I know that a man must follow four stages or ashrams in his life:1, Brahmacarya (celibacy)2. Grihastha (married life)3. Vanaprastha (detaching himself from worldly ties)4. Sannyasa (full renunciation)I am 24 years old now (i.e in Brahmacarya), so my primary duty is working hard to get name, fame, and wealth. I can get into Krishna Consciousness when I enter the stages of Vanaprastha and Sannyasa. Even by doing this, I will still be dedicating many, many years solely to Krishna for attaining the Absolute Truth. So, why should we worship Krishna all through our life? Instead, we should divide our duties for each stage and fulfill them. Even in ancient India, the kings took to meditation and spirituality only after they had handed over their empires to their sons (at around 50-55 years of age). Please guide me.An Obedient Student.Answer: Death Can Come at Any TimeYou have not fully and properly understood the four stages of life. The brahmacari is meant to fully absorb himself in Krishna consciousness so that when he gets married and takes up family duties he will have a strong spiritual background to protect him from the material atmosphere that he must deal with when earning his livelihood.Besides this, there is no guarantee how long we will live. In today's uncertain world we can die at any time. Therefore in order to properly prepare ourselves for the inevitable moment of death, we must seriously cultivate our Krishna consciousness at every stage of our lives. Since we can die at any time, we must immediately take to Krishna consciousness so that we can remember Krishna at the time of death.Even though the saintly kings of the Vedic times were engaged in ruling their kingdoms, they were also devoted to Lord Krishna at every step. Look at the example of Arjuna and his brothers. They were all devotees even when they were ruling the earth. Arjuna fully surrendered to Krishna even when he was actively engaged in his royal duties.Hari Hari Bolhttp://harekrishnaharekrishna.ning.com/?xgi=4e3PEPPhttp://harekrishnaharekrishna.ning.com
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Hare Krishna !
Varnashrama system was introduced by Manu Maharaj as a guideline for the human society. These guidelines were for living in this material world. But when you come in contact with Lord Krishna you have chosen a path that takes you away from the Material World. That is the basic duty of humanbeing. There is no timeframe for this diversion from the material world. Dhruv maharaj and Prahladji had taken up this diversion at a young age of 5 years. Whereas shukdev Maharaj had created the record of diverting himself right after his birth. Maharaj Dhrutrashtra took the diversion when he had lost every one of his family member except Gandhari. Choosing this diversion, interestingly , is not in your hands. It comes by the mercy and previous janma janmantara "Punyas" accumulated by you. Therefore Krishna has said in Geeta that you go on doing "Karma" without expecting fruits right now in this life. No you can not get fruits of karmas that you are doing in this lifetime. They will be given to you in next lives to come.
The very first paragraph of your discusion says : I am 24 years old now (i.e in Brahmacarya), so my primary duty is working hard to get name, fame, and wealth. This is misguidance and is a result of your "Poorva Janma Fal". Your mind thinks earning bread is your prime duty. Increasing Lord Krishna's Bhakti is Secondary or Tertiary or even after that at an old age. That thinking of your does not allow you to take the diversion towards Krishna.
You have mentioned in your last para :- "Even in ancient India, the kings took to meditation and spirituality only after they had handed over their empires to their sons" You have taken only one aspect of king's life. In Ramayana, when Dashrath saw a white hair behind his ear, immediately he decided to leave his kingdom to Rama. During his whole life till then they worshipped Brahmanas, Rishis, Kul Gurus, in the most auspicious manner. You forgot to take this aspect of King's life into your consideration. Do you follow that - definitely not to that austerity level.
On the lighter side I say :- When a person gets connected to say a Prime Minister or President, then that person's importance automatically increases and most of his difficulties are solved without much effort. If you attach yourself to Krishna who is the owner of crores of such Universes, imagine what will happen. First of all all your desires and wishes will come to an end, destroyed at their roots itself. You start feeling pleasure in leaving materialistic worldly things, the so called utilities. This is a thing to experience. We hear from history of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Shad Goswamis, they had nothing of this world except their Body, still they had so many thousands of followers always following them.
Advise for you : Do the Nam Japa 16 rounds compulsory, and further keep the Japa Mala always on your shoulder so that whenever you are empty start chanting. You don't have to read many big big books, don't have to perform rituals, not necessary to go to temples. Start chanting and Krishna will become your Guru. You can not get anybody better than him. I prey to Krishna please catch hold of you if you start chanting with full faith in you my lord. Be always in Satsang of Hare Krishna Devotees, this will act like breaks if your Car starts going down the hill.
hare krishna
i fully agree with the answer....
because world is very uncertain..u can't predict ur future. And this human birth is given to uplift ourself through devotion but if we wait for the right time and in between yamraj has called us then the purpose of human birth will not be completed.
hare krishna
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Varnashrama system was introduced by Manu Maharaj as a guideline for the human society. These guidelines were for living in this material world. But when you come in contact with Lord Krishna you have chosen a path that takes you away from the Material World. That is the basic duty of humanbeing. There is no timeframe for this diversion from the material world. Dhruv maharaj and Prahladji had taken up this diversion at a young age of 5 years. Whereas shukdev Maharaj had created the record of diverting himself right after his birth. Maharaj Dhrutrashtra took the diversion when he had lost every one of his family member except Gandhari. Choosing this diversion, interestingly , is not in your hands. It comes by the mercy and previous janma janmantara "Punyas" accumulated by you. Therefore Krishna has said in Geeta that you go on doing "Karma" without expecting fruits right now in this life. No you can not get fruits of karmas that you are doing in this lifetime. They will be given to you in next lives to come.
The very first paragraph of your discusion says : I am 24 years old now (i.e in Brahmacarya), so my primary duty is working hard to get name, fame, and wealth. This is misguidance and is a result of your "Poorva Janma Fal". Your mind thinks earning bread is your prime duty. Increasing Lord Krishna's Bhakti is Secondary or Tertiary or even after that at an old age. That thinking of your does not allow you to take the diversion towards Krishna.
You have mentioned in your last para :- "Even in ancient India, the kings took to meditation and spirituality only after they had handed over their empires to their sons" You have taken only one aspect of king's life. In Ramayana, when Dashrath saw a white hair behind his ear, immediately he decided to leave his kingdom to Rama. During his whole life till then they worshipped Brahmanas, Rishis, Kul Gurus, in the most auspicious manner. You forgot to take this aspect of King's life into your consideration. Do you follow that - definitely not to that austerity level.
On the lighter side I say :- When a person gets connected to say a Prime Minister or President, then that person's importance automatically increases and most of his difficulties are solved without much effort. If you attach yourself to Krishna who is the owner of crores of such Universes, imagine what will happen. First of all all your desires and wishes will come to an end, destroyed at their roots itself. You start feeling pleasure in leaving materialistic worldly things, the so called utilities. This is a thing to experience. We hear from history of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Shad Goswamis, they had nothing of this world except their Body, still they had so many thousands of followers always following them.
Advise for you : Do the Nam Japa 16 rounds compulsory, and further keep the Japa Mala always on your shoulder so that whenever you are empty start chanting. You don't have to read many big big books, don't have to perform rituals, not necessary to go to temples. Start chanting and Krishna will become your Guru. You can not get anybody better than him. I prey to Krishna please catch hold of you if you start chanting with full faith in you my lord. Be always in Satsang of Hare Krishna Devotees, this will act like breaks if your Car starts going down the hill.
i fully agree with the answer....
because world is very uncertain..u can't predict ur future. And this human birth is given to uplift ourself through devotion but if we wait for the right time and in between yamraj has called us then the purpose of human birth will not be completed.
hare krishna