Burlingame, CA
We people have very brief lives. Measured by geological time, our lifespans will not be even a nanosecond. Nonetheless, the bhakti scriptures say that this transient interval is sufficient for anybody to realize religious perfection. What’s extra, they reprove as irresponsible and miserly those that don’t make the most of their lives to realize such perfection. Having a lot at stake with so little time could seem daunting!
To encourage us Sukadeva Goswami tells us in Srimad-Bhagavatam the story of Maharaja Khatvanga who perfected his life inside an prompt. Srila Prabhupada summarizes Khatvanga’s achievement:
King Khatvanga went to help the demigods, and he was rewarded. When requested what he needed, he replied, “I wish to know the way lengthy I shall stay.” “Not very lengthy,” they stated. “A second.” He directly transferred his ideas to Krishna and surrendered. (Srila Prabhupada; Again to Godhead Journal #45)
Maharaja Khatvanga’s story shouldn’t be meant to encourage procrastination. For instance, I can simply hear somebody considering, “Oh, this story implies that I can do as I want all through my life and on the final second keep in mind Krishna.” Nonetheless, Krishna and the nice academics of bhakti by no means encourage us to delay our religious practices on this method.
Quite the opposite, Sri Sukadeva tells us this story in order that we might make every second of our lives a Khatvanga second. Although our lives are fleeting, they’re made up of a sequence of moments, any one in every of which we might use to realize the supreme perfection of life by taking shelter of Krishna
Srila Prabhupada confirms this concept, thus:
“Devotional service shouldn’t be a cloth course of—it’s religious. It includes no impediments of fabric conditioning. It develops in proportion to 1’s seriousness; we will attain the entire thing in a single second. If we sincerely take Krishna consciousness, we’ve got it.” (ibid)
Om Tat Sat
The bhakti creeper vastly expands within the Goloka Vrndavana planet, and there it produces the fruit of affection for Krsna. Though remaining within the materials world, the gardener frequently sprinkles the creeper with the water of listening to and chanting.
Vaisesika Dasa