kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1
Śrī Prahlāda said: One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life – in other words, from the tender age of childhood – to practice the activities of devotional service and giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful and beneficial because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give a person complete perfection.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: [To Acyutānanda dāsa] Can you explain?
Acyutānanda dāsa: “Human life is very rare. One who is intelligent should perform devotional service to Lord Hari, because even a small amount of devotional service gives one a great amount of benefit.”
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: And what about the next important verse? Can you explain the verse beginning guruśuśrūṣayā*?
Acyutānanda dāsa: “One should approach the guru, worship him, offer all of one’s material possessions unto him, stay in his residence, in his association, and worship Lord Hari.”
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Why from the age of five? Will we not do so in old age?
Acyutānanda dāsa: No.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Why not?
Acytānanda dāsa: Because… uh…
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: We will all die. It may be that some die in the womb of their mother, some will die after ten years, and some after twenty years. There is no certainty when death will come.
So, it is better to begin devotional activities from one’s young age.
Why should we not simply collect money to marry with a very beautiful lady, and have many sons and daughters of good character? Why not do all of this?
Acyutānanda dāsa: Because we have to leave all of these things when we die.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Should we not try to enjoy this world with our children, wives, and all other friends and relatives?
Acyutānanda dāsa: No.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Why not?
Acyutānanda dāsa: Because it doesn’t make a person happy.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: They do not give happiness. Rather, they are like enemies. They take all of our attachment, which should have been given to Kṛṣṇa. In the form of father, mother, son, daughter, and especially wife or husband, they are like dacoits.
Prahlāda Mahārāja is saying that if your age duration is one hundred years, then fifty years goes in sleeping, twenty to twenty-five years for learning to be expert in making money, and from eighty to one hundred years old we are too old to do anything. Then, the remaining ten years goes to marrying, having daughters and sons, and supporting them. So, when will you do bhajana? It is better to perform bhajana from the beginning of your life.
How to begin? First accept a guru and render service to him with a sense of an intimate relationship (viśrambheṇa), and then perform all your activities only for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa.
*guru-śuśrūṣayā bhaktyā
sarva-labdhārpaṇena ca
saṅgena sādhu-bhaktānām
īśvarārādhanena ca
śraddhayā tat-kathāyāṁ ca
kīrtanair guṇa-karmaṇām
tat-pādāmburuha-dhyānāt
tal-liṅgekṣārhaṇādibhiḥ
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.7.30–31)
One must accept the bona fide spiritual master and render service unto him with great devotion and faith. Whatever one has in one’s possession should be offered to the spiritual master, and in the association of saintly persons and devotees one should worship the Lord, hear the glories of the Lord with faith, glorify the transcendental qualities and activities of the Lord, always meditate on the Lord’s lotus feet, and worship the Deity of the Lord strictly according to the injunctions of the śāstra and guru.
Walking with a Saint – Morning Walks and Conversations 2007
aṣṭa-māsa rahi’ prabhu bhaṭṭe vidāya dilā
‘vivāha nā kariha’ bali’ niṣedha karilā
After eight months, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bade farewell to Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, the Lord flatly forbade him to marry. “Do not marry,” the Lord said.
Raghunātha Bhaṭṭācārya had become a greatly advanced devotee while still unmarried. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu could see this, and therefore He advised him not to begin the process of material sense gratification. Marriage is a concession for people who are unable to control their senses. Raghunātha, however, being an advanced devotee of Kṛṣṇa, naturally had no desire for sense gratification. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised him not to enter the bondage of marriage. Generally a person cannot make much advancement in spiritual consciousness if he is married. He becomes attached to his family and is prone to sense gratification. Thus his spiritual advancement is very slow or almost nil.
―Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Prabhupāda (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Antya-līlā 13.112)
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