Finding what life isn’t about

If everyone eventually dies, then what is the purpose of life? Are we born merely to eat, earn, enjoy, and perish? These questions arose in the mind of an 8-year-old boy, thousands of years ago, who met Yama, the Lord of Death, and enquired about the true purpose of life.

This story from ‘Katha Upanishad’ goes like this:

Once upon a time, Rishi Vajashravas was performing a grand ‘Yagna’ and giving away old cows in charity, hoping to earn heavenly merit. Seeing this, his son, Nachiketa, questioned the sincerity of the act and repeatedly asked, “Father, to whom will you give me?”

Annoyed, his father exclaimed, “I give you to Yama, the Lord of Death!”

Unlike most children, Nachiketa took the words seriously. He went to meet Yama, carrying within him a deeper question.

Impressed by the boy’s sincerity, Yama offered him wealth, power, long life, and every worldly pleasure but asked him not to seek the secret of death.

Nachiketa refused.

“What value do these things have if they are temporary?” he asked. “I want to know the truth.”

Time and again, with rising intellectual maturity, the human mind has been intrigued by questions like- What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose in life? I would say, you shouldn’t be in a hurry to get answers. One who knows, will not tell and one who tells, does not know.

I would suggest, start negating what isn’t the purpose of our life.

You are not here just to eat, sleep, drink, earn wealth, stash it in the bank and die. You are not here  to make your life and the lives of those around you miserable. You are not here to keep worrying – about money, somebody’s opinion, your prestige, or your health.

Isha Upanishad says, “Kurvanneveha karmani jijivisha,” which means, “Keep doing your work and live for a 100 years. There is no other way.” When you perform an action to gain something for yourself, it is painful. If your focus is only on you, on grabbing and hoarding, you are bound to get tired. But when your actions contribute to others’ lives, they don’t drain you.

We think that life is about survival, it is about our job, money, health, relationships, reputation, and making  ends meet. We expect joy when we fulfill a purpose, or attain a goal. We say, ‘When I do this, then I will be happy.’ We keep delaying our happiness. A school goer thinks happiness is when he goes to college. In college, he thinks once he has a job, he will be happy. Then he thinks he will be happy once is married. The cycle continues, and that day that you can be happy never arrives! It is like trying to make you bed all night and not be able to sleep. We go round and round and try to achieve one thing after another. This vicious cycle goes on making us miserable, and when we are miserable, we lose our health, money, reputation and relationships.

Life is celebration, life is commitment, life is wisdom and life is ‘seva’. Think about this, we are here for such a short period on this planet. Who said what, when and where- we fill our mind with all these useless thoughts. By doing this, we make so many people miserable around us along with ourselves. Is that worth it?

When life revolves around commitment, service and care, celebration, imbibing wisdom, uplifting human spirit, kindling enthusiasm in others and in our own selves, life becomes worthy. One is most fortunate when they are able to say, “I want nothing and I am here for you.” Selfless service is the most blossomed state of ‘devotion’. We must do as much service as we can. It doesn’t matter what the size of your contribution is. What is important is to have the urge to be helpful to others, and to serve with that feeling. It is in our innate nature to help. That is it.

When we do seva, we become happy and content. Happiness and contentment within brings back money, reputation, relationships and health. What we have always wanted, we finally achieve when we don’t focus on them, or remain feverish about them, and serve selflessly.

Life doesn’t need a purpose when every action becomes an expression of joy, instead of expecting joy in return. The idea of ‘purpose’ comes up when we aren’t content. When we feel complete, and when we lead our life just to share what we have with others, we don’t hanker so much to find the purpose of life. This is the stage in life when we have clarity in mind, purity in heart and sincerity in action. Herein, life becomes simple.

Life is about acquiring knowledge and spreading love. Keep this as a goal in your life. Instead of waiting to be happy in the future, choose to be happy now.

END OF ARTICLE