What did we bring with us to the Earth for us to take back when we leave the Earth? All mortal souls come to the universe with nothing to their credit and when they leave, they take nothing with them. Then why do we get so attached to the people and things around us that we find it very difficult to let go? What is it that occurs in the period between life and death that makes man heavily attached to things he neither brought with him nor will take with him? The concept of attachment and detachment is common to and has been addressed by different faiths in their own rights. Attachment is a state of ownership and dependency on people and things without whom, we believe, we will not be able to exist. On the other hand detachment is a state of self- awareness where we are totally aware that all our people and material possessions are bestowed on us by God to help us live the life we are destined for. None of them are ours. The following story beautifully illustrates the point in consideration. One day Arjuna and Krishna were taking a walk. All through their way Arjuna kept pestering Krishna to answer a question. Krishna said “Okay, what is it?” Arjuna replied, “Please tell me why is Karna considered the supreme donor, and not me?” It was now Krishna’s turn to prove his point. He immediately snapped his fingers and turned 2 mountains beside which they were walking, to gold. And He said, “Now it’s your responsibility to distribute all this gold to the villagers without wasting even a small piece.” Arjuna summoned all the villagers to gather near the mountains and began distributing the gold with head held high as the villagers sang his praise. The distribution went on for 2 days and 2 nights, however the gold mountain didn’t seem to diminish. On the third day most of the villagers came back and stood in line for more gold. Arjuna was, by then, totally exhausted. He surrendered to Krishna saying that he could go no further. At that moment Krishna summoned Karna and gave him the same instruction. Karna called upon 2 villagers and said “Do you see those two mountains laden with gold? They’re yours. Do as you please.” So saying, he walked away leaving Arjuna speechless. Krishna said, “Do you see the difference Arjuna? “Since you yourself were attached to the gold, you regretfully donated only as much as you thought they deserved; where as Karna held no such reservations nor did he expect to be praised. He simply gave it away without much ado.” Just like how Arjuna attached himself to the gold mountains, which neither existed in the first place not did it belong to him, we too attach ourselves to everything we see, touch and hear. Relationships that we build and articles/properties that we accumulate are only meant for us to lead a satisfying life while on Earth. They never belonged to us and hence we will not be taking them with us to the grave. If we understand this basic truth then our stay on Earth will become far more peaceful and complacent.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 14:45:01 +0000
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