JKP

The New Year: A Time for Reflection

Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat
2 January 2026
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Message from Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj

As we stand once again at the threshold of a New Year, these timeless words of Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj invite us to pause and reflect.

Today is the last day of the year. Tomorrow there will be celebrations all over the world. But this is not really a matter of celebration. The advent of the New Year is not a cause for joy; it is a cause for worry. Another precious year of human life has passed, and we must pause to ask ourselves how wisely it has been used.

Suppose you have $100,000 in your bank account and you spend $50,000. Do you celebrate? No. You think, “Oh! I only have $50,000 left.” When it reduces to $20,000, you worry even more. When it comes down to $10,000, the concern increases further.

In exactly the same way, God has given us the human form for a specific purpose – to reach our ultimate destination. A year of our precious human life has passed. We must ask ourselves: how much headway did we make? How close did we come to God? How much upasana did we actually practise?

The word upasana means to go nearer. Upa means near, aas means to sit, and the suffix yucha completes the meaning. Thus, upasana means to go closer to God. The question then arises – how close did we go this year?

Suppose a person is feeling cold and a fire is burning nearby. The closer he moves towards the fire, the more his cold is dispelled. Similarly, the closer we go towards God, the more our worldly attachments are reduced. So how near did we come to Him? How far is God from us now? And how far did we move away from the world? These are the questions we should reflect upon – yet, instead of reflecting, we celebrate.

We proudly say, “Twenty years of my life are over. Fifty years have passed. Eighty years have passed.” We even tell our children and grandchildren, “Son, I am not worried about myself; my life is over. You should worry about yourself.” But how can we say that our life is over? Is this human body a burden that we are eager to get rid of?

If a man is imprisoned for ten years and nine years have passed, he celebrates. He thinks, “Only a little time is left; I will soon be free.” In that case, celebrating the passing of time is justified. But why are we celebrating? Do we think that simply by dying we will attain liberation? Will we gain freedom from the bondage of 8.4 million life forms merely by leaving the body?

We have not done anything to deserve that. We have not even thought about doing anything. The scriptures clearly state that whatever thoughts occupy the mind at the final moment of death, the soul attains a corresponding destination. If even for one moment before dying a person had felt genuine remorse, if the mind had turned to God even for a second, then God would have been attained.

But instead, we live carelessly and even die carelessly. We think, “I am not going to die anytime soon.” Someone says, “I am only ninety years old.” What does that mean? That one will live till a hundred? Suppose one lives for two hundred years – what will happen after that?

Therefore, we must analyse ourselves. In politics, after elections, every party conducts self-analysis – why did we lose, where were we lacking, what needs correction. In the same way, we should analyse our own lives at least once a year, once a month, and if possible, for two or three minutes every night before sleeping.

We should think: what did I do today? What good did I do? What mistakes did I make? How much did my mind go towards the world, and how much towards God? If we reflect daily, we will make fewer mistakes the next day. If we reflect monthly, our mistakes will reduce even further. But we do not think like this – not even at the time of death.

There was once a District Magistrate who narrated an incident to me. He had entered a writing competition. While thinking deeply, he fell asleep and slept for one full hour. When he woke up, only half an hour remained. He wrote hurriedly and failed. At least he had half an hour left.

Yet we do not reflect even till our final moment. There was an engineer from Agra, a devotee, who constructed the satsang hall in Mangarh. One night he went to sleep and never woke up. He suffered a heart attack in his sleep. Such is Kaal. When one’s time comes, not even a moment extra is given.

This rule applies to everyone – the king, the pauper, and the saint. Even a God-realised saint must leave the body; what to speak of one who is under the control of Maya. One may leave smiling; another may leave crying. Even Bhagwan comes and goes.

When Bhagwan Ram completed His 11,000 years on earth, Yamraj approached Him and said that the love of devotees may have made Him forget, but His predetermined time on earth had come to an end. If He wished to stay longer, Yamraj would not interfere.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a New Year. Celebrate it only if, in the coming year, you resolve to forcefully take your mind to God. The mind will not automatically go towards God; you must take it there deliberately.

If the mind behaves stubbornly, you must become more stubborn with your intellect. For countless lifetimes, we have practised taking the mind towards the world. Why do we expect it to suddenly turn towards God?

Ved Vyas has explained this beautifully: if one repeatedly reflects that happiness lies in the world, attachment to the world will increase. If one repeatedly reflects that happiness lies in God alone, attachment to God will increase. It is only a matter of chintan – repeated reflection.

Wherever you practise taking the mind, that is where it will go. Therefore, we must increase the chintan of God. That is all there is to it.

May we carry this guidance into the New Year – not merely as words to read, but as truths to live by, with sincere reflection and renewed resolve.

 From a discourse by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj
(Compiled from Maharaji’s teachings for reflection at the dawn of the New Year.)