Srimad Bhagavatam – day 400
Upendraya namah
Seventh Canto Chapter Six
In this chapter Prahlāda instructs the demon children.
Prahlāda addressed his friends and said, “My dear friends! Only in the human birth, a living entity can obtain the ultimate goal called liberation. To get a human birth is extremely rare. To add to it, it is a temporary. For this reason, the intelligent person should begin his attempts at reaching Godhead right from his childhood. Surrendering to the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu is the best deed a human being can perform in his lifetime. This is because Srihari, while residing as the Self within, acts like a support and helps us rise to higher levels.
O children belonging to the Diti clan! In every birth, it is association with gross body that effortlessly gives rise to joys and sorrows to every living entity. In other words, right from the time of birth, joys and sorrows automatically arise due to the strength of the destiny (prarabdha karma). Remember that no special efforts are needed for this which arises on its own. Striving for sense-gratification is a waste of time. This life is wasted.
The person who foolishly chases these sensory pleasures can never attain the lotus feet of Lord Srihari who grants liberation!
Tato yateta kuśalaḥ kṣemāya bhayam āśritaḥ
Śarīraṁ pauruṣaṁ yāvan na vipadyeta puṣkalam
Therefore, while living in this samsāra which instills fear, the human being should strive for attaining the ultimate objective called liberation before his body becomes diseased and weak”.
A person has a longevity of a hundred years. The person who has no mind control wastes half his lifetime in sleep. This is because during nights he slips into a deep sleep which is filled with ignorance (tamas). In addition, during infancy time is wasted due to foolishness. Childhood is lost due to playful activities. In this way 20 years of his lifetime are wasted.
During old age when the body is debilitated the person cannot do any work, he loses another 20 years. The in-between period is lost due to unnecessary attachments and desires. Anxious because of his inability to fulfill the innumerable desires created by him, he wastes even this period.
“The person who develops deep attachments towards worldly house-hold pleasures, who is tied down with the noose called attachment, and who has no control over his senses, can never be freed from worldly bondages.
Is there any person who can give up desire to accumulate wealth? People hold wealth dearer than their lives. Dacoits are ready to sacrifice their lives in their greed to obtain more wealth. The servant offers his entire energy to others solely with the objective of earning money. A businessman dedicates his entire life solely for earning wealth.
Due to attachments, a human being is bound to friends and relatives. His mind is overjoyed hearing the sweet prattle of infants. Attached to his children and engaging in fruitive activities for their benefit, he ultimately gets trapped in those activities just like a silkworm gets trapped in a cocoon. Greediness does not allow him to be contented even after his desires are fulfilled. Giving importance only to sensual pleasures and tongue cravings, and unable to control his lusty desires, he seeks to spend time in solitude with his wife and speak lovingly to her.
How can he leave his daughter who, although married, is dearest to his heart? How can he give up his attachments to his sisters, aged parents, sensory pleasures, cattle and other house-hold objects owned by him, the obligatory customs, servants and all other forms of prosperity? All these objects give him pleasure in some form or the other and he remains infatuated to them all”.
Swamiji explains: The condition of the senior officers after they retire from power and position is truly pitiable. When in power they are accustomed to having government servants who are at their beck and call all day long. They do not even know how to brew a cup of coffee. Needless to say, cooking, cleaning or washing clothes is unknown to them. All their life they dedicated their time solely for comfortable living. Many such officers do not know to drive a car as they had government drivers at their disposal. They would have forgotten how to draft letters. After retirement they suffer due to their helplessness and inability to complete their daily necessary tasks. How can such persons, who are struggling with such basic works, have time to contemplate upon God?
Upendraya namah