Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Every Truti Counts

In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.11.14, Srila Prabhupada gives a table of timings according to the Vedic science of measuring time.  He explains that the most basic concept of time in the material world is calculated according to the time it takes for the sun to pass over an atom.  This is called atomic time.  A single atom is invisible to the human eye, but six atoms together can be seen in the sun rays which are visible through the holes of a window screen.

One of the smallest measurements of time is called a trasarenu in Sanskrit.  A trasarenu lasts for the amount of time it takes for six atoms--a hexatom--to integrate.  Let's look at it a different way.  If a second is divided into 1,687.5 parts, each part is called a truti, which is the time occupied in the integration of eighteen atomic particles.  Put eight 13,500ths of a second together, and they occupy a truti.  Every measurement of time beyond that is longer, and the longest measurement of universal time is the lifetime of Brahma, the demigod who's in charge of creation.  According to the timetable of humankind, Brahma's life lasts 311,040,000,000,000 earth years (See Bhagavad-gita 8.17 Ppt.).

Human life is special because even though in the human form, we experience the same needs as the other species of life on this planet (and in the rest of the universe) such as the need to eat, the need to sleep, the urge to procreate and the urge to defend ourselves, we in the human form have an extra feature: we can understand God and our relationship with Him.  In this way, we are different from the animals, plants, insects and other species.

If a person is able to find an expert astrologer who can read the duration of people's lives, in one's horoscope it can be determined that the person will live a certain number of years.  In fact, the time of one's death can be calculated exactly to the hour.  In a Bhagavatam lecture in Los Angeles on January 3, 1974, Srila Prabhupada said in relation to this science of astrology being so exact that one's death date can be calculated, "It's a fact."  He also said that the sun is decreasing the allotted duration of life of each and every embodied soul in the universe.  When it is our time to leave the body, we cannot extend our lifespan for even one year.  What to speak of a year, if we want to increase our lifespan for even one moment, it is not possible.  Srila Prabhupada said that even if we offer millions of dollars, we cannot buy back a single moment of time.  So if a moment matters so much that you can't buy it back even with millions of dollars, then how valuable every moment is!

A pure devotee of the Lord understands the value of time.  He wants to spend every moment in the service of God.  He doesn't want to waste even a truti.  He understands that time--every moment of it, every truti of it--belongs to Lord Sri Krishna and that every moment is meant to be used in Krishna's service.  So a pure devotee is seriously urgent about using every moment of Krishna's time in the service of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna.

Dear Lord, please help me to understand that every truti counts.  Help me to become serious about using Your time wisely in Your service.  Please help me to want to use every moment of Your time efficiently.  In fact, Lord, please order me right now.  How can I serve You in the most pleasing way at this very moment? 


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