The Nectar of Devotion - 1970 ISKCON press edition ... - Prabhupada

XllThe Nectar of Devotionin either state because of our eternal constitutional position. Sen_segratification does not endure for long, and it is therefore calledcapala-sukha, or flickering happiness. For example, an ordinary familyman who works very hard day and night and is successful in givingcomforts to the members of his family thereby relishes a kind ofmellow, but his whole advancement of material happiness immediatelyterminates along with his body as soon as his life is over. Deathis therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic classof men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotionalservice, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shapeof death. At death everything is finished, and one has to begin a newchapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or lower than the lastone. In any field of activity, political, social, national or international,the result of .our actions will be finished with the end of life. That issure.Bhakti-rasa, however, the mellow relished in the transcendentalloving service of the Lord, does not finish with the end of life. Itcontinues perpetually and is therefore called amrta, that which doesnot die but exists eternally. This is confirmed in all Vedic literatures.The Bhagavad-gitii says that a little advancement in bhakti-rasa cansave the devotee from the greatest danger, that of missing theopportunity for human life. The rasas derived from our feelings insocial life, in family life, or in the greater family life of altruism,philanthropism, nationalism, socialism, communism, etc., do notguarantee that one's next life will be as a human being. We prepareour next life by our actual activities in the present life. A living entityis offered a particular type of body as a result of his action in thepresent body. These activities are taken into account by a superiorauthority known as daiva, or the authority of God. This daiva isexplained in the Bhagavad-gitii as the prime cause of everything, andin the Srimad-Bhiigavatam it is stated that a man takes his next bodyby daiva-netrel}a, which means by the supervision of the authority ofthe Supreme. In an ordinary sense daiva is explained as destiny. Daivasupervision gives us a body selected from 8,400,000 forms; the choicedoes not depend on our selection, but is awarded to l;lS according toour destiny.lf our body at present is engaged in the activities of Kra