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GURU 5 - Moon
60 mins

60 mins

THE LESSON LEARNT BY THE AVADHUTA BRAHMANA

The various phases of ones material life, beginning with birth and culminating in
death, are all properties of the body and do not affect the soul, just as the apparent
waxing and waning of the moon does not affect the moon itself. Such changes are
enforced by the imperceptible movements of time. From the moon he had learned
how the material body undergoes growth and dwindling.

The Theme - Phases of Life.) How the material

body undergoes growth and dwindling.
SB 11.7.49
THE PHASES OF LIFE
We all have taken birth and after that when we grew up and the age for
schooling was perfect we were admitted to some school in nursery, after that we
graduated to higher grades like kinder garden and then finally primary section. Now
we are in the secondary section. Then after some time we may graduate from school
and attend college. Soon after we might finish that too and get higher honours or
post graduation and finally end up in some work place. So this gradual phase of a
students life.

When he is in kinder garden he is happy to graduate to first standard. For e.g.

we see our little kids who are very happy to tell us that this year onwards they will
attend the first standard. So they feel happy, for sometime only. Soon they come to
the fourth standard and again feel happy that they will graduate to the secondary
section from next year. This is again a phase in his life. After graduating to the
secondary section things go along until you are in the senior secondary where one
is waiting that when will the time come for you to be free, attending college and feel
that I too have arrived. But the fact is that one who has been through this phase
of life will always say that school was always better. Invariably, one feels a bit of
freedom by graduating from school and mingling with new friends in college, but
all is temporary just for a few years or even less than that. You soon realize how
secure and comfortable you were in school with your teachers you then ridiculed or

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GURU 5 - Moon
lovingly made fun of. But life by then has moved on.
So similarly the body undergoes six changes: birth, growth, maintenance, production
of by-products, dwindling and death. Similarly, the moon appears to grow, diminish
and finally disappear. Since moonlight is a lunar reflection of sunlight, it is understood
that the moon itself does not grow or diminish; rather, we perceive the reflection of
the moon in various phases. Similarly, the eternal soul is not born, nor does it die,
as confirmed in Bhagavad-gt (2.20): na jyate mriyate v kadcit. We perceive the
reflection of the soul in the form of the gross material body and the subtle mind,
which undergo various material changes.
According to rla rdhara Svm, the sun is a fiery planet and the moon is a watery
planet. This is also confirmed by rla Jva Gosvm and further illustrates the
ignorance of modern science about the actual nature of the moon planet.

SLOKA RECITATION
Let us learn a sloka from the Bhagavad Gita which teaches us something about
the above theme.
Before teaching the present verse, the teacher should begin the class by
chanting all the verses of the 24 Gurus with the children all together.
Chant the 5th verse of the 24 Gurus again. Tell the children we will learn the
eleventh verse and also understand it.
Learn the fifth verse. (The teacher recites the sloka line by line and makes the
children repeat and memorize the sloka)
dehino smin yath dehe
kaumra yauvana jar
tath dehntara-prptir
dhras tatra na muhyati
SYNONYMS
dehinaof the embodied; asminin this; yathas; dehein the body;
kaumramboyhood; yauvanamyouth; jarold age; tathsimilarly; dehaantaraof transference of the body; prptiachievement; dhrathe sober;
tatrathereupon; nanever; muhyatiis deluded.
TRANSLATION
As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to
old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not
bewildered by such a change.

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LESSONS FROM GURU TEN CAT
Inevitability of Transformations for body
Strive to Escape Janma, Mrtyu, Jara, Vyadhi
Where is he Now?

Composing or decomposing
Foolishness in Avoiding death
You canT conquer death with money

STORIES
STORY 1 - OF YAMARAJA AND THE PARROT
{INEVITABILITY OF TRANSFORMATIONS FOR BODY}
One day a parrot
saw Yamaraj staring
at it very intently.
The parrot thought
that Yamaraj had come to take him to
his abode. This thought itself scared the
parrot till its bones. The parrot started
frantically running here and there. It
ran off to the very end of the forest and
turned back to see that
Yamaraj was just behind
it. Now the parrot was
very scared. It called
for his elder brother
Garuda, the king of birds. Garuda
immediately comes and asks the parrot,
Whats wrong. The parrot tells him his
difficulty. Garuda tells him not to worry
and that in a moment he will take him to
a very far place where no one can catch
him.

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The parrot sits on the

back of Garuda and
he takes him to Kailas
Mountain in a moment.
As soon as they reach
there they see Yamaraj. The parrot
begins to panic. Garuda comes forward
and asks Yamaraj that why he was after
the parrots life and why is he scaring the
parrot so much. Yamaraj replied, I was
surprised when I saw the parrot in that
forest because, he was supposed to die
in Kailas Mountain after a few minutes. I
was thinking how will he reach there so
fast. Now I know that death is inevitable
and if you are destined to die then no
one can protect you. From this story we
realize that each of us have to inevitably
undergo the six transformations of birth,
growth, maintenance, production of byproducts, dwindling and death.

