Every living entity has associated with a particular type of guna. There are three gunas, namely, goodness, passion, and ignorance, and if you mix them up, then it becomes nine. Three into three equal to nine. And again if you mix up, nine into nine, then it becomes eighty-one. Therefore there are eight million four hundred thousand species of life. Jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati. Nine hundred thousand species in the water. Similarly, birds, beasts, trees, insects, animals. Then we come to the human form of life. These different types of bodies are meant for enjoying in a different spirit.
Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 13.22, Bombay, 20 October, 1973