Death by whatever cause is death,
the terminal point of a life. The living blood relations or strangers have to give a funeral, the last respect to a 'soul'
which discards a decrepit frame. An
abandoned body is the worst insult to life. In the present times, however the
dead -in hospital beds or lonely street corners - are ignored by many out of fear. If you ask them why didn't he/
she/ they give at least a burial to the man who had played the shooting match
of his life to the last breath? The answer may vary from person to person and downcast faces may whisper
lisping regrets. Brothers in far off places may send messages of regrets.
Neighbours may pretend illness. But behind the neglect of the dead is the fear
of the living. Fear of what ? Death. The living do not want to be dead. Well we
need not recall Yudhistra's answer to the Yaksha's question to wonder at our
own foolishness. But we must seriously question our attitudes.
Man is mortal. He will certainly die one day (mercifully) otherwise life would
cease to be meaningful. Life matters because it ends in death. A lingering
immortality is not what the life material desires. Life means activity. Man has
come to the world to do things. The quality of what he does will be assessed by
posterity. Life means a system of energy utilized for making life better. All
human knowledge in different cultures
and languages moves around the idea of work, activity, creativity for which the
human being gets trained for some time and demonstrates his capabilities in the
rest of his life. Since man is subject to change in body, mind,
sensibility it is expected of him to
understand the human seasons so that he will transcend the cycles and move towards the true
manifestation of his soulforce, whatever be the field of his activities. This
transcendence is of the soul and not of the body. But only within the body the
higher energy- intellectual or spiritual - is realised and manifested. When the
body ceases to function the other human beings must honour the body. The dead should not be abandoned to the
vultures. The maggot pies should not eat away the festering flesh of a man who
played his allotted or self chosen role in the society to add a few sparks to
their lives. If he was a negative character, did harm to people, tortured other
human beings that is his failure. But after his death the body should be
honoured. That is the last respect paid by the living to the dead to honour
life. Death is life neutral hence it has nothing to do with his deeds. His
deeds are for social memory. If he is a Gandhi his memory will inspire future
generations of men and women. If he was a terrorist his evil deeds will agitate the society with
his negativity. But when death comes both Gandhi and Hitler are out into
history and society leaving behind human frames. And the frames must be
honoured with the last rites.
Man's fear of death is
irrational. Man has accepted the condition that he would die one day. And this
death is the greatest challenge to life. Death inspires the living to work hard
without wasting a single moment. Death makes life purposeful. The Indians
devised the Four Paths: Dharma, Artha , Kama, Moksha. These simply mean do work
with responsibility to make life around bustling with enthusiasm for life's multi splendored vastness. And work
to earn money as much as you can by your individual ingenuity. Work and
Moneymaking must not be without pleasure. And if all these three are properly coordinated the final release of the soul will come. This release will happen when the body is left behind to return
to the elements. Hence funeral
services must be performed to return the essential components to Air, Fire,
Water, Earth and Ether(Akash).
For this the living matters. A
man has lived a life. If he is attacked by a 'hateful' disease it is not his fault.
Our Kantakabi is a typical case in point ( A genius poet who died of Leprosy).
When his body ceases to function his children - including those out of his
family circle, the recipients of his creative essence - must pay obeisance to
the mortal remains. If an 'ordinary ' person dies of Covid, his body is not
untouchable . If a tired, fatigued labourer dies in a rail bogey the body should not be thrown as unclaimed.
Man's body too is human. A lifeless body is sacred for through that body much life energy was released to the society.
A bird, animal, man all will serve their time not in jails but in nature and society. And when they depart they
deserve a grand farewell; the grandeur however depends on the quality of the
life material of the living.
Life is the only thing that we
have . We make this temporary time period great. We make bridges to human
hearts. We often destroy good while fighting evil. But everything matters for life matters. The
men who live matter. Living matters and therefore death too matters. Let's not
dishonour the dead.
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