Thus, as soon as a being surrenders to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he or she is assuredly free from all defilements.

Why is ignorance of reincarnation dangerous?

Not wanting to believe in reincarnation plunges man into the worst torments and perpetual suffering.

Because our civilization is founded on a life spent at home enjoying maximum comfort, everyone expects retirement to be a pleasant life, in a tastefully furnished house sheltering beautiful children and ladies, without feeling the slightest desire to leave this cozy nest. This is true of high-ranking officials and politicians who remain attached to their privileged positions until death and who never wish to leave, even in their dreams, the charms of home. Prisoners of these illusions, materialists make a thousand plans to make their existence even more comfortable, but suddenly, death comes. Cruel and merciless, it takes away against his will the one who had made great plans and forces him to abandon his body to don a new one. Depending on the deeds he performs in this present life, he will be forced to assume a body from among the eight million four hundred thousand (8,400,000) living species.

Generally, those who were too attached to the comforts of home are forced to be reborn among inferior species because of the reprehensible deeds they committed during a long life of sin, thus wasting all the energy the human form had bestowed upon them. To avoid the risk of wasting human life and becoming attached to illusions, one must, at the age of fifty, if not earlier, become aware of the approaching death. It is important to understand that death can occur at any time, even before the age of fifty; therefore, at any age, one should prepare for a better future life.

The perfect logic of reincarnation destroys another erroneous idea, that of the religious dogma that everything depends on the activities of a single life, and that threatens us with eternal damnation in the darkest regions of hell if we lead a life of baseness and immorality—without any hope of salvation. It is only natural that sentient, God-conscious beings would find such a system of ultimate justice more demonic than divine. Could it be that man can show compassion for his fellow human beings, but God is incapable of such feelings?

These doctrines portray God as a heartless father who would allow his children to go astray, only to then witness their punishment and eternal torment.

These unreasonable teachings ignore the eternal bond of love that exists between God and living beings, which emanates directly from Him. By definition, since God created man in His image, He must possess all qualities to the highest degree of perfection. One of these qualities is mercy. The notion that a human being can be condemned to the perpetual suffering of hell after a single, brief existence is at odds with the conception of a Supreme Being imbued with infinite mercy. Even an ordinary father would give his son more than one chance to make his life perfect.