Janmashtami commemorate an energy which is deemed both a God and the finest and strongest representation of a human being, in fact a super human being. His life and deeds can scarcely be understood or explained within the parameters of human capabilities. One may call Him the most humanized God.
A Way to Live
But the reason we need to think about Him today is for giving to us a philosophy of life that is at once straight, simple, uncomplicated and yet is so enormously profound and so completely comprehensive. No other scripture across religions and faiths, offers a practical manual for living a meaningful and sorrow-free life and one that also unravels the most intricate and complex philosophical raison d’etre for human birth and its interface with the universe and the divine. Bhagwat Geeta remains nonpareil among all the scriptures of the world.
Today is the day to meditate on the message that this exposition offers and sincerely attempt to understand and embrace the way of life so lucidly and intelligently delineated in the unique explanations emanating in the context of human duties and dharma.
For, it is needed much more than ever before. The concept of Dharma, simply put, requires one to follow a just and proper path irrespective of consequences, amenable or adverse, pleasing or painful, helpful or harmful to one’s purpose because it serves a larger objective.
Reign of Dharma
The realm of Dharma is one where individual interests are subordinated to larger interests, when transient gains get relegated for a lasting evolution, where the ego explicitly finds a backseat joyfully. It is then that Dharma reigns.
At a time when the narratives are distorted and vitiated because of blatantly self-serving and selfish perspective and pursuits, when divisive and destructive ideas find thoughtless support and endorsement, when morality and ethics are looked down upon and deemed the virtue of weak and powerless and less intelligent, where victory is valued even when obtained and secured through soul-destroying means, the decadence becomes imminent and certain.
An Opportunity?
An opportunity and a reason beckons us, all of us, to revisit our life’s objectives and priorities. To underestimate a transformation in a handful of individuals and therefore, treating it as inconsequential may only strengthen prevalent negativity and is fundamentally flawed. For, society is a collective of individuals. Each one of us matters.
Happy Janmashtami!
scribo ad LX 