Secrets of the Soul 30

dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.13]

This is the very beginning of Kṛṣṇa’s Esoteric Teaching in Bhagavad-gita. It is such a simple point, but even so-called educated people cannot understand. Therefore it is mentioned here, dhiras tatra na muhyati. Dhira means a sober, cool-headed man, really intelligent—and the opposite is called adhira. Adhira means low-class intelligence, or rascal. Dhira means sober; the exact translation is ‘gentleman,’ dhira. Those who are not gentlemen—uncultured, rascals—cannot understand, though they have materialistic so-called education.

Their problem is an insufficient ontology. Otherwise what is the difficulty? How plainly, how clearly and easily Kṛṣṇa explains that kaumaram yauvanam jara: there are three stages of life. From birth to the fifteenth year is called kaumara; from the sixteenth year, begins yauvanam, youthful life up to the fortieth year. Then after fifty, one becomes jara, old man. Therefore it is advised in the Vedas that pancas ordhvam vanam vrajet. Pancas means fifty. So after fifty years of age, one should retire from family life and go to the forest (vana), or dedicate one’s life to spiritual realization.

tat sādhu manye ’sura-varya dehināṁ
sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt
hitvātma-pātaṁ gṛham andha-kūpaṁ
vanaṁ gato yad dharim āśrayeta

Prahlada Maharaja replied: “O best of the asuras, King of the demons, as far as I have learned from my spiritual master, any person who has accepted a temporary body and temporary household life is certainly embarrassed by anxiety because of having fallen in a dark well where there is no water but only suffering. One should give up this position and go to the forest [vana]. More clearly, one should go to Vrndavana, where only Kṛṣṇa consciousness is prevalent, and should thus take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.5]

So those who are dhira—gentlemen, sober-minded, cool-headed—can understand that “I have changed my body. I remember how I was playing when I was a boy, wasting my time in all nonsense up to the fifteenth year. Then I became a young man; how I was enjoying life with my friends, wife and family members. Now I am an old man, and it is time to leave this dark well of family life and attain self-realization before it is too late.” To remain attached in family life and career, entangled in material affairs and possessions after the age of fifty, is considered spiritual suicide. One who dies in such a state of material identification and attachment is considered most unfortunate.

We attained the age of fifty in 1997. Since then, we have dedicated our remaining time in this world to deepening our realization of the Esoteric Teaching and helping others attain self-realization to the best of our ability. This lifestyle of Vedic spiritual culture is the best solution to all the problems of life, especially repeated birth, old age, disease and death within the material world. The Esoteric Teaching is therefore the best prescription for overcoming all difficulties, attaining lasting happiness and reaching the final perfection of yoga.

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