Question: “Why, at the time of death, the name of God does not come to the tongue?”
Prabhupada: Because you are not practiced. You practice to chant Hare Krishna, at the time of death it will come. Abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina. [“He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha, is sure to reach Me.” (Gita 8.8)] That is advised. You practice it, and you’ll remember. Sada tad-bhava-bhavitah. If you practice twenty-four hours “Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,” then at the time [of death] you’ll chant “Krishna, Krishna, Krishna.” Otherwise, there is no possibility. Sada tad-bhava-bhavitah. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram. [“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Gita 8.6)] So, we have to practice. That is natural. If you always think of something, at the time of death you will think like that. So if you think of Krishna, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam nama. Therefore Krishna advises, mam evaisyasi asamsayah (Gita 18.68). You simply adopt these four principles: “Always think of Me, you become My devotee, and offer obeisances unto Me,” man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji, “worship Me.” You do these four things, then mam evaisyasi asamsayah, “Without any doubt you are coming to Me.”
So, why don’t you do this—four things, very easy things? Is it very difficult to constantly remember Krishna? You can do it. You are remembering something. A mind is occupied always with something. Just practice to occupy the mind with Krishna—that’s all. Where is the difficulty? Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru. Everything is there. You practice it. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayor. [“Maharaja Ambarisa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Krishna, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord’s temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Krishna or about Krishna. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Krishna, Krishna’s temples and Krishna’s places like Mathura and Vrndavana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord’s devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasi offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord’s prasada. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Maharaja Ambarisa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires. (SB 9.4.18)] Maharaja Ambarisa, he was a great emperor of this world, but his mind was fixed up on the lotus feet of Krishna. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayor vacamsi vaikuntha-gunanuvarnane. When you talk, you will talk about Krishna only. You practice. You always see—you see Krishna’s picture, Krishna’s Deity. You hear Krishna’s topics—Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way, engage all your senses: your seeing power, your hearing power, your talking power, your eating power, your sleeping power. Everything, if you make it Krishna conscious, then generally, or automatically, you’ll remember Krishna at the time of death. And as soon as you remember Krishna, ante narayana-smrtih [“The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.” (SB 2.1.6)], then your life is perfect. There is no difficulty. Simply you have to practice. Abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina. [“He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha, is sure to reach Me.” (Gita 8.8)] Don’t allow your mind to go astray, then everything is all right.
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