men who are very happy with material comforts and family life are in no better position than worms in stool.

CC Antya 6.197, Translation:

“My dear Raghunātha dāsa, your father and his elder brother are just like worms in stool in the ditch of material enjoyment, for the great disease of the poison of material enjoyment is what they consider happiness.

CC Antya 6.197, Purport:

When a man is attached to material enjoyment, he is attached to many miserable conditions, but nevertheless he accepts his condemned position as one of happiness. Sense enjoyment is so strong for such a person that he cannot give it up, exactly as a worm in stool cannot give up the stool. From the spiritual point of view, when a person is too absorbed in material enjoyment, he is exactly like a worm in stool. Although such a position is utterly miserable to the eyes of liberated souls, the materialistic enjoyer is greatly attached to it.

CC Antya 7.62, Translation:

He was surprised to see the brilliance of their faces. Indeed, among them Vallabha Bhaṭṭa seemed just like a glowworm.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 37:

A devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa said, "When even Śaśiśekhara (Lord Śiva) is unable to see You, what chance is there for me, who am lower than an ordinary worm? I have only committed misdeeds. I know that I am not at all fit to offer my prayers to You, but because You are known as Dīnabandhu, the friend of the fallen, I humbly pray that You will kindly purify me by the beams of Your transcendental glance. If I become thoroughly bathed by Your merciful glance, then I may be saved. Therefore, my Lord, I am requesting You to please bestow upon me Your merciful glance."

Nectar of Devotion 48:

He addressed the Supreme Lord thus: "My dear Lord, Yamarāja has placed me in a situation which is full of filthy and obnoxious smells. There are so many insects and worms, surrounded by the stools left by different kinds of diseased persons. And after seeing this horrible scene, my eyes have become sore, and I am becoming nearly blind. I therefore pray, O my Lord, O deliverer from the hellish conditions of life. I have fallen into this hell, but I shall try to remember Your holy name always, and in this way I shall try to keep my body and soul together." This is another instance of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in an abominable situation.

Nectar of Devotion 50:

In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sixtieth Chapter, verse 45, Rukmiṇī-devī said, "My dear husband, a woman who has no taste for the transcendental pleasure available from Your personal contact must be inclined to accept as her husband somebody who is externally a combination of mustache, beard, body hairs, fingernails and some head hair. And within him there are muscles, bones, blood, intestinal worms, stools, mucus, bile and similar things. Actually, such a husband is only a dead body, but due to not being attracted to Your transcendental form, a woman will have to accept this combination of stools and urine for her husband." This statement, which lists the ingredients of a material body, is not a perverted mellow in transcendental realization, because it shows correct discrimination between matter and spirit.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

Scientists who are attempting to explore outer space in an attempt to reach other planets by mechanical means must realize that organisms adapted to the atmosphere of the earth cannot exist in the atmospheres of other planets. As such, man's attempts to reach the moon, the sun, or Mars will be completely futile because of the different atmospheres prevailing on those planets. Individually, however, one can attempt to go to any planet he desires, but this is only possible by psychological changes in the mind. Mind is the nucleus of the material body. The gradual evolutionary progress of the material body depends on psychological changes within the mind. The change of the bodily construction of a worm into that of a butterfly and, in modern medical science, the conversion of a man's body into that of a woman (or vice versa) are more or less dependent on psychological changes.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 2:

The purpose of our developed human consciousness is to understand how nature works. Aside from human consciousness, there is consciousness in dogs, cats, worms, trees, birds, beasts and all other species. But we are not meant to live in that consciousness. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that after many, many births we have attained the human form of body. Now we should not misuse it. Please utilize this human life to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness and be happy.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 10:

A person in the material world, when favored by the material opulence of riches, generally becomes addicted to three things—intoxication, sex and gambling. Materially opulent men, being puffed up with the accumulation of wealth, also become so merciless that they indulge in killing animals by opening slaughterhouses. And they think that they themselves will never die. Such foolish persons, forgetting the laws of nature, become overly infatuated with the body. They forget that the material body, even though very much advanced in civilization, up to the position of the demigods, will finally turn into ashes or stool. And while one is living, whatever the external condition of the body may be, within there is only stool, urine and various kinds of worms. Thus being engaged in jealousy and violence to other bodies, materialists cannot understand the ultimate goal of life, and without knowing this goal of life, they generally glide down to a hellish condition in their next life.

Krsna Book 13:

The influence of his mystic power appeared like snow in darkness or a glowworm in the daytime. During the night's darkness, the glowworm can show some glittering power, and the snow piled up on the top of a hill or on the ground can shine during the daytime. But at night the snow has no silver glitter, nor does the glowworm have any illuminating power during the daytime. Similarly, when the small mystic power exhibited by Brahmā was before the mystic power of Kṛṣṇa, it was just like snow at night or a glowworm during the day. When a man of small mystic power wants to show potency in the presence of greater mystic power, he diminishes his own influence; he does not increase it. Even such a great personality as Brahmā, when he wanted to show his mystic power before Kṛṣṇa, became ludicrous.

