By Narasimha das
Today I was reading in Bhagavad-gita Chapter Eight about accidental liberation. In verses 23 through 27, Lord Krishna is telling Arjuna about the auspicious and inauspicious times for leaving one’s body. A perfect yogi who is aware of the auspicious times can leave his body at will, at an opportune moment. In this way his liberation is assured. Those who are not perfect may also achieve liberation if by accident they die at an auspicious moment.
“Those who know the Supreme Brahman attain the Supreme by passing away from this world during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment of the day, during the fortnight of the waxing moon, or during the six months when the sun travels in the North.” (Bg. 8.24)
Srila Prabhupada mentions in his purport to this verse that if by accident, an imperfect devotee or yogi dies at an auspicious moment, he also attains liberation from the cycle of birth and death by attaining the Supreme Brahman. “Mystics who are advanced in yoga practice can arrange the time and place to leave the body. Others have no control—if by accident they leave at an auspicious moment, then they will not have to return to the cycle of birth and death, but otherwise there is every possibility they will have to return.” (Bg. 8.24, Purport)
Those who are very fortunate, even though they are not pure devotees or perfect yogis, may achieve liberation by dying accidentally at an auspicious time or place, or while thinking of Krishna or remembering His holy name. On the other hand, even those who have seriously practiced yoga or sadhana-bhakti for a long time may, by accident, forget Krishna at the crucial moment of death, as did Bharata Maharaja, who became a deer in his next life. “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.” (Bg. 8.6) Srila Prabhupada comments, “The process of changing one’s nature at the crucial moment of death is here explained.” The perfection of life is to remember Krishna or Narayana always. At the time of one’s death, however, remembering Krishna is especially crucial. Ante narayana smriti.
At the time designated for his death, Ajamila, who had become a debauchee, remembered his small boy named “Narayana.” Simply for calling out to his son named “Narayana,” Ajamila got a second chance to perfect his devotional service. The time of Ajamila’s death was postponed by the mercy of powerful vishnu-duttas, liberated associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ajamila was not immediately liberated, but by the mercy of pure devotees he got a life extension and a chance to go to a holy place to perfect his devotional service.
Lord Krishna assures Arjuna that a pure devotee engaged completely in Krishna consciousness need have no fear regarding the time, place or method of his or her death. For a pure devotee, death at any time and in any circumstance is most auspicious because, by Krishna’s arrangement, he or she immediately goes back home, back to Godhead, where life is eternal and full of bliss. Srila Prabhupada said that even if such a devotee momentarily forgets Krishna at the time of death, Krishna will protect him.
But what is the fate of a person who is not strict in devotional practice and not yet pure? Unfortunately, it is likely that he will fail to achieve the supreme goal at the end of life and will return to the cycle of birth and death. The time of death for those still attached to the material body and mind is traumatic—it is difficult for an embodied soul to fix his mind in devotion under such duress. This is why King Kuleshekara prayed to die immediately while the “swan of his mind” was strong in remembrance of the Supreme Lord. He expressed grave concern that after suffering old age, severe disease and the final gasping breaths of death, he might not be able to keep his mind fixed in Krishna consciousness. In ancient times, after falling into a life a depravity, Ajamila got a second chance to perfect his earlier attempts to become a pure devotee. As mentioned above, he used that opportunity to go to Haridvara, a powerful holy place, to practice uninterrupted devotional service. Residing at a holy place is one of the main items of devotional practice.
According to our Vaisnava acaryas, however, in this day and age of Kali, the holy places themselves are burdened and weakened in manifest potencies due to the sinful reactions of innumerable pilgrims who go to these places not for self-purification or enlightenment but to dump their sinful karma. In recent years this problem has intensified considerably. Many or most so-called pilgrims today are not much better than mundane holiday tourists. They not only go the holy places to dump their sinful reactions but to create more sinful reactions by eating impure foods, playing sports, listening to impure music, offending sadhus, talking nonsense, making unnecessary noise, drinking liquor, and dumping their refuse and chemical soaps in the holy rivers and streams. Nor, for the most part, is it easy for a sincere pilgrim to find true sadhus or maha-prasada at these modern tirtha tourist centers, which have become abodes for cheaters and the cheated.
