Talks on the Gita -Vinoba 82

Chapter 8 SADHANA FOR A HAPPY ENDING OF LIFE: THE YOGA OF CONSTANCY 40. Uttarayan And Dakshinayan 18. So, if you continue striving day and night with all the resources of the body and the mind at your command with faith in the Lord, the last moment will be extremely happy. You will have all the gods—that is, divine powers—on your side when the hour of death comes. This has been said at the end of this Chapter using a metaphor. Understand this metaphor properly. If at the time of one’s death fire is burning, the sun is shining, the moon is waxing and there is a beautiful and cloudless sky of Uttarayan (six months of the northern course of the sun), then one unites with the Brahman. But if at that time there is dense smoke, there is darkness within and without, the moon is waning and there is a cloudy and dull sky of Dakshinayan (six months of the southern course of the sun), he again gets caught in the cycle of births and deaths. 19. This metaphor is puzzling to many. It tells that the grace of the gods of fire (Agni), sun, moon and sky are necessary for a holy death. Fire symbolises karma and yajna—work and sacrifice. The sacrificial fire must be burning even at the time of death. Justice Ranade used to say, “Blessed is the death which comes while one is performing one’s duties. I shall be happy to die while reading, writing or doing something.” This is what the burning of sacrificial fire means. Working till the last breath signifies the grace of Agni, the god of fire. Grace of the sun-god keeps the intellect bright and radiant till the end. Grace of the moon is indicated by the growth of pure and sacred feelings in the heart at the time of death, as the moon is the god of the heart. Sacred feelings like love, devotion, enthusiasm, altruism, compassion etc. should wax and grow to fullness in the mind like the moon in the bright half of the month. The grace of the sky means having the heart completely free from the clouds of attachment. Gandhiji once said, “I am always talking of the spinning wheel. I consider it sacred. But I must not have attachment even to it at the last moment. He who led me to the spinning wheel is fully capable of taking its care. Now the spinning wheel has been taken up by many leading figures. I should now cease to worry about it and be ready to meet the Lord.” Uttarayan thus means freedom of the heart from the clouds of attachment. 20. If death comes when a man’s body is engaged in service till the lastbreath, pure sentiments have grown to fullness, there is no trace of attachment in the heart and intellect is sharp and radiant, he becomes one with God. To have such a supremely auspicious end, one must ever be alert and continue to strive day and night. No impure and evil samskara should be permitted in the mind even for a single moment. One must pray constantly to the Lord to have the necessary strength to achieve this. Again and again, one should remember His Name and meditate over His nature and essence.