Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.9.29
लब्ध्वा सुदुर्लभमिदं बहुसम्भवान्ते
मानुष्यमर्थदमनित्यमपीह धीर: ।
तूर्णं यतेत न पतेदनुमृत्यु याव-
न्नि:श्रेयसाय विषय: खलु सर्वत: स्यात् ॥ २९ ॥
labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte
[labdhvaa su-durlabham idam bahu-sambhavaante]
mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ
[maanushyam artha-dam anityam apeeha dheerah]
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvan
[toornam yateta na pated anu-mrityu yaavan]
niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt
[nihshreyasaaya vishayah khalu sarvatah syaat]
Word-for-word
labdhvā
—
having obtained
su-durlabham
—
that which is very difficult to obtain
idam
—
this
bahu
—
many
sambhava
—
births
ante
—
after
mānuṣyam
—
human form of life
artha-dam
—
which awards great value
anityam
—
not eternal
api
—
although
iha
—
in this material world
dhīraḥ
—
one who has sober intelligence
tūrṇam
—
immediately
yateta
—
should endeavor
na
—
not
patet
—
has fallen
anu-mṛtyu
—
always subject to death
yāvat
—
as long as
niḥśreyasāya
—
for ultimate liberation
viṣayaḥ
—
sense gratification
khalu
—
always
sarvataḥ
—
in all conditions
syāt
—
is possible.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte
labdhvā
having obtained
su-durlabham
that which is very difficult to obtain
idam
this
bahu
many
sambhava
births
ante
after
mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ
mānuṣyam
human form of life
artha-dam
which awards great value
anityam
not eternal
api
although
iha
in this material world
dhīraḥ
one who has sober intelligence
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvan
tūrṇam
immediately
yateta
should endeavor
na
not
patet
has fallen
anu-mṛtyu
always subject to death
yāvat
as long as
niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt
niḥśreyasāya
for ultimate liberation
viṣayaḥ
sense gratification
khalu
always
sarvataḥ
in all conditions
syāt
is possible.
After many, many births and deaths one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life as long as his body, which is always subject to death, has not fallen down and died. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Kṛṣṇa consciousness is possible only for a human being.
Purport
Material life essentially means repeated birth and death. Even the lowest forms of life, such as reptiles, insects, pigs and dogs, have ample opportunity for sense gratification. Even ordinary houseflies have a busy sex life and thus multiply rapidly. Human life, however, enables one to understand the Absolute Truth and is therefore full of grave responsibility. Since the valuable human life is not eternal, we should do the needful to achieve the highest perfection, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Before death appears, we should seriously cultivate our real self-interest.
One can experience Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the association of devotees of the Lord. Without their association, one is in danger of being attracted to an impersonal conception of life, which causes one to fall away from devotional service to the Absolute Truth. Or, being discouraged by one’s failure to understand the Absolute Truth, one may return to the false platform of sense gratification. In conclusion, human life is meant for cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness under the guidance of the experienced, self-realized devotees of the Lord.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
Having attained after many births the rare human body which is temporary but of great value, the intelligent person should immediately strive for spiritual life as long as the body lives, because the body dies after being born. Material enjoyment is available in all forms of life.
The human body is temporary but full of value, since by the human body one can attain what is eternal. One should thus endeavor for the highest benefit as long as the body lives because the body is temporary: after being born, it dies. Material enjoyment (viṣayaḥ) is possible in all bodies such as dogs.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The rare human birth is your one chance to endeavor swiftly for Kṛṣṇa consciousness before death arrives — sense gratification you can get anywhere.
Practical Applications
- Each morning, name the one thing only a human birth lets you do — hear about Kṛṣṇa, chant His names, serve devotees — and place it before your phone.
- Refuse to spend this body's irreplaceable hours chasing pleasures a dog or fly already enjoys more efficiently than you.
- Seek out devotee association today — one call, one visit, one kīrtana — so you do not drift into impersonalism or sense gratification by default.
Reflection Questions
- If I knew this body would fall tomorrow, which of today's pursuits would I see as worthy of a human birth, and which as wasted on appetites I share with insects?
- Where am I treating this rare human form as if it were guaranteed to last, and what urgent endeavor am I postponing on that false assumption?
For Each Age Group
youth
- Before opening social media in the morning, chant one round or hear one verse — claim the human-only act first, before the scroll that any primate could do.
- Pick one friend who hears about Kṛṣṇa and one who only talks about grades, dating, and status, and notice over a week which association shapes your inner life more.
- When peers say "we are young, there is time," remember the verse's anu-mṛtyu — death walks behind every body, including a twenty-year-old's — and do not postpone sādhana to some imagined later self.
householder
- Build one non-negotiable devotional anchor into the family week — morning chanting, evening reading, a weekly program — so household life serves Kṛṣṇa consciousness rather than consuming it.
- When weighing a career or money decision, ask whether it expands or shrinks your time for hearing, chanting, and devotee association, and let that weigh as heavily as the salary.
- Raise your children with the explicit understanding that the human form is rare and meant for the highest perfection, so they inherit the verse's urgency rather than only your ambitions for them.
senior
- Treat each remaining year as the verse describes — temporary but capable of yielding the highest perfection — and reorder the calendar around sādhana, not around errands and entertainment.
- Mentor younger devotees and family members in what this body is for, so the rare human opportunity you received is transmitted, not buried with you.
- Loosen grip on properties, titles, and grievances that belong to the body about to fall, and invest those hours instead in hearing about Kṛṣṇa in the company of His devotees.
Common Pitfalls
- Reading "quickly endeavor" as license for anxious, ego-driven striving rather than steady, sober (dhīra) effort under guidance.
- Using the verse's urgency to justify neglecting legitimate āśrama duties — family, work, dependents — instead of weaving sādhana through them.
- Hearing "sense gratification is available even in lower species" as moralism about pleasure, and missing the real point: only this body can know Kṛṣṇa.
Discussion Prompts
- Share one activity in your week that genuinely requires a human birth, and one that any animal could be doing in your place — and notice the ratio.
- Prabhupāda warns that without devotee association one drifts toward impersonalism or back to sense gratification — which of those two pulls is stronger on you, and why?
- What does "sober" (dhīra) endeavor look like in practice, as distinct from frantic urgency on one side and complacent delay on the other?
Role Play
A friend in their late thirties tells you they will get serious about spiritual life after the kids are grown, the mortgage is paid, and they retire — about twenty years from now. Drawing on this verse, respond without scolding, without flattery, and without pretending the body has guaranteed time.
Objections & Responses
- This sounds like fear-based religion — scaring people with death to make them practice. A healthy spirituality should come from love, not panic.
The verse does not ask for panic; it asks for sobriety. A dhīra who notices that the body is anu-mṛtyu — followed at every step by death — does not flee in fear but uses the remaining time wisely. Love for Kṛṣṇa actually deepens when we stop pretending we have unlimited tomorrows. - Calling sense gratification something "even pigs and flies do" is contemptuous toward ordinary human happiness — food, family, intimacy, art.
The verse is not condemning these; it is locating them accurately. Eating, mating, defending, and sleeping are shared across species, and a human life spent only on these wastes its unique capacity. Engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service — prasāda, gṛhastha-dharma, devotional art — those very activities become the highest perfection rather than the lowest common denominator.
My note
Source: vedabase.io