Acharya Prashant addresses the grief of losing a loved one by stating that the highest tribute one can pay to their deceased grandmother is to have fulfilling and healthy relationships with those who are still alive. He reminds the listener that everyone will eventually be gone, and nobody will be left. Therefore, one should not wait to weep after someone is gone but should live in a way that does not leave them with disappointments after a death. He explains that death is the reality of this universe, and we cannot have life without it. The pain of death is often less than the pain of an unlived life, which is filled with unfulfilled possibilities and time spent on nonsense or mutual torture in relationships. This unlived life is why there is so much anguish, sadness, disappointment, and guilt after someone is gone. He references a story from the epic Mahabharata, where the wise entity Yaksha asks King Yudhishthir what the most surprising thing about life is. Yudhishthir replies that the most surprising thing is that we all know death is coming, yet we pretend as if we are immortal. Acharya Prashant emphasizes that as long as we have the opportunity and are alive, we often do not respect and value the precious moments, feeling as if we will stay on forever. We fail to realize that the clock is ticking and every moment gone is a moment less in life. When the clock stops, there is much remorse. He asserts that remembering death continuously is the key to living a fulfilled life. He notes that the Western world, in particular, is in great fear of death, treating it almost as a taboo. In contrast, the Indian tradition has saints who have sung beautiful songs of death, not because the culture is nihilistic or otherworldly, but because the remembrance of death is the key to a fulfilled life. The one who knows the clock is ticking will not allow the moment to return empty. To respect life is to respect time. The holiest tribute one can pay to the departed is to have right relationships with the loved ones who are still here, as the deceased grandmother still lives on in them.
