SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM - Prabhupada

98 Srimad-Bhigavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 2Accepting that there are two classes of philosophers, one believing inthe existence of the soul and the other not believing in its existence,there is no cause for lamentation in either case. Nonbelievers in the existenceof the soul are called atheists by followers of Vedic wisdom. Yeteven if for argument's sake we accept the atheistic theory, there is stillno cause for lamentation. Apart from the separate existence of the soul,the material elements remain unmanifested before creation. From thissubtle state of unmanifestation comes manifestation, just as from ether,air is generated; from air, fire is generated; from fire, water is generated;and from water, earth becomes manifested. From the earth, manyvarieties of manifestations take place. For example, a big skyscraper ismanifested from the earth. When it is dismantled, the manifestation becomesagain unmanifested and remains as atoms in the ultimate stage.The law of conservation of energy remains, hut in the course of timethings are manifested and unmanifested-that is the difference. Thenwhat cause is there for lamentation, in either manifestation or onmanifestation?Somehow or other, even in the unmanifested stage,things are not lost. Both at the beginning and at the end, all elementsremain unmanifested, and this does not make any real materialdifference.If we accept the Vedic conclusion as stated in the Bhagavad-gitii (antavantaime dehiiM that these material bodies are perishable in duecourse of time (nityasyoktiib, saririM but that the soul is eternal, thenwe must remember always that the body is like a dress; therefore whylament the changing of a dress? The material body has no factual existencein relation to the eternal soul. It is something like a dream. In adream we may think of flying in the sky or sitting on a chariot as a king,but when we wake up we can see that we are neither in the sky norseated on the chariot. The Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization onthe basis of the none:lf:istence of the material body. Therefore, in eithercase, whether one believes in the existence of the soul or one does notbelieve in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation forloss of the body.In the Mahiibhiirata it is said, adarSa.niid ihiiyatab, puna§ ciidarsanarhgatab,. This statement could support the theory of the atheistic scientistthat the child in the womb of the mother has no life but is simply a lump