Srila Gurudeva: In this world, we cannot say that God is true or not. But, we can say that one thing is true. We know that death is true. We will have to die one day. Can you say that you will not die? That he will not die? That your son will not die? That your relatives will not die? Can anyone in this world say this? Never. So two things are true. Death is true and our birth is true. After we were born, we became a child and after that, we became six and eight, and then a ten year old boy. Then, gradually, we will be fifty years old. Then we will get older. Anyone cannot check old age. Our vision will gradually decline and gradually, when we will reach the age of eighty, it will be very hard to walk and see anything. We will not be able to do anything. Then at the age of a hundred or more, then you must die. We will have to give up this body. Is there anyone here who can raise their hands and say, “I want to be old.” Can anyone here say this? Who wants to be old? Who wants that their hair should be white and their teeth should fall out and he should be crooked like any old lady? Does anyone want this?
But Krsna is telling Arjuna, “Really, we are outside of death and birth, sorrows and suffering, old age, disease, and all these things.” He asked Arjuna, “So then who are you? First, you should know this.” Krsna is saying that there are two things. The first thing is the body which is made of earth and other things. It takes birth and it becomes old and then dies. But really, the true self, it is beyond death and birth. When any soul forgets his original position, from where he came from, if he forgets this thing, then he becomes bound by maya or illusion. Then he enters into this body which is like a case or covering. This body is not transcendental. By forgetting the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we are now engaged in this body thinking that, “I am this body, I am this mind.” But Krsna is saying to Arjuna that, “You think that, ‘I am going to kill all,’ but you cannot kill anyone. You are thinking that all these kings on this battlefield will be killed, but you don’t know that they were always existing and that after they die, they will again be present. They are here now and they will exist forever.” This body is like clothes. You wear new clothes and after some time, when they become old, worn and torn, then we give up those clothes and again wear new clothes. So, what is birth? To accept a new body is like birth and to give up the old body is death. You should understand this.
[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on December 18th, 1998, Bali, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 24]