Page 158 - Wisdom Unfurled

at His door and renders Him even impatient to shower His grace upon him. This is how Revered. Master advanced by leaps and bounds on the path during His Master’s physical sojourn but very much more remarkably after He left for the brighter world. This of course is a very exceptional case of the devotee who is like a moth which could immolate itself on a ‘dead flame’ and is surely the ideal before all aspirants pining for the ultimate state.
Anthima Smruti
The discussion on constant remembrance will not be complete without considering the question of anthima smriti (remembrance at the time of death). All our hoary traditions and schools of philosophy, darsanas have emphatically declared that moksha, freedom from bondage and realization to be the goal of life, with the minimum goal being moksha. In this context the thought held by the person at the moment of leaving the body assumes great importance as it is said to influence the next life and the circumstances governing that life. Thus if the person remembers the divine name in a mood of abject helplessness and remorse and plead for His mercy and grace then all his sins past and present are obliterated, he attains the divine abode and enjoys the company of the divine for ever according to the scriptures such as Bhagavata and the Bahgavat Gita. The Upanishads have also stressed the importance of remembering God at the time of death (Chandogya III.14.1 and Prasna III.10). The episode of Ajamila from the Bhagavata is well known though it should be well kept in mind that a person who has not practiced and lived a life of love and devotion to the Lord can hardly remember Him at the last moment especially when he is enveloped by the fear of oncoming death, the wailing of near and dear ones and more importantly when he becomes acutely aware of all the wrongs he has done and is awaiting the consequences with trepidation and uncertainty. There is of course a sentimental custom of uttering the name of Srimannarayana in the ear of a departed person or one who is in coma.
The Lord declares In the slokas (VIII.5,6,7) of the Gita the importance and significance of the remembrance at the last moment, the reason thereof being attributed to the fact that whatever object a person has been thinking with involvement, as otherwise he can not remember it constantly, would also occupy his thought at the moment of death and consequently he will attain that very object(yam yam vapi smaran bhavam—). and the need therefore to keep up the remembrance of the Lord constantly during one’s lifetime and doing whatever needs to be done with the mind and intellect absorbed in Him (tasmat sarveshu kaleshu mamanusmara—). This is because one can not say when death knocks at our door and secondly a lifetime of practice will enable the person to remember the Lord automatically at the time of death too