nisvaser naieva visvasa
kada rudha bhavisyati
kirtaniya ato bhalyad
harer namaiva kevalam
“There is no guarantee of our breathing, anytime we can die, that’s why it is the standing advice that we should start doing Harinam Sankirtan right from the childhood.”
( from the Glorification of Harinam Mahamantra)
Gaudiya Gosthi Pati Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupada told that: “We are going to leave this material world very shortly, we are here only for two days, nothing in this material world is permanent, all temporary- so this is not the place where we can try to live forever.”
That’s why before we leave this body we must think where we will go, and what will be our destination after death? Those who are really intelligent are always thinking about this most important point. What will I do after death? What will be my condition after? So the final settlement should be done in this very life. Those who are really intelligent they are doing Krsna-bhajan without wasting any second, because they already understood that this life is unstable and before leaving this world one should have some deposit. What kind of deposit? Bank deposit, “NO”, One should have some bhakti, that is the real property “prema dhana” , all other things are not permanent property. We can think about some material property, but everything is unstable. No Guarantee of our life itself, what is the actual utility of those material properties?
In the Niti-shastra it is written that those who are going to acquire some material knowledge, wealth, education etc., they always have to think that “I am not going to die”; otherwise they can feel no inspiration. But those who follow Bhagavat-dharma, they are thinking the opposite. They know that death can come at any moment. This kind of mentality gives them the inspiration to follow Bhagavat-dharma.
When Parikshit Maharaja met Srila Sukadeva Gosvami , then the first thing he told that- “ Oh Rajan! Be aware of the fact that at any moment you are going to die”. If that kind of fear is not there then no one can be able to grow sufficient sincerity for the spiritual upliftment. Why I give this kind of introduction before starting Bhagavad Gita ? –Because I want to show the difference between Arjuna and Duryodhana.
Arjuna and the Pandavas they are Vaishnavas, they took complete shelter in Sri Krsna. Vaishnavas do not need anything; they are always satisfied with themselves. Only when the jivatma can realize that this material body is a chariot, and Krsna is the driver, then and only then all problems can be solved by the root cause itself. On the other hand we can see Duryodhan who won’t to capture the whole country, he knows that he is doing adharma, but because he is driven by the force of “me and mine” he became totally blind. Only what he can see is sense-gratification, he wants to enjoy all properties, all wealth. That’s why I started like this. Duryodhana is not at all remembering that he will die any moment.
Shyam das Baba