How Humans Accept Animal Bodies
There is a common misconception that once a living entity attains the human form, they cannot fall down into lower species. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the process of transmigration is not a one-way street. The human form is a junction from which one can elevate to the divine or degrade to the animalistic. This trajectory is determined entirely by the consciousness one cultivates. If a human being lives like an animal—focused solely on eating, sleeping, mating, and defending—nature will eventually award them a body suitable for those propensities, such as that of a dog, a hog, or a tiger.
Mental Blueprint
The mechanism of rebirth is governed by the mind. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that our mental state at the time of death acts as the seed for the next body. If one's mind is absorbed in the thoughts of a particular animal, or if one possesses the mentality of an animal, the subtle body carries the soul to a corresponding gross body. This is a strict law of nature that operates regardless of one's social status or wealth.
- My mentality will create another gross body. If I am dog mentality, then I'll create another body, dog's body. And if I am God mentality, then I'll create another body like God. This is the process.
- Because your mind is absorbed in the thought of dog, therefore you must take the dog's body. This is nature's law. Therefore we have to train up our mind. Instead of dog, you must train up your mind to think of God. Then you will be saved.
- If the living entity adulterates his consciousness with the qualities of cats and dogs, in his next life he gets a cat or dog body and enjoys.
Fulfillment of Depraved Desires
Material nature is very obliging; it provides a facility for every type of desire. Śrīla Prabhupāda illustrates this with graphic examples: if a human being develops a taste for abominable things like stool or raw flesh, Kṛṣṇa does not stop them. Instead, He arranges for them to take birth as a hog or a tiger, where such tendencies can be fully indulged without the restrictions of a human conscience.
- Material nature displays wonderful workmanship by creating varieties of bodies for the living beings according to their propensities for sense gratification. The living entity who wants to taste stool is given a body that is suitable for eating stool.
- Kṛṣṇa is noting down that "This soul is very much fond of fresh blood and raw meat. All right. You take the body of a tiger. Yes. This soul feels pleasure being naked. All right, you take the body of a tree. You stand up naked for ten thousand years."
Cautionary Tale of Bharata Mahārāja
Even those on the spiritual path must be vigilant. The history of Bharata Mahārāja serves as a powerful warning. Although he was an exalted king and a devotee, his mind became overly attached to a pet deer in his final days. Consequently, despite his spiritual advancement, he was forced to accept the body of a deer in his next life. This demonstrates that the laws of karma and death are impartial and exacting.
- Bharata Maharaja had to accept the body of a deer due to being overly compassionate for this infant deer.
- Actually the mind of the King was absorbed in the body of the deer, and consequently - like those bereft of Krsna consciousness - he left the world, the deer, and his material body and acquired the body of a deer.
No Guarantee of Status
One should not be deluded by their current high position. Śrīla Prabhupāda reminds us that neither skyscrapers nor bank balances can protect one from degradation. If a wealthy businessman maintains a dog-like mentality, he will become a dog, perhaps even guarding the very house he once owned. The human form is a rare opportunity to utilize intelligence for self-realization, and to waste it is to risk falling back into the cycle of 8,400,000 species.
- No one knows whether he will receive a human body again; there is no guarantee, for according to one's work one may get any body, from that of a demigod to that of a dog.
- If by karma he has to accept the body of a rat, it will not be excused by nature that "You have constructed skyscraper building; therefore you'll again come and live there." No, that is not possible.
- This life, I am busy for constructing a skyscraper building, and next time, next life, if I get the body of a cat or dog, so I'll have to live in that house because I have got attraction as a cat and dog, and who will care for me? So these are the facts.
Conclusion
The possibility of accepting an animal body is a sobering reality that should compel every human being to take their life seriously. Śrīla Prabhupāda urges us not to misuse this valuable human boat for animalistic enjoyment. By training the mind to think of Kṛṣṇa and engaging in devotional service, we can ensure that our next destination is not a womb of a lower species, but the spiritual world.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Accepting Animal Bodies. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.