11 January 2002, 12:16am IST
CHITRANJAN SAWANT.
Long years ago in the kashmir valley, the purohit of the arya samaj was blessed with a daughter. when she was three or four years old she told her parents that she belonged to a village in the valley and was the daughter of a senior officer of the jammu and kashmir government. she insisted on being taken to the village of her previous birth. her parents obliged. on reaching the village she identified her friends, relatives as well as property. however, relatives from her previous life as well as her present-day parents chose to discourage her from visiting the old sites. over a period of time, memories of the previous life were obliterated. there is no scientific explanation to an event of this nature, such cases do happen but they are few and far between. however, this does give an indication that our present life is not our first life and, in any case, not the last one. lord krishna, while boosting the morale of arjuna just before the start of mahabharat, told him that this was neither his first life nor his last one. even if a warrior is slain in battle it is only the body that perishes and not the soul. the soul finds another body sooner rather than later. lord krishna said that he remembered his previous lives but a man in this mundane world does not. otherwise, confusion would be worst confounded. many a senior citizen here and elsewhere, thinks of the other world, having played his innings in this world. having lived beyond the biblical ‘three scores and ten’, it would be in the fitness of things were the elderly to fathom the depth of our scriptures and find what these have to say about life beyond death. let there be no anxiety about the fate that awaits senior citizens when they go into eternal sleep. the question of life beyond death has been addressed well in the vedic thought. jeevem sharadah shatam is a man’s prayer to his maker. men and women beseech god for a vedic life span of 100 years wherein they are not bereft of health and happiness. men and women are encouraged in the vedic way of life to be active in their respective spheres till the last breath so that they court death cheerfully when it arrives. life is more than just passing time. vedic prayers exhort human beings to even go beyond celebrating their centenary in this world. one who lives a full life will never be afraid of death, may it come in any form, under any circumstances. "if winter comes, can spring be far behind”, says keats at the height of his optimism. there is always hope for a better future, maybe in this world or maybe in the next world. bad days are certainly to be followed by good days, like day follows night. this is why a pragmatist sounds a note of caution for the future and says: ye all, who have lived life, now should be prepared to court death. all major religions of the world agree on the inevitability of this life coming to an end in this world. one who is born is bound to die. vedic philosophy says that the real self of a man is not his body but the soul. the phenomena of birth and death pertain to the body only and not to the soul. the soul is immortal. na hanyate hanyamane sharire, that is, on being slain it is only the body that perishes and the soul survives, says lord krishna who based his pronouncements on the knowledge of the vedas. the immortality of the soul as well as the transmigration of the soul is underlined time and again. there is equal emphasis on the present life as on life beyond death: let all men and women assure and reassure themselves: i am not the body, i am the soul. the soul is neither born nor does it die. pray, in that case, what is birth and what is death? well, when a soul enters a body it is called birth. and when the same soul departs from the body, it is called death. this process goes on and on. the cycle of birth and death or transmigration of soul comes to an end only when the soul attains moksha or liberation from this cycle. this may be termed as salvation of the soul. william wordsworth, the poet, was bold enough to believe in a life beyond death. he succeeded in keeping pessimism at bay by drawing inspiration from the belief that the soul had its beginning elsewhere and lived endlessly. indeed, it is a cheering thought for the senior citizens that the sunset that awaits them will soon be followed by a sunrise.
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