The husband and wife in a family were doing their daily household duties in the normal way and fulfilling their obligations in this world. The wife was a very good devotee. She used to get up early morning, pray to the Lord, do her puja, and in many ways served her husband by attending to whatever was needed by him. The husband was not given to such good habits. He used to get up late, he would not wash, he used to take his coffee without washing and used to go to his office, do his work and was always thinking that duty is God and that there was no need to do any puja. But the wife, during her prayer every day, used to pray to the Lord, that somehow or other He should instill some devotion and faith in her husband and make him utter the name of the Lord, at least, occasionally.
One day, when her husband was in a happy mood, she went to him and she said that life was a very sacred thing, but they were living like animals. She asked if, at least once a day, they could not think of the Lord. She further told her husband that human life was not necessary only for earning a living. She asked if the animals and birds, in order to earn a living and eat their food, are going to the universities and getting educated. She said that human birth is intended for promoting devotion and prayed that he change his way of life. He did not like all this and told his wife that she was an innocent woman. He said, “You think I have no devotion? I have a great devotion to God, but while I am in service, I am not able to spare the time for the thought of God. After I retire, after the children get married and after they settle down, I will begin to think of God.” She thought that there was no use arguing with such a foolish person, and she just thought of the Lord and kept quiet. After one week, there was some dangerous disease that took hold of her husband. She was taking all pains to call a doctor and give him some medicine and get him cured of that disease. The disease became a little less virulent after a few days. On the third day, the doctor came and gave him a mixture and instructed that the mixture be given to him once in the night, once in the morning, and once in the afternoon as three different doses. The lady thought that this is the proper occasion to teach him a lesson.
In the morning, even after breakfast, the wife did not give the dose of a mixture to her husband. It was lunchtime and even after lunch, the wife did not give the dose of a mixture to her husband. Then the husband asked, “What is this? Two occasions have passed and you have not given me any medicine at all.” Then the wife said, “Why worry about taking the medicine now? You can take all that medicine after you are cured of the disease.” Then he asked, “Why should I take the medicine after being cured?” She then said that in the same manner, “When this human body is with you, and when you are still well, and when you are suffering from the disease of the worldly attractions, you should take the medicine in the form of devotion and faith in God. What is the use of taking the medicine when you become old and decrepit?” It is in this context, it has been said, “Start early, drive slowly, reach safely.”
