The Upanishads, in their deepest trenches, clearly say that there is nothing called birth or death.
Recently, I had read this story about Sri Ramana Maharshi. His followers, who surrounded him, were rather unhappy. Unhappy because, unlike other "gurus", there was no celebration of His birthday. So, they gathered, and went to him.
"Swami, every guru's birthday is being celebrated in a grand manner. Why don't you allow us to celebrate Yours?"
" OK, let us do it. But do tell me, from which Janma do we start, and where exactly in a janma doe we start?"
You can guess how that conversation would have ended.
I fancy that I am entitled to talk about this topic. After all, I had kissed death, and have come back - for now.
Even when I was within sighting distance of Yamadharmaraja, I never felt afraid of death. And I am being ruthlessly honest here. Of course, I was shaken for the first couple of hours, when the news was broken, but that was pretty much it. I gathered myself, and from thereon, decided to witness everything that was happening to my body, just as anyone else would. Of course, at the end of the day, I consider myself lucky to survive. Maybe God has some unfinished agenda that He needs this body of mine to complete, before signing off. Maybe.
Now, this is not to claim that I was more mature than anyone else. Far from it. It just happened to me. Matter-of-factly. When my moment of reckoning finally arrives, will I be mortified, too? Maybe. Maybe not. I do not know yet.
But then, when I see some even elderly people wanting to live on, and surprisingly, rather endlessly, I sometimes wonder - why? Even animals undergo natural death. Towards the end of their lives, most animals " withdraw" from regular activities, like eating, for sustained periods of time. And then give up their lives gracefully. Why are humans any special??
The falling of the human teeth is a clear warning sign by nature to indicate that time is up, for the body ( assuming the teeth falls off only due to old age). And our response? No, not any animal response like the above, but dentures! Yes, I agree that if this happens at a younger age, then it may perhaps be necessary to have dentures and carry on for some more time. But for someone who has lived life king-size, and has been there and seen it all already? Even for him?
One of the mantras recited at the time of immersing the ashes of the deceased says " this body came form the five elements, and is now going back to them. We wax eloquent about these great concepts in Hinduism. But then, even after attending the cremation of a friend or a relative, we come back home, have a head-bath, and ask for the next cup of coffee - and behave as if that THAT is never ever going to happen to us!
We keep praying to God " AnAyAsena MaraNam...vinA daityena JIvanam"... but when if God were to appear in front of us, and say " son! I hear you. Time to go. Come with me"... chances are we may say " Oh God! Not so soon!! My grand-daughter's wedding is on the cards, as You know!!" ...
நாம் கடவுளுக்கே "இன்று போய் நாளை வா" என்று கூறி விடக் கூடியவர்கள்தான்!!
பட்டிணத்தாருக்கு
பட்டிமன்றம்
போட நாம் தயார்.
தலைப்போ "காயமே, இது பொய்யடா!"
ஆனால்
நிஜ வாழ்க்கையில் அந்த
காயத்திற்க்கு சிறு
காயம் கூட பட்டுவிடக் கூடாது!!
The Mrutyunjaya Mantra is another example how badly we have understood our great philosophies, in general. If you have the time, please read my article written on this topic, written a few years ago, here.
https://andhakudi.blogspot.com/2010/12/mrythyunjaya-manthrams-real-meaning.html
This mantra should have actually been called " apamrutyunjaya mantra". And there too, the importance of the body is only in the context of the body being the enabler that will take the Atman towards the Brahman - certainly not to be the raison d'etre to look forward to Rajinikanth's 2.0 !
When things are OK, we all pray for Moksha... but when the time of reckoning comes, we flutter " Oh no! I hope Moksha is not coming so soon!" We would perhaps leave no God un-invoked, in order to continue to live on. The story of Markandeya is one of the most maligned ones. We all are told that Markandeya and Savithri won against Yama and got the boon of living forever at 16. If you read the Markandeya Purananam, you will understand how a deep philosophy of the Atman being eternal, is being abused into some cock-and-bull story of living eternally inside a given body.
What really is happening? Why are we afraid of "death", notwithstanding all the philosophies that have been thrown at us regarding this "event"?
Are we afraid of a possible "pain" at the time of the event? Are we afraid of literally going into unchartered territory? Are we anxious not to let go of all the names, places, things and animals that we had so assiduously aggrandized all these years? Is the name and fame bestowed on us by , at best, a few hundred people that we really know of in this life ( assuming none of us really is a celebrity) so damn intoxicating that we rather prefer to keep hearing encomiums, time and again, than discard this old and ragged costume called the body, only to possibly move on to another? Or, are the bondages that we have created ourselves, in the name of near and dear ones so strong that we hate to let them go, even if we know that none of these bondages are permanent themselves? Are those souvenirs that we have bedecked the living rooms too good to let go of? Are those stacks of books that we have collected over our lifetime too compelling? Are those countless saris, churidars and jewels to go with, that clogs a lady's closet, really so good to stay on with, permanently? Or are we really deluding ourselves in these things, anxious to avoid that moment of reckoning?
My aim here is not to delve into some fuzzy philosophy. My only question is - why can't humans accept death more gracefully? Why confront it with a sense of fear and hate?
I am reminded of a ghazal I had written a few years ago, and the last lines would aptly describe this predicament
मेरी मक़बरा को जितना भी फ़ूलों से सजा लें
क्या करूँ , मैं क़ब्र के अन्दर ही रहना चाहता हूँ ।
Recently, I had read this story about Sri Ramana Maharshi. His followers, who surrounded him, were rather unhappy. Unhappy because, unlike other "gurus", there was no celebration of His birthday. So, they gathered, and went to him.
