Human life's only true superiority lies in capacity for Krishna consciousness, not in prolonging bodily existence.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.3.18–19 — June 13, 1972, Los Angeles 720613SB-LOS ANGELES [53:18 Minutes] SB-02.03.18–19_720613SB-LOS ANGELES Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Page 150, text 18.
[leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] taravaḥ kiṁ na jīvanti bhastrāḥ kiṁ na śvasanty uta na khādanti na mehanti kiṁ grāme paśavo 'pare [SB 2.3.18] Prabhupāda: That's nice. Go on. Anyone else? [more devotees chant] That's nice.
Now, word meaning. Pradyumna: [leads chanting of synonyms] taravaḥ—the trees; kim—whether; na—do not; jīvanti—live; bhastrāḥ—bellows; kim—whether; na—do not; śvasanti—breathe; uta—also; na—do not; khādanti—eat; na—do not; mehanti—discharge semen; kim—whether; grāme—in the locality; paśavaḥ—beastly living being; apare—others. Translation: "Do..." Prabhupāda: Now "beastly," "animals." Paśavaḥ means animal, and beastly living being also. Then?
[07:30] Pradyumna: Translation: "Do the trees not live? Do the bellows of the blacksmith not breathe? All around us, do the beasts not eat and discharge semen?" Purport: "The materialistic man of the modern age will argue that life, or part of it, is never meant for discussion of theosophical or theological arguments. Life is meant for the maximum duration of existence for eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, making merry and enjoying life.
The modern man wants to live forever by the advancement of material science, and there are many foolish theories for prolonging life to the maximum duration. But the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam affirms that life is not meant for so-called economic development or advancement of materialistic science for the hedonistic philosophy of eating, mating, drinking and merry-making. Life is solely meant for tapasya, for purifying existence, so that one may enter into eternal life just after the end of the human form of life. "The materialists want to prolong life as much as possible because they have no information of the next life. Therefore they want to get the maximum comforts of life only in this present life, thinking conclusively that there is no life after death. This ignorance about the eternity of the living being and the change of covering in the material world has played havoc in the structure of the modern human society. Consequently there are many problems multiplied by various plans of modernized man.
The plans for solving the problems of society have only aggravated the troubles. Even if it is possible to prolong life more than one hundred years, advancement of human civilization does not necessarily follow. "The Bhāgavatam says that certain trees live for hundreds and thousands of years. At Vṛndāvana there is a tamarind tree. The place is known as Imlitala, which is said to be existing since the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
In the Calcutta Botanical Garden there is a banyan tree said to be older than five hundred years, and there are many such trees all over the world. Svāmī Śaṅkarācārya lived only thirty-two years, and Lord Caitanya lived forty-eight years. Does it mean that the prolonged lives of the above-mentioned trees are more important than Śaṅkara or Caitanya? Prolonged life without spiritual value is not very important. "One may doubt that trees have life because they do not breathe, but modern scientists like Bose have already proved that there is life in plants, so breathing is no sign of actual life. The Bhāgavatam says that the bellows of the blacksmith breathe very soundly, but that does not mean that the bellows has life.