Srila Prabhupada to Achutananda dasa
“The first sutra reads athato brahma jijnasa. Athata means ‘now’ jijnasa means to inquire. ‘Now we shall inquire into the Absolute Truth, Brahman.’ So what does now mean?
“Now that you have studied the Vedas; now that you have performed your duties as a brahmachari; now that you are serious in acquiring this knowledge; now that you have understood that impersonal and personal are in harmonious relationship; now that you have understood the eternal constitutional position of the spirit soul; now that you are fortunae to have a good birth after passing through unlimited lifetimes as human, as animal, as plant, as demigod; now that you have come to this human for of life; now that you have come into contact with a bona fide spiritual master; now that you are not hankering for material piety, wealth, sense gratification, or birth in the higher planets; now that you have set aside all other inquiries, you can inquire into Brahman.”
He paused to say, “Just see how one word—now—can have so much meaning.”
Quoted from Blazing Sadhus by Achutananda das
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