āyur harati vai puṁsām
udyann astaṁ ca yann asau
tasyarte yat-kṣaṇo nītauttama-śloka-vārtayā
SYNONYMS
āyuḥ—duration of life; harati—decreases; vai—certainly; puṁsām—of the people; udyan—rising; astam—setting; ca—also; yan—moving; asau—the sun; tasya—of one who glorifies the Lord; ṛte—except; yat—by whom; kṣaṇaḥ—time; nītaḥ—utilized; uttama-śloka—the all-good Personality of Godhead; vārtayā—in the topics of.
TRANSLATION
Both by rising and by setting, the sun
decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the
time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
This verse indirectly confirms the greater importance
of utilizing the human form of life to realize our lost relationship
with the Supreme Lord by acceleration of devotional service. Time and
tide wait for no man. So the time indicated by the sunrise and the
sunset will be uselessly wasted if such time is not properly utilized
for realizing identification of spiritual values. Even a fraction of the
duration of life wasted cannot be compensated by any amount of gold.
Human life is simply awarded to a living entity (jīva)
so that he can realize his spiritual identity and his permanent source
of happiness. A living being, especially the human being, is seeking
happiness because happiness is the natural situation of the living
entity. But he is vainly seeking happiness in the material atmosphere. A
living being is constitutionally a spiritual spark of the complete
whole, and his happiness can be perfectly perceived in spiritual
activities. The Lord is the complete spirit whole, and His name, form,
quality, pastimes, entourage and personality are all identical with Him.
Once a person comes into contact with any one of the above-mentioned
energies of the Lord through the proper channel of devotional service,
the door to perfection is immediately opened. In the Bhagavad-gītā (2.40)
the Lord has explained such contact in the following words: "Endeavors
in devotional service are never baffled. Nor is there failure. A slight
beginning of such activities is sufficient even to deliver a person from
the great ocean of material fears." As a highly potent drug injected
intravenously acts at once on the whole body, the transcendental topics
of the Lord injected through the ear of the pure devotee of the Lord can
act very efficiently. Aural realization of the transcendental messages
implies total realization, just as fructification of one part of a tree
implies fructification of all other parts. This realization for a moment
in the association of pure devotees like Śukadeva Gosvāmī prepares
one's complete life for eternity. And thus the sun fails to rob the pure
devotee of his duration of life, inasmuch as he is constantly busy in
the devotional service of the Lord, purifying his existence. Death is a
symptom of the material infection of the eternal living being; only due
to material infection is the eternal living entity subjected to the law
of birth, death, old age and disease.
The materialistic way of pious activities like charity is recommended in the smṛti-śāstras as quoted by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī
Ṭhākura. Money given in charity to a suitable person is guaranteed bank
balance in the next life. Such charity is recommended to be given to a brāhmaṇa. If the money is given in charity to a non-brāhmaṇa
(without brahminical qualification) the money is returned in the next
life in the same proportion. If it is given in charity to a
half-educated brāhmaṇa, even then the money is returned double. If the money is given in charity to a learned and fully qualified brāhmaṇa, the money is returned a hundred and a thousand times, and if the money is given to a veda-pāraga (one who has factually realized the path of the Vedas),
it is returned by unlimited multiplication. The ultimate end of Vedic
knowledge is realization of the Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ [Bg. 15.15]).
There is a guarantee of money's being returned if given in charity,
regardless of the proportion. Similarly, a moment passed in the
association of a pure devotee by hearing and chanting the transcendental
messages of the Lord is a perfect guarantee for eternal life, for
returning home, back to Godhead. Mad-dhāma gatvā punar janma na vidyate.
In other words, a devotee of the Lord is guaranteed eternal life. A
devotee's old age or disease in the present life is but an impetus to
such guaranteed eternal life.
