Lord Yamaraja, disguised as a Yaksha, once asked Maharaja Yudhisthira: ‘What is the most wonderful thing within this world?’
Maharaja Yudhisthira replied:
ahany ahani bhutani gacchantiha yamalayam
sheshah sthavaram icchanti kim ashcaryam atah param
“Hundreds and thousands of living entities meet death at every moment, but a foolish living being nonetheless thinks himself deathless and does not prepare for death. This is the most wonderful thing in this world.”
Yamaraja inquired further: Who in this world is happy?
Yudhisthira: He who is neither in debt nor exiled and who lives simply, eating simple food in his own home, is happy.
Yamaraja: What are the tidings [news] of this world?
Yudhisthira: The tidings are that in this world–—which is like a cauldron with the sun as its fire, days and nights as its fuel, and months and seasons as its wooden ladle—all creatures are being cooked by time.
Yamaraja: How can one find the eternal path of religion?
Yudhisthira: The eternal religious path is found only in the heart of great mystics.
Yamaraja: What makes the soul rise out of his entanglement in matter? Who keeps him company, who is his guide on that spiritual journey, and on what is he established?
Yudhisthira: It is knowledge of the Supreme Lord which makes the soul rise. Godly qualities are his companions, dharma is his guide, and he is established on truth.
Yamaraja: What makes one learned? How does one attain to that which is most exalted? How does one acquire a second self, and by what, O King, does one become wise?
Yudhisthira: One becomes learned by studying the Vedas. By asceticism one attains what is most exalted. Intelligence is like a second self, and serving one’s elders makes one wise.
(Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.116)
The beautiful Srimad-Bhagavatam offers the following solace: (SB 2.3.17)
ayur harati vai pumsam
udyann astam ca yann asau
tasyarte yat-kshano nita
uttama-shloka-vartaya
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 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
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 (jiva) 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-gita (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 Shukadeva Gosvami 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 ultimate end of Vedic knowledge is realization of the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]). .. 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-dhama gatva 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.
