The Terrifying Guest

Life is unpredictable. You never know what will happen next. In our foolish ignorance we plan far ahead and leave umpteen things for ‘one day’, little realising that ‘one day’ might never happen.

In the span of a few weeks I have directly or indirectly faced the loss of near and dear ones. Shock and disbelief are felt first, only to be replaced by pity, despair and intense sorrow. If we are able to remain firmly rooted in Vedanta then death does not cause unending sorrow. We face life and death far better.

After all what is death? The Bhagwad Gita puts it very simply as ‘casting off of worn out garments by the Self’ (II:22), that is, the Jeeva (akin to soul) or the Self drops the body which has lost its significance and accepts a new one.

Lord Krishna mentions some important points in the same chapter, which if understood and internalised would forever destroy the fear of death. The Lord extols us to understand:

- That which is born must die. What has had a beginning has to have an end. It's simple logic.

- The Self is unborn hence it does not die. The person does not cease to be when the body is destroyed. It only moves on to a different plane. Only the body is destroyed.

- The body for the Jeeva is just like clothes are for us. As we discard worn out clothes, so does the jeeva discard the used body.

- The Jeeva is eternal, it was, it is and it will always be. There is no beginning and no end.
All beings are unmanifest in the beginning, then they manifest and once again go back to unmanifest. Thus, there is no cause for lamentation. It is a continuous cycle of change.

- It is incorrect to think that the Self dies - only Matter perishes. For the body - birth and death are inevitable; it is born to die again. The cycle of life and death continues.

- The wise do not grieve for they understand the nature of the Self.


No doubt it is easier said than done. For, as humans we are governed by our emotions. It is only when the clouds of emotion break up and the intellect shines through that we are able to think and apply the knowledge that we have. With our intellect clouded by emotions all that we are assured of is acute sorrow and despair. But the wise one, keeping his emotions in check, is able to see in the light of his intellect and act wisely. No, this does not mean one becomes emotionless, nor does it mean suppression of emotions, but only that one can channelise the emotions and not let the emotions overwhelm us. It means the ability to bounce back sooner. You feel, but you don’t get drowned in your feelings.

Is it practically possible one would wonder. Yes it is. I have seen people rooted in Vedanta bouncing back with amazing alacrity after having faced a crushing tragedy. I repeat, they were not sans emotions, but their emotions did not overcome them; something like a lotus that is born out of the water yet remains untouched by it. Understanding death would lead us to the state of the great Sant Tukaram who proclaimed, ‘My death is dead’.