The best thing from our gita...........
Time
controls and subdues all embodied beings. Anyone can easily see that
material bodies undergo six changes: birth, growth, maintenance,
reproduction, decay, and death. Whether we like it or not, every rising
and setting of the sun brings us closer to inevitable death. The rise
and fall of civilizations follow the same pattern, and their Taj Mahals,
Parthenons, Chateau de Versailles and pyramids stand as pathetic
reminders that time and tide wait for no man.
According
to the Vedic version, Brahma, the four-headed cosmic engineer of this
universe, lives in a body that is subtle, because it is made primarily
of intelligence, and he lives for the duration of this universe, the
equivalent of 311 trillion of our years, which seem to him only one
hundred of his years. From our viewpoint, 311 trillion years is an
eternity, but from the point of view of Visnu, the original cause of the
material creation, that’s the time it takes him to exhale one breath.
When Visnu exhales all the universes come out of the pores of his skin
in seed like forms, then they develop, and when he inhales, all the
universes merge within Him.
The
purpose of the cosmic creation is to accommodate those souls wishing to
assume Krishna’s position as the Supreme Enjoyer and Proprietor. Since
the constitutional position of everyone is subordination to God, it is
impossible to compete with Him. So Krishna makes the impossible a
possibility, by creating a temporary illusion called the material world,
where we may forget Him and enjoy being illusory controllers for some
time.
“time
I am, the great destroyer of the worlds,” the Lord declares in
Bhagavad-gita (11.32). Under the influence of eternal time the cosmic
manifestation is created, maintained, and annihilated at regular
intervals.
Time
passes differently according to one’s situation in the cosmos. Brahma
lives for one hundred years, but for us his one hundred years seem like
trillions. His twelve hours consist of one thousand cycles of four ages
(yugas): Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. A single cycle of Kali, the
shortest yuga, corresponds to 4,320,000 solar years.
Time
passes differently according to one’s situation in the cosmos. Brahma
lives for one hundred years, but for us his one hundred years seem like
trillions. His twelve hours consist of one thousand cycles of four ages
(yugas): Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. A single cycle of Kali, the
shortest yuga, corresponds to 4,320,000 solar years.
The
four ages are fully under the corrupting influence of time. Whereas
Satya-yuga is marked by virtue, wisdom, and religion, these qualities
deteriorate with the passing of time, and when Kali-yuga rolls around,
we experience mostly strife, vice, ignorance, and irreligion, true
virtue being practically nonexistent.
To
correct the imbalance created by the degrading influence of time, the
Lord advents Himself “millennium after millennium.” He first spoke
Bhagavad-gita to Vivasvan, the sun-god, millions of years ago. “I
instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan,
and Vivasvan instructed it ti Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in
turn instructed it to Iksvaku.” This is confirmed in the Mahabharata:
“In the beginning of the millennium known as Treta-yuga this science of
the relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvan to Manu.
Manu, being the father of mankind, gave it to his son Maharaja Iksvaku,
the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty, in
which Lord Ramacandra appeared. “ Bhagavad-gita has therefore existed in
human society from the time if Maharaja Iksvaku.
Speaking
to Arjuna, Lord Krishna further said, “This supreme science was thus
received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly
kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession
was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” The
Lord then explained that same science again to Arjuna five thousand
years ago, and it has been brought to us through an unbroken chain of
self-realized spiritual masters, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness.
When
Krishna said He had spoken millions of years ago to Vivasvan, Arjuna
raised a doubt: How could Krishna have done this? Lord Krishna replied:
“Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of
them, but you cannot.” Krishna remembered acts He had performed millions
of years before, but Arjuna could not remember anything, despite the
fact that both Krishna and Arjuna are eternal. This is so because
whenever the Lord appears He appears in His original transcendental
form, which never deteriorates. Any ordinary person, however,
transmigrates from one body to another. And from one life to the next,
one forgets his former identity. But Krishna, the very principle of
subduing time, is never under the control of time, and thus He remembers
everything at all times. “O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is
happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also
know all living entities; but Me no one knows. “
The
Srimad Bhagavatam compares time to the deadly sharp blade of a Razor.
Because time imperceptibly devours the duration of life of everyone, one
must carefully use one’s life properly. Since time represents Krishna,
using time to search for the Absolute Truth is the best practical use of
time. The Narada Pancaratra advises: “By concentrating one’s attention
on the transcendental form of Krishna, who is all- pervading and beyond
time and space, one becomes absorbed in thinking of Krishna and then
attains the happy state of transcendental association with Him.”
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