Whosoever is born shall die is the greatest truth but people don’t want to believe it.They fear death,they want to avoid death, they don’t like to think of death.Yet death comes to all.What is more interesting is that the time and way of death is pre-determined.Quite intriguing that people seek permanence in life though nothing is permanent in this world except change.
Swami Prabhupad, the founder of ISKCON had said that life is a question no one can answer, death is an answer no one can question. The one common fate that both the prince and the pauper meet is death. Most realise the futility of their material pursuits in the face of death. There is this story about Alexander,the mighty king of Macedonia.When he was on his death bed and the end seemed imminent, he called his trusted wise men and gave three instructions to be followed after his death. The first was that all the best doctors of the kingdom would lead his funeral procession. The second was that the gems, the gold and the diamonds that he had amassed during the many victories across the world be thrown along the course of his funeral procession. The third one was that while placing his body in the coffin his hands should be left hanging outside. Baffled at this one of the wise men asked the king about the significance of these instructions. With a painful yet confident smile Alexander explained the three wishes to them. The first one asking the doctors to lead the procession was to prove that despite so many doctors at his beck and call he had to die.Death,then, is inevitable. The second one about throwing the riches along the path of the funeral procession was to suggest that though he had amassed so much wealth, he could not carry them to the other world. It all had to be left here. And the one about letting his hands hang outside the coffin was to indicate that in the end you have to depart empty handed. Just like you had come to this world. Whether it is a fact or fiction, the incident leaves a great lesson to be learnt. And the moral of the story is that death is a great leveller that spares none. More importantly all your wealth has to be left here. You enter the world with zero balance and depart, too, with the same. The madness,the frenzy and the lust about material pursuits is some kind of perversion. Why people take so long to realise this basic truth is rather intriguing. A very difficult question that gets answered only through the realisation that usually comes in the face of death. This perhaps is the ignorance or avidya that makes human beings run after the Maya or illusion. The power of this Maya is so strong that even the wise fall victim. Even lord Ram was befuddled to run after the golden deer facing so many troubles in the bargain. Misery is a by-product of Maya which is perhaps the most formidable enemy of human beings. It can only be challenged through the power of reason leading to inner awakening. But the main issue is how to listen to this voice of reason. Strangely enough, this is there in all of us and keeps on trying to awaken us. But the enemy number one is our ego that makes us ignore the voice of reason. The ego makes us believe in a false sense of invincibility.Remedy does not lie in even tonnes of intelligence.You need a bit of wisdom.How to distinguish between the two.Quite simple.Knowing which side of the bread is buttered is Intelligence.But knowing when to say no to the buttered side is wisdom.
shashwatchintan 