Nothing in this world is without a cause: there is a cause behind everything. All the entities emanate from one particular starting point, and end in a particular culminating point. They emanated from a causal factor, and they rush towards the effect factor. Thus nothing in this universe is static; in each and everything there is latent mobility. Where there is no mobility, the existence of an entity remains unsubstantiated. So wherever there is existence, there is bound to be some mobility.

If there is a tree, it is obvious that there was a seed. But wherever there is a seed, it cannot be said that it will become a tree. Human beings move on: the impetus for their forward movement is derived from their previous stage, and the goal of their movement, as well as the strength for this movement, is Parama Puruśa.

Human beings have to move, and move on ceaselessly. When they are endowed with the strength of movement, they will have to move in a proper manner. Where there is strength, that strength must be properly utilized. One must not slip into slumber, allowing this strength to remain inert. Parama Puruśa has given this power to be utilized. The knowledge of the learned, the strength of the strong, the intelligence of the intellectuals – all these faculties have been given not to be merely preserved but to be utilized. Those persons who do not utilize their faculties have no right to ask for anything from the Lord, and those who misuse their faculties are also doomed to destruction. The misuse of one’s qualities not only brings harm to the world, but it also exhausts one’s own inherent strength. You have seen with your own eyes that in the past certain powerful persons thought, in their extreme vanity, that they could make or break anything. They perpetrated indescribable tortures and atrocities on Ananda Marga. But even in the face of such torments, Ananda Marga held its head high. There is no power in the universe, in the heaven or in the underworld, which can annihilate Ananda Marga, because Ananda Marga is established on the solid foundation of rationality and righteousness. If those wicked forces engage in fight with Ananda Marga, they will themselves be pulverized: they will be crushed like ants.

Human beings steeped in their vanity of power and ego, sometimes betray their bitter hostility; but then when they later repent for their misdeeds, their repentance is to no avail, because destiny has already taken its course. You know, there was a person who wielded enormous power; and in his or her sky-kissing arrogance, that person used to think, “I can do anything and everything.” But what that person did not know was that one of the names of Lord Naráyana is “the Stealer of Vanity” (Darpahárii). He does not tolerate anyone’s vanity – He grinds it into dust. You must continue to work, and whatever strength and intelligence and spiritual power you possess, you must continue to utilize and move ahead. No one has come in this world to remain motionless. Everyone will have to move, and move they must.

You know the story of the Vedic rśi Rohita. He was a great scholar of ancient days, but because of his vast scholarship there was great vanity in him. He thought to himself, “What is the necessity of work? It is better to idly while away my time.” His father was also a great rśi. He noticed this defective thinking of his son and told him,

Kalao shayáno bhavati saiṋjihánastu Dvápara;
Uttiśt́han Tretá bhavati Krataḿ sampadyate carań.

“All the creatures in this world come to perform some deeds; no one has come to remain motionless, certainly not to waste their time lazily sitting and sleeping.” How beautiful is the face of a person, glistening with the sweat of hard labour! Even the king of the gods would consider himself fortunate to have such a person as his companion. Such a person deserves to be recognized as a great personality, as a superior human being.

Thus I say, Caraeveti, caraeveti – move ahead, move ahead. Do not be motionless or waste your time in sleep. It is not at all proper to waste one’s valuable time in lazily sitting or sleeping. As long as people sleep, their fortune also sleeps. When they awake and think to rise up, their fortune also begins to awaken. The moment they sit up, their fortune also rises; and as soon as they start moving, their fortune also advances. So everyone has to move forward along the path of righteousness, while fighting against wrongs and injustices. While moving one must move in an intelligent manner, in a righteous way, struggling against evil with the vow to protect the good and innocent.

Those who are not moving and are not endeavouring to discover their own true selves, are steeped in dark inertness. It should be understood that in their lives, it is the age of Kali Yuga (the Iron Age or the age of static darkness). When one sleeps in the darkness of ignorance, that is the state of Kali Yuga. Though they have attained a human form, for them it is of no avail. Kali Yuga has no other meaning than this. And the person who suddenly comes to his or her senses thinks “What am I doing? Even after attaining a human form, I am just wasting my time in utter negligence. I am not utilizing the human body, the human intellect, the human wisdom with which I have been endowed.” When this awareness dawns in the human mind, it should be understood that one’s life is now entering Dvápara Yuga (the Age of Copper).

Immediately after this awakening, when people spring into action and think, “Now I must wake up and start my work,” then their lives are entering Tretá Yuga (the Age of Silver). And when they start moving forward, their lives enter Satya Yuga, the Golden Age. Thus Kali Yuga, Dvápara Yuga, Tretá Yuga and Satya Yuga in fact do not exist in the external world; they lie embedded in the very psychology of human beings.