Isopanishad Text 3
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asurya nama te loka
andhena tamasavrtah
tams te pretyabhigacchanti
ye ke catma-hano janah

asuryah--meant for the asuras; nama--famous by the name; te--those; lokah--planets; andhena--by ignorance; tamasa--by darkness; avrtah--covered; tan--those planets; te--they; pretya--after death; abhigacchanti--enter into; ye--anyone; ke--everyone; ca--and; atma-hanah--the killers of the soul; janah--persons.

TRANSLATION

The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance.

PURPORT

A human life is distinguished from animal life due to its heavy responsibilities. Those who are cognizant of these responsibilities and who work in that spirit are called suras (godly persons), and those who are neglectful of these responsibilities or who have no information of them are called asuras (demons). These two types of human beings are found all over the universe. In the Rg Veda it is stated that the suras always aim at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Visnu and act accordingly. Their ways are as illuminated as the path of the sun.

Intelligent human beings must always remember that this particular bodily form is obtained after an evolution of many millions of years and after long transmigration. This material world is sometimes compared to an ocean, and this human body is compared with a solid boat designed especially to cross this ocean. The Vedic scriptures and the acharyas, or saintly teachers, are compared to expert boatmen, and the facilities of the human body are compared to favorable breezes which help the boat ply smoothly to its desired destination. If, with all these facilities, a person does not fully utilize his life for self-realization, he must be considered atma-ha, a killer of the soul. Sri Isopanisad gives warning in clear terms that the killer of the soul is destined to enter into the darkest region of ignorance to suffer perpetually.

There are swine, dogs, camels, asses, etc., whose economic necessities are just as important as ours, but the economic problems of these animals are only solved under nasty and unpleasant conditions. The human being is given all facilities for a comfortable life by the laws of nature because the human form of life is more important and valuable than animal life. Why does man have a better life than the swine and other animals? Why is he a highly placed servant given all facilities rather than an ordinary clerk? The answer is that a highly placed officer has to discharge duties of a higher nature; a human being has higher duties to perform than animals who are always engaged in simply feeding their hungry stomachs. Yet modern soul-killing civilization has only increased the problems of a hungry stomach. When we approach a polished animal in the form of modern civilized man and ask him what his business is, he will say that he simply wants to work to satisfy his stomach and that there is no need for self-realization. The laws of nature are so cruel, however, that despite his eagerness to work hard for his stomach, he is always threatened by the question of unemployment.

We are given this human form of life not to work hard like asses and swine, but to attain the highest perfection of life. If we do not care for self-realization, the laws of nature force us to work very hard, even though we may not want to do so. Human beings in this age have been forced to work hard like the asses and bulls that pull carts. Some of the regions where the asuras are sent to work are revealed in this verse of Sri Isopanisad. If a man fails to discharge his duties as a human being, he is forced to transmigrate to the asurya planets and take birth in degraded species of life to work hard in ignorance and darkness.

In Bhagavad-gita it is stated (Bg. 6.41-43) that a man who enters upon the path of self-realization but does not complete the process, despite having sincerely tried for it, is given a chance to appear in a family of suci or srimat. The word suci indicates a spiritually advanced brahmana, and srimat indicates a vaisya, a member of the mercantile community. This indicates that the person who fails to realize his relation with God is given a better chance to cultivate self-realization due to his sincere efforts in his previous lives. If even a fallen candidate is given a chance to take birth in a respectable and noble family, one can hardly imagine the status of one who has achieved success. By simply attempting to realize God, one is guaranteed of birth in a wealthy or aristocratic family. However, one who does not even make an attempt, who wants to be covered by illusion, who is too materialistic and attached to material enjoyment, must enter into the darkest regions of hell, as confirmed in all Vedic literatures. Such materialistic asuras sometimes make a show of religion, but their ultimate aim is material prosperity. Bhagavad-gita rebukes such men (Bg. 16.17-18), for they are considered great only on the strength of deception and are empowered by the votes of the ignorant and by their own material wealth. Such asuras, devoid of self-realization and knowledge of isavasya, the Lord, are certain to enter into the darkest regions.

The conclusion is that as human beings we are not meant for simply solving economic problems on a tottering platform but for solving all the problems of the material life into which we have been placed by the laws of nature.

(c) 1991 by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 
---Jai Srila Prabhupada!---

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