“In the tender age of childhood, when everyone is bewildered, one passes ten years. Similarly, in boyhood, engaged in sporting and playing, one passes another ten years. In this way, twenty years are wasted. Similarly, in old age, when one is an invalid, unable to perform even material activities, one passes another twenty years wastefully.” (Prahlada Maharaja, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.6.7)

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मुग्धस्य बाल्ये कैशोरे
क्रीडतो याति विंशतिः
जरया ग्रस्त-देहस्य
यात्य् अकल्पस्य विंशतिः

mugdhasya bālye kaiśore
krīḍato yāti viṁśatiḥ
jarayā grasta-dehasya
yāty akalpasya viṁśatiḥ

“Are you not a tad bit on the excessive side? Do you not think that perhaps you are overdoing it? Are you not ruining the life experience for people? Let them live a little. Why should they constantly have to look over their shoulder, questioning their every move? Why do they have to be afraid of dharma and deviating from it?

“I am not asking for carte blanche in terms of behavior. Stay within the rules, but those rules should not be like putting on a straightjacket. If I want to enjoy a meal at a restaurant, I am in maya. If I want to sit outside and watch a baseball game, I am wasting my time in frivolous activity. If I happen to enjoy a song written by a karmi artist, I am descending further into madness.

“These are the accusations from the outside. You are spoiling life for people. You are too strict with your rules and regulations. You analyze too much. A little less time philosophizing and a little more time living in the real world; that would do you good.

“Should we not be practical in our application of bhakti-yoga? Should we not be honest about the conditions in which we live? The expectations you set for people are too high. It is like you want to turn every person into a sannyasi, even if they have a household to maintain. That is just crazy.”

These are legitimate criticisms, and they have been voiced since the beginning of time. Ever since there was a science of self-realization that could be taught to others, there have been people on the other side. They objected not necessarily to the content, but to the constant push and the target audience.

For instance, there is the famous incident of Prajapati Daksha cursing Narada Muni. Narada’s crime was to teach the science of self-realization to children, which had the result of turning the interests. The children did not want to get married. They wanted to dedicate their lives to spiritual endeavors, instead.

Daksha did not take kindly to his sons being indoctrinated in this way. At least that was the accusation. Why should their childhood be spoiled? Why should they be encouraged to jump off of the conveyer belt of the typical life experience, which involves work, marriage, family, retirement, and so forth?

The issue is that once a person has their eyes opened, it is difficult to go back. Prahlada Maharaja essentially creates a pie chart using words. He analyzes the time spent in a particular lifetime. This would be the entire pie, if trying to visualize.

One slice of that pie is for the period of childhood. No one really expects anything significant to occur here. There can be trauma, for sure. There can be lasting negative effects, but it is not like the children shoulder the burden of maintaining a family. Kids will be kids, is the saying.

Another slice of the pie is sleeping. Around eight hours per day, every single day, year after year, for as many years as a person manages to live. Then there is work. Family obligations. Retirement. Old age. Contemplation. Planning. Retrospectives.

If a person did have an interest in spiritual life, where would they find the time? Where does the philosophy of philosophies fit into the picture? If the time spent in spiritual life gets overwhelmed by the majority involving non-spiritual life, what is the likely outcome?

If a person sees properly, they will automatically lose interest in the temporary. They will choose in favor of sat. They will intentionally avoid asat. Not only because their guru advised them to, but also because there is no more taste. It is like growing up, from a consciousness-sense. The adult no longer watches the same television programming that they did during childhood. This is because of maturity.

Should that maturity be unnaturally suppressed? If someone questions the meaning to their existence, the purpose to the repeating years, should they be denied an appropriate response? Should they not be exposed to the wisdom of Bhagavad-gita, whose relevance has lasting endurance into the infinite future?

विषया विनिवर्तन्ते
निराहारस्य देहिनः
रस-वर्जं रसो ऽप्य् अस्य
परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते

viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ‘py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.59)

As Shri Krishna explains, there is something better to see, param drishtva. Experiencing that vision equates to taste. Spiritual life in the eternal sense, in the true dharma that never changes, brings a higher taste. To the person unfamiliar it may appear that there is no more fun, that there is strict renunciation, but actually there is something much better to be enjoyed, for as long as desired: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

After having opened the eyes,
No matter how hard he tries.

Transcendence cannot forget,
Into higher path set.

Such that no more a waste,
Experiencing a higher taste.

Others may offer curse and scorn,
But link to Krishna never torn.

Categories: questions

Tags: childhood, fun, hare krishna, life, partying, poem, poems, poetry