(Mr. Death comes knocking)
"Yamarāja once asked Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, 'What is the most wonderful thing within this world?' Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira replied (Mahābhārata, Vana-parva 313.116):
ahany ahani bhūtāni
gacchantīha yamālayam
śeṣāḥ sthāvaram icchanti
kim āścaryam ataḥ param
Hundreds and thousands of living entities meet death at every moment, but a foolish living being nonetheless thinks himself deathless and does not prepare for death. This is the most wonderful thing in this world. Everyone has to die because everyone is fully under the control of material nature, yet everyone thinks that he is independent, that whatever he likes he can do, that he will never meet death but live forever, and so on. So-called scientists are making various plans by which living entities in the future can live forever, but while they are thus pursuing such scientific knowledge, Yamarāja, in due course of time, will take them away from their business of so-called research."
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.2.57, Purport)
"The thing is that before death we must prepare ourself. The present nonsense civilization, they don't prepare. They simply accept the flash life as all in all. The other day I was corresponding with one gentleman in London, Mr. Webb. He is little atheistic. He said that 'There is no life, next. Just like a flower. A flower is bloomed and finished.' So I have replied that 'No, it is not finished. How it can be finished? The seed of the flower remains.' Seed of the flower remains. So, so long the seed of the flower will remain, there will be many thousands and millions of manifestation of the flower. Similarly, this body may be finished, but the seed of the body, the soul, that is eternal. It will develop another body. That is a fact."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Montreal, June 20, 1968)
"So if we have to prepare ourself in this life for the next body, why not prepare yourself for a body back to home, back to Godhead? This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are teaching every man how he can prepare himself so that after leaving this body, he can go directly to God, back to home, back to Godhead. This is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Tyaktvā deham, after giving up this... (break) ...we have to give up. I may not like to give up this body, but I'll have to. That is nature's law. 'As sure as death.' Before death we must prepare ourselves, what is next body. If we are not doing that, then we are killing ourselves, committing suicide.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to save the human kind from being fatally injured by the wrong conception of bodily concept of life. And the simple method is by chanting the sixteen words, or if you are philosopher, if you are scientist, if you want to know everything scientifically, philosophically, we have got big, big books like this. You can either read books or simply join with us and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Glasgow, August 1, 1972)
"Who is interested? They are dying like cats and dogs. They have accepted, 'Oh, death is...' That's all. But there is a solution of death, but they are not interested. They are prepared to die like cats and dogs. That's all. The human life is meant for making solution of birth, death, old age and disease, but they will not take it. 'Oh, that's all right. Let us die.' 'You are going to accept a next life as a tree.' 'Never mind.' They say like that. 'I'll forget.' 'No, you'll have to stand up seven thousand years in one place.' 'That's all right.' They have become so dull. This is called Kali-yuga. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ (SB 1.1.10). Very slow, very bad. Manda means very bad. Sumanda-matayo, and if one has got some path or some sect, that is also adulterated, nuisance. Manda-matayoḥ. Manda-bhāgyaḥ, unfortunate. Even people have no idea what he's going to eat tomorrow. Actually, these things are coming. Manda-bhāgya, most unfortunate. And upadrutāḥ, always disturbed by so many natural disturbances, health disturbances, political disturbances. This is the position.
So there is great necessity of pushing on this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, so that their life may be perfect. Although it is a difficult job, but still, we are trying our best. If people take advantage of this movement, then the whole problems of his life will be solved. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Bombay, September 28, 1973)
"As soon as you take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, your point of deathlessness begins immediately. Immediately. And if you continue the advice and instruction of the spiritual master, or the śāstra, then you become deathless. No more death. And Yamarāja wants to see that actually you are continuing your deathlessness process. This is... Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so nice. Therefore it is advised.
Now if somebody argue that 'Here is... A devotee is also dying. A devotee is also dying. How can I say that it is deathlessness?' No, he does not know. Devotee is not dying. There is very good example. Just like a cat: he catches the rat and he catches his cub also. But these two kinds of catching is different. When the cat catches a rat, that rat means his 'chi-chi-chi' means dying, actually dying. And the cub, he is feeling very comfortable: 'meow, meow, meow.' Because the same cat, catching process is the same, but the feeling is different. So a devotee seemingly dying, he is not dying. He is going back to Kṛṣṇa. He is very pleased, 'Now my labor is finished. I am going to Kṛṣṇa.' That is his feeling. And others, they are crying, 'Oh, this is my estate. This is my family. This is my, this is my, this is my... I am leaving. I do not want to leave it. What will happen to that?' He is crying. That is death. And this is not death.
So it appears like death, but it is actually not death. Just like the electric fan, if you make the switch off, it has stopped running, but if you say, 'Still running,' that is not running; that is a show of running. Actually, the running is stopped. Similarly, as soon as you surrender to God through His representative, your death is stopped, unless you make it nullified by accepting anything which is against the bhakti principle. Otherwise your deathlessness is guaranteed. That is stated here. Na kaścin mriyate tāvad yāvad āsta ihāntakaḥ. If you simply know that 'Yamarāja is there. He is supervising that I may not fall down,' then you will not die. You will not die. It is not impractical. It is practical. Try to perceive the truth that since you have begun Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, your death has been stopped. But don't fall down and again capture death. That is the instruction."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Los Angeles, January 5, 1974)
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