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Value of Human life

 Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This human form of life is very rare to achieve. After going through 84 lakhs species of life and by the supervision of the Lord we get this human form and after getting the human form also, most of us spend the life without any knowledge of spirit soul. As a result we again get into the cycle of birth and death. As our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj says, "Atleast one time we have gone through 84 lakhs species and therefore this human form should not be frittered away uselessly." But the irony of the situation is that sometimes, even in the process of devotional service, we bring our mentality of social gathering, without understanding the urgency of quickly getting out of the clutches of material world. We simply get carried away by the modes and our inherent tendencies and frivolously waste our precious time in not making our lives Krishna conscious. In the pretext of devotional service, we remain conscious of ourselves, our family, instead of being conscious of how to serve Lord and His devotees.

Devotional service means glorification of Supreme Lord. Our fabric of devotion will improve day by day only when we perform service to glorify Lord and not for our own name and fame. When we perform service in this mood, then we will get the taste of real nectar of Krishna consciousness. We should remember this profound statement of Maharaj - "No expectation is the perfect lubrication for all our relationship in the material world." This statement is wonderful to ponder over and if we can ingest this one statement in our lives then our whole gamut of our lives will change. Expectation kills our devotional service.

Lord Brahma warns sternly in Srimad Bhagavatam 3.15.24, the potency of material energy which submerges us in the ocean of material modes and sense gratification and eludes us to utilize the human form of life in real Krishna consciousness.

ye 'bhyarthitaam api ca no nr-gatim prapannaa
jnaanan ca tattva-vishayam saha-dharmam yatra
naaraadhanam bhagavato vitaranty amushya
sammohitaa vitatayaa bata maayayaa te

Lord Brahmaپ said: "My dear demigods, the human form of life is of such importance that we also desire to have such life, for in the human form one can attain perfect religious truth and knowledge. If one in this human form of life does not understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His abode, it is to be understood that he is very much affected by the influence of external nature." ( SB 3.15.24)

Srila Prabhupada warns and cautions in the purport that, "It is not possible to go back to Godhead in one life, but in the human form one should at least understand the goal of life and begin Krishna consciousness."

Srila Prabhupada is insisting us that we should atleast understand the goal of life and begin Krishna consciousness. We can never blame our situations and others for not performing bhakti. In this rare opportunity of human birth, even after getting this priceless jewel of bhakti, if we misuse our time, then the fault lies with our ownselves. Krishna consciousness is a fact and that is natural but we are acting as Krishna consciousness and therefore it is artificial. Why it is not natural because we have not adapted and adopted the principles in our day to day lives therefore Krishna consciousness is always remaining a mystery for us. The more we read Srila Prabhupada's books, the more we can understand that we are insignificant and we have not moved an inch in Krishna consciousness. We have not started the journey of Krishna consciousness yet. This is not for getting dejected in devotional service, but understand the reality of the truth. We should feel the urgency of this life which is already passing away impercitibly. Since we are in a helpless situation we should pray intensely to Supreme Lord just like how in a helpless mood, King Kulashekara alwar with great devotion offers the below prayer to Supreme Lord in Mukunda mala stotra verse 49

tat tvam prasida bhagavan kuru mayy anaathe
vishno krpam parama karunikah khalu tvam
samsaara sagara nimagna ananta dinam
uddhartum arhasi hare purushottamo 'si

"O Supreme Lord, O Vishnu, You are the most compassionate. So now please show me Your favor and bestow Your mercy upon this helpless soul. O unlimited Lord, kindly uplift this wretch who is drowning in the ocean of material existence. O Lord Hari, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

I pray sincerely to the Supreme Lord Krishna, Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev to give me the real understanding of Krishna consciousness and not get bogged down by material modes of nature.

Thank you very much,
Your humble servant,
Sajjanapriya Krishna das,
Abudhabi