Deadlier Than War

What happens each day, ends in casualties exceeding all war?

It is birth in the material world causing deaths to soar.

Every birth ends in exactly the same way,

The living being forced out of the body made from clay.

In this material world, called the place of death,

183,671 human bodies, daily, lose their breath.

Does anyone stop to think, let alone plan,

Where can I go after this short lifespan?

What is the solution to this turning wheel

I ride and ignore, so I don’t have to feel,

The unseen fear hiding deep in my mind

If I look within, I will surely find.

Each turn of the wheel a lifetime long or short,

A beautiful soul stuck in a body, an ugly wart.

Please take a moment and please consider

Does the soul sell out to the highest bidder?

Envy, anger, lust, ignorance, illusion, make their bids,

Will the immortal soul overpower this weak gang of kids?

My first realization to break this endless chain,

This material body and world only causes pain.

Again for a moment simply reflect,

On painful disease, old age, their effect.

The mortal body considered so dear

Results in an ending so full of fear.

All these considerations vanish like mist

When the sun of knowledge appears like a fist

To smash untruth and clear the way

To leap from the wheel of birth, not to stay.

The Holy Names of transcendental fame

Alone, easily free me from this game.

The winners offer all their devotion

To Krishna, owner of all spiritual emotion.