GURU 5 - Moon
STORY 2 - GAUTAM BUDDHA
{STRIVE TO ESCAPE JANMA, MRTYU, JARA, VYADHI}
There was a king called
Shuddhodan and he had a son
called Siddhartha. Before the
prince was born, an astrologer
told the king that this boy would either
be a saintly king or a great
religious teacher. The king
wanted Siddhartha to continue
ruling the kingdom after him and did
not want him to take up renounced life.
The king did not want him to see the
ghastliness of birth, death, old age and
disease. He kept him protected in the
palace and only kept beautiful people
around him.
But one day when he was twentynine years old, the prince developed a
desire to travel around the
kingdom and told his driver
to take his chariot around.
While going around Siddhartha saw
a bent and wrinkled man, hobbling
by with a stick. He felt stunned. He

then spied on a verandah upon a man

lying in bed and groaning in agony. He
felt pain in his heart as never before.
But when he saw a corpse borne on a
stretcher and surrounded by
weeping people, he became
almost mad with curiosity.
A wandering monk was passing
by.
Siddhartha
eagerly
approached him and pleaded
for an explanation. He asked,
What have I seen? Why do
such things happen?
The holy man replied that he
had just witnessed old age, disease and
death. He explained that everyone born
in this world meets these three things in
this world sometimes in this life. This
opened his eyes to the reality of life
and he began his search for the truth.
Eventually he became known as Gautam
Buddha and became a great religious
teacher.

STORY 3 - AMBARISH PRABHU AND PRABHUPADA FIRST MEETING

{WHERE IS HE NOW?}
Ambarish
prabhu
met
Prabhupada for the first time
in Dallas. He flew there to meet
him and was very nervous.
He went into Prabhupadas room and
offered obeisances. Prabhupada said in
a grave tone So you are Henry Fords

great grandson? I replied,

Yes.
Prabhupada said Where is he
now?
He immediately put him on the spiritual
platform and made him think about the
difference between body and soul.

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STORY 4

{COMPOSING OR DECOMPOSING}
Once a very rich lady
asked a singer to perform a
private concert for her. He
sang many songs and she
complimented him appreciating some
songs. She asked him who composed

those songs.
He said Beethowen. She
then asked him Is he still
composing?
The
singer
instantly replied, He is not composing,
he is decomposing.

STORY 5
{FOOLISHNESS IN AVOIDING DEATH}
Prabhupada tells a story where a man
came to know that he was going
to die in a few days. He wanted
to somehow avoid Yamaraj.
He thought that Yamaraj was a
nice person and will not like to

touch dirty things. Thinking like this he

covered himself with stool
thinking that now Yamaraj
will not touch him due to the
abominable smell emitting
from him

STORY 6

{COMPOSING OR DECOMPOSING}
When Walt Disney was dying
he was scared and asked the
scientists to find a machine,
which would bring back a dead
person to life. Some scientists promised
him this and took one million dollars
for their research. In the meanwhile,
he died. They preserved his
body in a huge ice cabinet.
In the meanwhile, the
relatives of Walt Disney
started feeling that if the scientists were

Video of womb to tomb

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able to actually find a machine, which

could revive him, and then they would
be in trouble. In order to protect their
interests they paid the scientists a huge
amount to put off the ice cabinet.
Ultimately the scientists
made a huge amount of money
for just putting on and putting
off the ice cabinet. And finally Walt
Disney could not get his life back.
You can never conquer death no
matter which way you try.

GURU 5 - Moon
HOW IS IT RELEVANT IN MY LIFE?
The existence of Birth, Death, Old age and Disease, indicate to us that we
should live our lives not in vainly searching for external happiness but in trying
to achieve a situation where we dont have to face these six changes. How we lead
our lives determines our consciousness at the time of death. Let us examine what
some people said at the time of their death, which reflects their consciousness
throughout their lives.

LAST WORDS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS AT DEATH

DETERMINES THAT WHILE YOU WERE LIVING 1.
Dr. Samuel Johnson, English writer cried out in his deathbed Live
well! he found these 2 words in English to express his philosophy of life.
2.

Lord Byron said, I must sleep now!

3.
Jesus Christ Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.
(Luke, 23/46) he was very clear that his life was meant for serving God
and after death he returned back to God.
4. St. Francis of Assissi - I have done what I had to do in serving Christ.
Now you find your way.
5.
Napolean Bonaparte, French emperor he cried out the name of his
wife Josephine, Josephine.
6.
English Admiral, Horatio Nelson while dying wounded on the battlefield
of Trafagular he thought of his duty he said Thank God, I have done my
duty.
7.
Sir Walter Raleigh, English writer was sentenced to death
while lying on the beheading block, the executioner asked him to
kneel with his head towards the east. He said No matter how the
head lies provided the heart is in the right direction.
8.
Nathen Hale, a fiery American freedom fighter, who was sentenced to death
by hanging said with the noose around his neck, Alas! That I have only one life
to lose for my country.
9.

Beethoven, the deaf composer I shall hear in the heavens.

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10.
Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, etc freedom fighters for India while
they were to be hanged to death they came walking into the gallows
chanting the slokas from Bhagavad Gita and with the words of Krishna
in their mouth, they gave up their bodies for their nation.
11. Mahatma Gandhi chanted Hey Rama even after being shot by a
gun.
12. Parikshit Maharaj when the snake bird came to bite him, he was rapt in
meditation and remembrance of the Lord and left his body as such.
13. Katvanga Maharaj he was told by the demigods that he had only one
moment to live before death arrives. He used that one moment to remember God
and achieved perfection.
14.
Gajendra the king of elephants who was caught by the
crocodile tried all his means to escape and finally realized that he was
going to die. He took full shelter of the Lord and offered prayers and
was saved from death by the Lord.
15. Ajamila the brahmana who became allured by a prostitute and became a
rascal while dying chanted the name of his son Narayana and got the
benefit of chanting the Lords name and attaining perfection.
16.

Srila Prabhupada Kuch iccha nahi Not even a blade of grass

can grow without the sanction of the Lord.
17.
Srila Haridas Thakur chanted Sri Krishna Caitanya looking
at the lotus face of Lord Caitanya.

So if one carefully reads the above mentioned one can figure out that the
common factor among all of them is that what all of them said at the time of death
actually reflected what they all did all throughout their life. So it is important
for us to practice Krishna consciousness seriously throughout our life which is
practice for our final examination i.e. death.

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