"Swami, every guru's birthday is being celebrated in a grand manner. Why don't you allow us to celebrate Yours?"
" OK, let us do it. But do tell me, from which Janma do we start, and where exactly in a janma doe we start?"
You can guess how that conversation would have ended.
I fancy that I am entitled to talk about this topic. After all, I had kissed death, and have come back - for now.
Even when I was within sighting distance of Yamadharmaraja, I never felt afraid of death. And I am being ruthlessly honest here. Of course, I was shaken for the first couple of hours, when the news was broken, but that was pretty much it. I gathered myself, and from thereon, decided to witness everything that was happening to my body, just as anyone else would. Of course, at the end of the day, I consider myself lucky to survive. Maybe God has some unfinished agenda that He needs this body of mine to complete, before signing off. Maybe.
Now, this is not to claim that I was more mature than anyone else. Far from it. It just happened to me. Matter-of-factly. When my moment of reckoning finally arrives, will I be mortified, too? Maybe. Maybe not. I do not know yet.
But then, when I see some even elderly people wanting to live on, and surprisingly, rather endlessly, I sometimes wonder - why? Even animals undergo natural death. Towards the end of their lives, most animals " withdraw" from regular activities, like eating, for sustained periods of time. And then give up their lives gracefully. Why are humans any special??
The falling of the human teeth is a clear warning sign by nature to indicate that time is up, for the body ( assuming the teeth falls off only due to old age). And our response? No, not any animal response like the above, but dentures! Yes, I agree that if this happens at a younger age, then it may perhaps be necessary to have dentures and carry on for some more time. But for someone who has lived life king-size, and has been there and seen it all already? Even for him?
One of the mantras recited at the time of immersing the ashes of the deceased says " this body came form the five elements, and is now going back to them. We wax eloquent about these great concepts in Hinduism. But then, even after attending the cremation of a friend or a relative, we come back home, have a head-bath, and ask for the next cup of coffee - and behave as if that THAT is never ever going to happen to us!
We keep praying to God " AnAyAsena MaraNam...vinA daityena JIvanam"... but when if God were to appear in front of us, and say " son! I hear you. Time to go. Come with me"... chances are we may say " Oh God! Not so soon!! My grand-daughter's wedding is on the cards, as You know!!" ...
நாம் கடவுளுக்கே "இன்று போய் நாளை வா" என்று கூறி விடக் கூடியவர்கள்தான்!!
பட்டிணத்தாருக்கு
பட்டிமன்றம்
போட நாம் தயார்.
தலைப்போ "காயமே, இது பொய்யடா!"
ஆனால்
நிஜ வாழ்க்கையில் அந்த
காயத்திற்க்கு சிறு
காயம் கூட பட்டுவிடக் கூடாது!!
The Mrutyunjaya Mantra is another example how badly we have understood our great philosophies, in general. If you have the time, please read my article written on this topic, written a few years ago, here.
https://andhakudi.blogspot.com/2010/12/mrythyunjaya-manthrams-real-meaning.html
This mantra should have actually been called " apamrutyunjaya mantra". And there too, the importance of the body is only in the context of the body being the enabler that will take the Atman towards the Brahman - certainly not to be the raison d'etre to look forward to Rajinikanth's 2.0 !
When things are OK, we all pray for Moksha... but when the time of reckoning comes, we flutter " Oh no! I hope Moksha is not coming so soon!" We would perhaps leave no God un-invoked, in order to continue to live on. The story of Markandeya is one of the most maligned ones. We all are told that Markandeya and Savithri won against Yama and got the boon of living forever at 16. If you read the Markandeya Purananam, you will understand how a deep philosophy of the Atman being eternal, is being abused into some cock-and-bull story of living eternally inside a given body.
What really is happening? Why are we afraid of "death", notwithstanding all the philosophies that have been thrown at us regarding this "event"?
Are we afraid of a possible "pain" at the time of the event? Are we afraid of literally going into unchartered territory? Are we anxious not to let go of all the names, places, things and animals that we had so assiduously aggrandized all these years? Is the name and fame bestowed on us by , at best, a few hundred people that we really know of in this life ( assuming none of us really is a celebrity) so damn intoxicating that we rather prefer to keep hearing encomiums, time and again, than discard this old and ragged costume called the body, only to possibly move on to another? Or, are the bondages that we have created ourselves, in the name of near and dear ones so strong that we hate to let them go, even if we know that none of these bondages are permanent themselves? Are those souvenirs that we have bedecked the living rooms too good to let go of? Are those stacks of books that we have collected over our lifetime too compelling? Are those countless saris, churidars and jewels to go with, that clogs a lady's closet, really so good to stay on with, permanently? Or are we really deluding ourselves in these things, anxious to avoid that moment of reckoning?
My aim here is not to delve into some fuzzy philosophy. My only question is - why can't humans accept death more gracefully? Why confront it with a sense of fear and hate?
I am reminded of a ghazal I had written a few years ago, and the last lines would aptly describe this predicament
मेरी मक़बरा को जितना भी फ़ूलों से सजा लें
क्या करूँ , मैं क़ब्र के अन्दर ही रहना चाहता हूँ ।
1 comment:
Yes! We all humans feel death is for others ! But very few realise ' it might' be my turn next ! You are multi talented ! Keep going Dileep !! !!!
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