148
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 3]
TEXT 17
आयुर्हरति वै पुंसामुद्यन्नस्तं च यन्नसौ। तस्यते यत्क्षणो नीत उत्तमश्लोकत्रार्तया ॥१७॥
āyur harati vai puṁsām udyann astaṁ ca yann asau tasyarte yat-kṣaṇo nīta uttama-śloka-vārtayā
āyuḥ —duration of life;  harati —decreases;  vai —certainly;  puṁsām —of the people;  udyan —rising;  astam —setting;  ca —also;  yan —moving;  asau —the sun;  tasya —of one who glorifies the Lord;  ṛte —except;  yat —by whom;  kṣaṇaḥ —time;  nītaḥ —utilized;  uttama-śloka —the all-good Personality of Godhead;  vārtayā —in the topics of.
TRANSLATION
Both by rising and setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
This verse indirectly confirms the greater importance of utilizing the human form of life to realize our lost relationship with the Supreme Lord by acceleration of devotional service. Time and tide wait for no man. So the time indicated by the sunrise and the sunset will be uselessly wasted if such time is not properly utilized for realizing identification of spiritual values. Even a fraction of the duration of life wasted cannot be compensated by any amount of gold. Human life is simply awarded to a living entity ( jīva ) so he can realize his spiritual identity and his permanent source of happiness. A living being, especially the human being, is seeking happiness, because happiness is the natural situation of the living entity. But he is vainly seeking happiness in the material atmosphere. A living being is constitutionally a spiritual spark of the complete whole, and his happiness can be perfectly perceived in spiritual activities. The Lord is the complete spirit whole, and His name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage and personality are all identical with Him. Once a person comes into contact with any one of the above-mentioned energies of the Lord through the proper