It’s Your Time Now

By krishnasmercy on April 24, 2025 • ( 0 )

“By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahma’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.17)

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सहस्र-युग-पर्यन्तम्
अहर् यद् ब्रह्मणो विदुः
रात्रिं युग-सहस्रान्तां
ते ऽहो-रात्र-विदो जनाः

sahasra-yuga-paryantam
ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ
rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ
te ‘ho-rātra-vido janāḥ

“One thing particularly fascinating about the Bhagavad-gita presentation, in the case of a systematic study, is the broad coverage of philosophical subjects. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada names five in particular. These are the living being, the material nature, fruitive activity, time, and the supreme controller. It is also said that only fruitive activity, or karma, within the list is not eternal.

“I think this is fascinating because who would ever equate a study of time with religion? Time is something they teach young children, to get to the point of understanding how to read an analog clock. They then figure out the days of the week, the months of the year, the holiday schedule, and so forth. They gradually become aware of what it means to be a certain age and why adults are much older.

“But it is right there, within the teachings of Shri Krishna to Arjuna. The Sanskrit word for time is kāla. This word also applies to death. Again, so fascinating. Sorry, but I can’t stop using that word. Any person who criticizes this tradition as demonic or relying on worship of false gods is obviously a fool. They have no clue what they are talking about.

“Let us focus on time, for the moment (no pun intended). As mentioned before, four of the five main topics in Bhagavad-gita are considered eternal. Time is one of them. There is even a specific verse where Shri Krishna describes the proper context for which to understand time. The Sanskrit words are vidah-janah. The people who actually know time do so in consideration of the day of Lord Brahma, who is the creator. Day and night are not how we perceive them. Ordinary day and night are nothing in comparison to what takes place for Brahma.

“It is a single shloka. It is talking about someone who lives for billions of years. People would be excused for not spending so much time on this verse, but think about it for a second. We only really know time if we think of the largest conceivable unit. Time is something to be known since it is being discussed.

“Suppose that someone accepts this understanding of time. They will naturally start to ask some questions. If time is so vast, then why does anything really matter? Why should we care about anything that takes place in this lifetime? Do you see what I am getting at? Whether winning or losing, gaining or trailing, living or dying, time will eventually move on. Therefore, why should I focus on anything?”

For this analysis, we can link time to the changing body. Bhagavad-gita begins with the focus on the difference between matter and spirit. We take what we do know, yatha, and follow through to reach a larger conclusion, tatha. Just as there is a changing body, yatha, so there will be the same change at the time of death, tatha. There is no reason to freak out over this change. The individual remains the same throughout the changes, whether noticed or unnoticed.

देहिनो ऽस्मिन् यथा देहे
कौमारं यौवनं जरा
तथा देहान्तर-प्राप्तिर्
धीरस् तत्र न मुह्यति

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

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.13)

These changes take place through time. That time is a constant. The changes are steady because time is eternal. This provides two distinct principles upon which to rely for comfort, for hope, and for relief from grief of separation. The changing body, caused by time, only gives the visual of a changing individual. In fact, the individual always exists. They never have to pray for eternal life since they are already eternal.

They are already eternal and time is so vast, making lamentation over the body immaterial. Time is still important, because through illusion we think that everything begins and ends with the latest issue. Everything hinges on the latest outcome, but the wise person sees that the results, whether favorable or unfavorable, are only temporary.

The time right now matters because it is an opportunity for enlightenment. Right now, today, this very moment, gives the chance for reconnecting with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The vidah-janah understands time at the scale of billions of years, and so each division of time within that range carries a vulnerability to forgetfulness. It is said that those who remember God at the time of death never have to return to the land of birth and death. They ascend to a realm that still features time, but whose effect is positive or auspicious.

लव निमेष परमानु जुग बरस कलप सर चंड
भजसि न मम तेहि राम कहँ कालु जासु कोदंड

lava nimeṣa paramānu juga barasa kalapa sara caṃḍa
bhajasi na mama tehi rāma kaha~ kālu jāsu kodaṃḍa

“Mind, why are you not worshiping Shri Rama, whose bow is like time, with weapons of arrows representing the different units of time, such as paramanu, lava, nimesha, barasa, yuga, and kalpa?” (Dohavali, 130)

Goswami Tulsidas likens time to the bow held by the Supreme Lord in His avatara of Shri Rama. That bow is the collective time, and the arrows released from that bow are like different units of the collective. If we feel lost, if we are worried, if we are lacking in direction, we can simply think of time and how it is linked to God. Such a moment of contemplation will make the entire life experience worth it.