In the beginning of his life Ajamila was a sincere devotee and a faithful brahmin. One day while doing his devotional duties he happened to see a lusty man and woman embracing and enjoying together. This made a deep impression on his mind, and in spite of his best efforts, he could not regain control of his mind. He became obsessed to enjoy with a loose and lusty woman. He gave up his devoted wife and his devotional practices to pursue a degraded lifestyle of gross material enjoyments. He spent his life in debauchery, but by his good fortune he named his boy “Narayana.” When he saw the yama-duttas coming to haul him away to hell, he remembered his beloved son and called out, “Narayana!” It should be noted that Ajamila remembered the name of Narayana, not Narayana Himself. Srila Prabhupada comments in this connection that chanting Krishna’s holy names is always beneficial yet is most effective when practiced regularly with devotion and without material motives.
Many of the caste Vaisnavas of modern India and fallen disciples of Srila Prabhupada are like Ajamila. Originally they were practiced to be Krishna conscious and were thus full of good qualities and natural devotion for Krishna, Vishnu, Rama, Narasimha, and Narayana. But gradually, by associating with degraded persons and their media, or by neglecting or offending genuine Vaisnavas or acharyas, many have become willing victims of grossly sinful lifestyles. What is the hope for fallen caste Vaisnavas, fallen disciples, and other former Aryans who deviate from their constitutional dharma of Vishnu-bhakti or Krishna-bhakti? One hope is that they will accidentally die at an auspicious moment, or at a holy place, or while hearing or remembering the holy names.
For instance, just the other day while leaving Sri Kshetra Kollur, we saw a mini-van packed full of tourists, including women and children, that had just been destroyed after crashing head on with a big truck. The trucking line was called “Sri Krishna Lorries.” By good fortune perhaps one of these pilgrims sitting up front saw Krishna’s name just before impact and death. Sixteen years earlier, I witnessed a similar horrific accident. We saw a taxi load of pilgrims, traveling much too fast, get run off the road by a speeding bus called “Sri Venkateshvara Lines.” The car hit a ditch and an embankment. At least one child was killed in that accident, which happened at an auspicious time, at a holy place, and in the presence of devotees. Another time, in rural Navadvipa Dhama, we saw a tribal boy dash in front of a Bullet motorcycle. The side guard bar hit his head. The two Bengali men on the motorcycle never even slowed down or looked back. Fortunately this simple five-year-old boy died during the day, in the auspicious season, when the moon was waxing, in Navadvipa Dhama, in front of the first ISKCON Padayatra, in front of Lord Jagannatha, and in the presence of devotees.
We stayed and chanted for him for a while but his sister was inconsolable. There was no way for us to explain to her that her baby brother was the most fortunate soul and had certainly gone back to Godhead. His destined life of abject poverty and social depravity was immediately transcended by accidental good fortune, or Krishna’s causeless mercy. Another time, in March 1976, just before sunrise during the brahma-mahurta, I noticed an elderly brahmin gentleman riding a bicycle. Suddenly and inexplicably he swerved into the path of our sankirtana truck full of devotees chanting japa. He was killed instantly. We were all on our way to meet Srila Prabhupada in Sri Dhama Mayapur for Gaura Purnima.
The good fortune of many Indian people and many of Srila Prabhupada’s fallen disciples is that they are still attracted to the names and forms of Krishna, His expansions, and His nitya-siddha parishads like Hanuman, Garuda, Yasoda, Prahlada, Prabhupada, the Pandavas, and Lakshmi. Accidental liberation is perhaps the only hope in this lifetime for the modern-day Hindu or caste Vaisnava who has no determination to follow the sadhana of Krishna consciousness or staunchly chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Even a second chance at the time of death may not help these people. Even if they went to a holy place with the intention of practicing pure Krishna consciousness, as did Ajamila, it would be difficult for them to purify their polluted minds in this way without constant good association. Rather, they would likely become again polluted by materialism and offense, even while residing at a modernized holy place.