Krsna Book 20:

During the rainy season, in the evening, there are many glowworms visible about the tops of trees, hither and thither, and they glitter just like lights. But the luminaries of the sky—the stars and the moon—are not visible. Similarly, in the Age of Kali, persons who are atheists or miscreants become very prominently visible, whereas persons who are actually following the Vedic principles for spiritual emancipation are practically obscured. This age, Kali-yuga, is compared to the cloudy season of the living entities. In this age, real knowledge is covered by the influence of the material advancement of civilization. The cheap mental speculators, atheists and manufacturers of so-called religious principles become prominent like the glowworms, whereas persons strictly following the Vedic principles or scriptural injunctions become covered by the clouds of this age. People should learn to take advantage of the actual luminaries of the sky—the sun, moon and stars—instead of the glowworms' light. Actually, the glowworms cannot give any light in the darkness of night. As clouds sometimes clear, even in the rainy season, and sometimes the moon, stars and sun become visible, so even in this Kali-yuga there are sometimes advantages. For example, sometimes Lord Caitanya's Vedic movement of distributing the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is heard. People seriously eager to find real light should take advantage of this movement instead of looking toward the light of mental speculators and atheists.

Krsna Book 51:

Due to the action of cruel time, the royal body which was always decorated with golden ornaments during life and which moved on a chariot drawn by beautiful horses or on the back of an elephant nicely decorated with golden ornaments, and which was advertised as the king of human society—that same royal body decomposes under the influence of inevitable time and becomes fit for being eaten by worms and insects or being turned into ashes or the stool of an animal. This beautiful body may be recognized as a royal body while in the living condition, but after death the body of even a king is eaten by an animal and therefore turned into stool or is cremated in a crematorium and turned into ashes or is put into an earthly grave, where different kinds of worms and insects are produced of it.

Krsna Book 87:

The Vedas personified continued. "Dear Lord," they prayed, "You are equal to all, with no partiality toward a particular type of living entity. It is due to their own material desires that all living entities enjoy or suffer in different conditions of life. As Your parts and parcels, they are just like the sparks of a fire. Just as sparks dance in a blazing fire, all living entities are dancing on Your support. You are providing them with everything they desire, and yet You are not responsible for their position of enjoyment or suffering. There are different types of living entities—demigods, human beings, animals, trees, birds, beasts, germs, worms, insects and aquatics—and all enjoy or suffer in life while resting on You."

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.4:

The learned sages say that the living entities go through 8,400,000 species of life. There are 900,000 aquatic species; 2,000,000 plants, mountains, and other nonmoving species; 1,100,000 insect and worm species; 1,000,000 bird species; 3,000,000 animal species; and 400,000 human species. After passing through all these species, the soul is finally born as a human being in Bhārata-varṣa, India.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 5, Translation:

The evening in the rainy season is dark all around. There is no sight of the twinkling stars on the horizon or the pleasing moon. They are covered by clouds. And the insignificant glowworms become prominent in the absence of the luminaries in the open sky.

Light of the Bhagavata 5, Purport:

In Kali-yuga there is a dearth of proper guidance. One may take guidance in the evening from the stars and moon, but in the rainy season the light of guidance comes from insignificant glowworms. The real light in life is the Vedic knowledge. Bhagavad-gītā affirms that the purpose of the Veda is to know the all-powerful Personality of Godhead. But in this age of quarrel there are quarrels even over the point of the existence of Godhead. In the godless civilization of the age of quarrel there are countless religious societies, them trying to banish God from religion. Glowworms want to be prominent in the absence of the sun and the stars, and these small groups following various religious conceptions are like glowworms trying to be prominent before the eyes of the ignorant mass of people. There are now a number of self-made incarnations people follow without authority from the Vedic literatures, and there is regular competition between one incarnation's group and another's.

Light of the Bhagavata 5, Purport:

The Vedic knowledge comes in a tradition from the spiritual master through the chain of disciplic succession, and the knowledge must be acquired through this chain, without deviation. In the present age of quarrel the chain has been broken here and there, and thus the Veda is now interpreted by unauthorized men who have no realization. The so-called followers of the Vedas deny the existence of God, as in the darkness of a cloudy evening the glowworms deny the existence of the moon and stars. Saner people should not be waylaid by such unscrupulous men. Bhagavad-gītā is the summary of all Vedic knowledge because it is spoken by the same Personality of Godhead who imparted the Vedic knowledge into the heart of Brahmā, the first created being in the universe. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was especially spoken for the guidance of the people of this age, which is darkened by the cloud of ignorance.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 17, Purport:

But in any case, the material bodies of all animals and men are foreign to the living entity. They change according to the living entity's desire for sense gratification. In the cycle of evolution, the living entity changes bodies one after another. When the world was full of water, the living entity took an aquatic form. Then he passed to vegetable life, from vegetable life to worm life, from worm life to bird life, from bird life to animal life, and from animal life to the human form. The highest developed form is this human form when it is possessed of a full sense of spiritual knowledge.