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DINAM-API RAJANI SAAYAM PRAATAH
SHISHIRA-VASANTOW PUNARAAYAATAH
KAALAH KREEDATI GACHCHATYAAYUH
TADAPI NA MUNCHATHYAASAAVAAYUH (verse 12)

"Night follows day and day follows night, summer follows winter and winter follows summer. Thus time marches on, engulfing us and making our lives shorter. In spite of this, we cling to our desires".

Truth is something that people do not like. They look at it as if it is inimical to them. Untruth is something that people like. They look at tit in a friendly manner. People like to buy intoxicating drinks like toddy and liquor, even if they have to pay a high price. They do not go in for health giving things like buttermilk and curds, even when they are quite cheap. This is what generally happens in most families. Divyaatma Swarupas, students! Time is moving away fast like the wind. The duration of our life is melting away like a block of ice. We will drop the body sometime or the other and leave this world without knowing the purpose of life. When life parts, the body will either be buried or cremated. What is distinctive of human life? Man must recognize the sacred task for which he has taken birth and if he spends his time only in fulfilling his sensuous desires, he will be wasting his life. The duration of life is an important factor. Therefore, time should be used properly. Man is relying very much on his physical and mental strength. He is not making the slightest attempt to fall back on divine strength. Today, in human heart there is a huge fire. The fire of anger, the fire of lust, the fire of greed, and the fire of attachment are always burning in his heart. He does not seem to realize that all these fires can completely consume him and reduce him to ashes. Unmindful of this, he carries on his life and makes grandiose plans for his future. If a snake has entered the house, no one will dare to eat, move about or sleep in that house. It is only after the snake is killed, that the inmates can live in peace. In this body of ours, which is like our home, the snake of desires is living and not only is it living but is also giving birth to its own offspring in the form of many further desires. While this snake, in the form of so many desires, is living, growing and flourishing in our body, one wonders how man can live in peace. He must have a lot of courage to live in a house full of such snakes. One does not understand is he does this knowingly or unknowingly.

Our birth, our life, our growth, our decadence and our destruction are all a result of passing time. Night following day and day following night are also a consequence of passing time. When it is daytime for us in India, it is nighttime for people in America. For half the earth, it appears as day while for the other half, it is night. The earth itself is teaching us a good lesson, by exchanging the darkness, of one half with the brightness of the other half. In spite of this lesson, we believe that our life is unchanging and permanent. It is ridiculous - that we change from boyhood to youth and from youth to old age is illustrative of the fact that the passage of time brings about changes in us. This time can be referred to as Goddess KAALIKA or KAALA. This goddess is dancing on the stage of our life and as she dances time moves on and the span of our life is shortened. The time that has gone behind is called the past, the time that is current now is called the present and the time that is ahead is called the future. By remembering what has happened in the past and by thinking of what is happening now, we go on imagining several successes and wish to do many things in the future. The past, the present and the future are all coming because of changing time. They are not something that are specially created. Our primary objective should be to recognize the nature of time and utilize it in a sacred manner. That is the lesson that all the shastras (scriptures) and Vedas teach us. When time itself is swallowing every individual, to grieve and to think that an individual is permanent is not right.

The Goddess of time is swallowing everyone. It is possible that the beautiful spring season that has gone may come again. It is also possible that the phases of the moon that have gone may come again. But the water that has once flown in the river and the youth that has gone behind you will never come back and since life is like a stream moving on in one direction only, it is necessary for us to spend our life in a purposeful manner. In many parts of our country, when we see wealthy people, we say that they had helped other people in their previous births and therefore they have got wealth in this birth. This is common way of talking. We say that one who had led a righteous life, gave to many charities and made several sacrifices in his previous life will be born in a wealthy family in this life. Sometimes, people are born in a poor family and go into a wealthy family by adoption. One may be born as a very poor man and as time goes on, he may become a very wealthy person by his luck. Further even after being born a poor man, may get a good education and get into a good job and earn plenty of money, and end up a wealthy person. In the modern age, it is also quite possible that one who is born poor can acquire a large sum of money by winning a prize in a lottery, if he has luck. Above all, one may have God's Grace and as a result of this grace he may become a very wealthy person. For all this happiness and good luck, his actions in his previous life are responsible. His attempts during this life are not the cause.

Shankara has given this verse of Bhaja Givinda in order to make us realize that time is sacred and that we should respect the God of Time. Ramakrishna Paramhansa used to spend hid entire time in the direction of securing the vision of God. As night approached, he used to think that he had not had the good fortune of having the vision of God during the whole of that day and he used to shed tears thinking that another day was wasted. Today, young people seem to acquire expertise in wasting time. They talk about unnecessary things for hours together. If they have no other work, they read silly storybooks and waste time in engaging themselves in useless avocations. Any work that has no specific purpose or use in daily life means wasting time. Make it a habit to read sacred books concerning our culture, like Ramayana, Mahabharat, the Bhagavad Gita and so on. Your mind is like a lens. If you read impure thoughts, then that impurity will get imprinted on the plate of your heart through the lens of your mind. Therefore, you must make an attempt "To do Good, Be Good and See Good". Thus you should turn your mind in the right direction.

In our Indian Culture, it has been said that "Eswara Sarva Bhutànàm" that is Eswara is present in all things, you may thus think of a stone as Eswara, but not Eswara as a stone. Sometimes, westerners ridicule us by saying that we worship a stone and imagine it to be God. The correct interpretation is that we are accustomed to believe that God is present in everything, in this world. Therefore we worship Tulsi leaf, the cow the Aswatha tree, the lion the tiger and the snake and in fact all the creation in this world because God is present in everything in this world. You may worship a picture as God but not God as a picture. You can elevate a piece of stone, a piece of mud, a bit of paper to the position of a God and worship it, but do not bring down God the position of a piece of stone, mud or paper. Indian youth should not think that we are doing this in blind faith. The young people should read the great texts that portray our traditions and also know the lives of great people that lived in our country. This is the purpose with which we have started these summer classes and interpret Bhaja Govindam.