Sunday, November 18, 2018

THIS TOO WILL PASS

A series of setbacks leading to every action of yours trouly being misinterpreted and every word uttered being misunderstood led to a situation wherein silence was to be considered golden. As the debacles came to a downpour, the words uttered often by a well wisher "This too will pass" came to mind.

What do these words do? It just makes one realise that as the good times come to an end so do the bad times. 

It makes one realise that success was due to many others and as rightly said has many fathers. So will someone own up your debacles. No these are precious treasures which you need to adopt so as to be able to grow. It also teaches us to empathise and attempt understanding the reason behind the actions and words of others, however, unreasonable they may seem. Thus, this orphan for the world is your own creation and you are its father. Reflect on the day of fatherhood. Was it not a day you rejoiced? A day when a man tells the world that he has created a legacy. A day when the world admires the man who has convinced a woman to consummate, conceive and deliver. A day when the male rejoices his manhood with a babe in his arms. A day when a man relives his own childhood. A day he cherishes all his life with no measurable comparison and only second to that of the pleasure of motherhood. So the day you own up this orphan as a child of your own transforms the perceived sorrows into joys which in turn results in the world admiring you. Thus, this too will pass.

Let us in this background delve into the epic of epics, the Mahabharata where the worst of tragedies perceived comes to an end. So are the best of times. May it be the birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas or their weddings or the Rajasuya Yagna on one hand or the exile, the loss in the game of dice, the battle, the losses of lives of near and dear ones or the exile of the incumbent King with his consort. All did pass.

There is another fable that comes to one's mind. 

A devotee asks God "Why did you leave me at the time of distress?"

God answers "See the footprints on the sands of time"

Devotee: "In my good times, I see your footprints along mine but in times of distress there are only one set of footprints, My Lord"

God: " Those footprints are mine as I was carrying you since you could not walk through those times"

This parable also shows to mankind that one should not dwell on the present state but look to reason for moving forward.

Therefore, this too will pass is not only for bad times and hence cannot be a consolation. As this is the reality irrespective of good or bad times, it cannot be escapist. This is the real philosophy that everything has to pass.

To make this a bit more comprehensible, we can draw up two tales

A child is being taught the meaning of several words. It comes across a person named "Pichai" which means alms. But he is a rich man. Then comes across a beggar by name "Lakshmi" the Goddess of Wealth and so on. The knowledge that rose by any name shall remain fragrant hits the child when it comes across a corpse being carried only to know the name of the dead person is "Amar" meaning immortal.

The other tale is from the Mahabharata where Yudhishthira is to undergo the test of questions to quench his thirst and later revive his brothers. One of the questions posed to him is 

"What is the most surprising thing in the world?"

Yudhishthira replies

" The feeling of mortals that they are immortal"

This too will pass!!!!