“Brahma and other demigods have much better material bodies than human beings, yet the demigods, including Brahma, nevertheless desire to attain the human form of life because it is specifically meant for the living entity who can attain transcendental knowledge and religious perfection. 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. It is said that the human form is a great boon because it is the most suitable boat for crossing over the nescience ocean. The spiritual master is considered to be the most able captain in that boat, and the information from the scriptures is the favorable wind for floating over the ocean of nescience. The human being who does not take advantage of all these facilities in this life is committing suicide.” (SB.3.15.24, Purport)
It is not such an easy thing to escape the powerful grip of maya. Daivi hy esha guna mayi, mama maya duratyaya. Human life is meant to at least begin the process of Krishna consciousness and thus make real progress toward the ultimate goal of life. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna assures new students of Krishna consciousness that even a little advancement on this path will save one from the mahato-bhayat, the greatest of all fears. The greatest fear is to fall down into the animal species or the hellish planets, where there is almost no opportunity to advance in Krishna consciousness.
“This knowledge is in the sastras, and people should be given the opportunity to understand it. Even if one is not able to go back to Godhead in one life, the Vedic civilization at least gives one the opportunity to be promoted to the higher planetary systems, where the demigods live, and not glide down again to animal life. At present, people do not understand this knowledge, although it constitutes a great science, for they are uneducated and trained not to accept it. This is the horrible condition of modern human society. As such, the Krishna consciousness movement is the only hope to direct the attention of intelligent men to a greater benefit in life.” (Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila 9.43, Purport)
As Kali-yuga rapidly progresses, it is becoming increasingly difficult to practice pure Krishna consciousness by residing at a holy place. Residing at a sacred place like Mathura or Vrindaban is one of the main important items of devotional service, but today it is difficult for most devotees to stay in these sacred places for more than a few days without experiencing severe disturbances caused by some or several of the following: extreme commercialism, mayavadis, sahajiyas, insane monkeys, dangerous mosquitos, severe weather, dacoits, thieves, loud noises, mad dogs, impure drinking water, constant power outages, mundane tourists, and bogus sadhus. Srila Prabhupada has thus suggested that in this day and age sincere devotees may stay at home and make their homes as good as holy places by chanting Hare Krishna, worshiping the Deity and distributing maha-prasada to family members and friends. One who engages in full devotional service in this way, constantly associating with Srila Prabhupada by hearing from him and discussing his books, achieves liberation from the cycle of birth and death in due course without a doubt, by the mercy of Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga. Yasya prasada bhagavat prasado.
“The lesson from the life of Dhruva Maharaja is that if one likes, one can attain Vaikuntha-loka in one life, without waiting for many other lives. My Guru Maharaja, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Prabhupada, used to say that every one of his disciples could attain Vaikuntha-loka in this life, without waiting for another life to execute devotional service. One simply has to become as serious and sincere as Dhruva Maharaja; then it is quite possible to attain Vaikunhta-loka and go back home, back to Godhead, in one life.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.12.43, Purport)
Those who are unable or unwilling to engage in full devotional service under Srila Prabhupada’s direction—whether due to ignorance, doubt or misfortune—will almost certainly return again and again to the cycle of birth and death. “A person who cannot keep his faith in the words of the spiritual master but acts independently never receives the authority to chant the holy names of the Lord.” (Cc. Adi 7.95-96, Purport) Unless we fully practice the science of Krishna consciousness, we are at the mercy of chance. As Yudhisthira Maharaja poetically stated, “Like a shining star cast down from heaven, reason is overthrown and one bows to fate.” We may hope for an “honorary degree” by dint of our intermittent mechanical service or occasional chanting, but Srila Prabhupada has warned that we can’t count on such rare mercy. The only safe path is that we become strict followers of Srila Prabhupada. He can make the impossible possible. In other words, he can take anyone back to Vaikuntha or Goloka in this lifetime.
As neophyte devotees (kanistha-adhikari) we should pray to be able to endure maya’s tests until our devotional mood is mature. Unless we become fixed-up second-class devotees, madhyama-adhikaris, there is a strong possibility of our fall from spiritual life. Kanistha-adhikaris are sometimes attached to remaining on the lower platform of devotional service because they haven’t developed determination to follow the sadhana prescribed by Srila Prabhupada, or because they have mundane motives. To avoid the great danger of returning to the cycle of birth and death in this Kali-yuga, such irresolute devotees might pray to achieve “accidental” liberation, as described above.