Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.9.23

kīṭaḥ peśaskṛtaḿ dhyāyan

kuḍyāḿ tena praveśitaḥ

yāti tat-sātmatāḿ rājan

pūrva-rūpam asantyajan

SYNONYMS

kīṭaḥ — an insect; peśaskṛtam — a wasp; dhyāyan — meditating on; kuḍyām — in his hive; tena — by the wasp; praveśitaḥ — forced to enter; yāti — he goes; tat — of the wasp; sa-ātmatām — the same state of existence; rājan — O King; pūrva-rūpam — the previous body; asantyajan — not giving up.

TRANSLATION

O King, once a wasp forced a weaker insect to enter his hive and kept him trapped there. In great fear the weak insect constantly meditated upon his captor, and without giving up his body, he gradually achieved the same state of existence as the wasp. Thus one achieves a state of existence according to one's constant concentration.

PURPORT

The following question may be raised: Since the weaker insect in this story did not physically change his body, how can it be said that he achieved the same state of existence as the wasp? Actually, by constant meditation upon a particular object one's consciousness becomes filled with its qualities. Due to extreme fear the smaller insect was absorbed in the characteristics and activities of the large wasp and thus entered into the existence of the wasp. Due to such meditation, he actually took the body of a wasp in his next life.

Similarly, although we are conditioned souls, if we absorb our consciousness in Lord Kṛṣṇa we can become liberated even before giving up our present body. If our intelligence becomes steady on the spiritual platform by understanding that Lord Kṛṣṇa is everything, then we can give up unnecessary consciousness of the external body and absorb ourselves in the spiritual pastimes of Vaikuṇṭha. Thus even before death one can raise oneself to the spiritual platform and enjoy life as a liberated soul. Or, if one is a stubborn fool, then even in this life one can become just like an animal, such as a hog or a dog, constantly thinking of eating and sex life. But human life is actually meant for understanding the science of consciousness and the future results of our meditation.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari