Well! If only every one asks the questions, "Who are we? Whence did we come? Where have we come to? How long will we be here?", the truth can be easily grasped. That questioning is the sign of discrimination, or Viveka. When by means of this Viveka, the idea that the world is impermanent gets deeply rooted in the mind, all attachments cease automatically. That is the stage of renunciation, or Vairagya. Is it worthwhile to be caught up in this unreal world? one asks; this is false, misleading, one tells himself; he then turns his efforts to the realm of the Lord, the Sathyaloka; that is the right decision, Vichakshana.

It is through Viveka and Vairagya that man understands who he really is. Without them, it is impossible to know it. The Lord has blessed only man with these two. He has endowed him so that he might use them for that purpose. Hence man is truly fortunate. But, alas, man has forgotten the task for which he has come, ignored the question whence he came, closed his eyes to where he is, diverted his intelligence towards amusement and creature comfort, and wasted all his powers. What a tragedy, this! If in this most propitious human birth itself the Godhead is not sought after, when else are they to succeed?

"If today is squandered so
Will tomorrow help you to?"

If one's real nature is first understood, the rest can all be easily grasped. One will thereafter know where one is, whence one is going, how long one exists etc.

These four issues are dependant, one on the other. If one is solved, all the rest can be known; but, not one of these can be ignored. For example, suppose you write a letter to somebody. Whatever be the contents of the letter, if it is put into an envelope and posted, whom will it reach? It won't be given to any one. Well, will it come back at least to the person who wrote it? No. In the end, it will be neither here nor there. Instead, if on the cover the address of the person to whom it should reach and the address of the person who wrote it are both written, one can even predict when the letter will reach its destination, is it not? So, too, what do you do with your letter, your life? To whom do you address it? Where do you write it? When can it reach? Whom should it reach? Ignoring all these, not caring even for the time, if you simply worry yourself, how can you ever hope to know the Reality?