Thus Spake the Divine - What is the Purpose of this Worldly Life?

Thus Spake the Divine

What is the Purpose of this Worldly Life?
(Samsare Kim Saaram?)

Acharya, in his Prashnottara- Ratnamalika, poses a question: “Samsare kim saram?” It means, “What is the purpose or meaning of this worldly life?” He himself answers his own question: “You asked me this question! Now you have to keep repeatedly asking this question again and again. That becomes the meaning of this worldly life”. (“Bahusah abhi vicintyamanam idam eva.”)

As Acharya has proclaimed, we must keep asking ourselves the following questions: “What is the purpose of my birth? Why was I born? “Why do we commit sins?”Why do we get angry? And why do we have a desire for material things? Can’t we always remain happy without sinning, without anger and without desire?” However, we do not seem to have any answers to these questions.

Let us try and understand with some examples.. Both the unripe and ripe fruit emerge from the flower of a plant. When it is in the form of the flower, the nose is able to smell the fragrance of the flower. And, when it turns into fruit, the tongue is able to enjoy the sweet taste of the fruit. What was the original taste of the fruit before it turned sweet? The flower was bitter, the tender fruit was astringent, the unripe fruit was sour and the fruit that is mellow now is sweet.

Sweetness can be symbolised as peace. Once sweetness is filled into the fruit, the fruit automatically falls down from the tree. Similarly, once there is peace at heart, all attachments and passion towards material substances disappear. There is attachment only so long as there is sourness. When the unripe fruit is plucked from the plant, there oozes a juicy sap (symbolising tears) from the twig and also the fruit. This is an indication that the plant is not willing to part with the fruit and the fruit also does not wish to part with the plant.

However, when the fruit has absorbed sweetness, all its bondages with the tree are dissociated and the fruit drops to earth on its own. It means that both the plant and the fruit are now ready to disown each other! This separation has occurred without any feeling of sorrow, meaning that there is no sap, there is no tear. Similarly, an individual must turn wholly sweet only gradually before liberating himself from the ties of worldly life (samsara). Even desire and anger are the essential ingredients of growth, as are bitterness and sourness that form part of growth of the fruit till it turns sweet and drops by itself!

Of course, in the beginning, we will find it really difficult to liberate ourselves fully from the clutches of desires and anger. Therefore, we should persistently contemplate as to why we have become subject to these urges and passion. We must constantly keep contemplating about their source and impact. If we are not consciously vigilant, we will become victims of these urges and passion. Of course, there should be the stages of astringency and sourness, as warranted under the circumstances. But neither of them should remain in a permanent state within the mind.

Like how a tender fruit transforms itself into a fully ripened sweet fruit, we should also go through the state of metamorphosis. Once we go through all the appropriate stages of life, Moksha will come to us on its own, as culmination of a natural process. On the other hand, if we attempt to forcefully reach that stage, we will become similar to the pre-matured fruit that falls off the tree on its own without possessing any sweetness within it.

Neither should we live our life irresponsibly, nor must we aggressively try to attain absolute wisdom when there is still a load of karmas to exhaust. Both these aspects are inappropriate. Let us not aspire for absolute wisdom right now. If absolute wisdom is not attained in this birth, let us wait patiently while continuing our adherence to the Codes of Dharma, as ordained by our Shastras. Once we gradually engross in our karmas and exhaust them, absolute wisdom will come automatically and we will merge with the Paramatma.

Therefore, let us start our venture towards enlightenment by following the rituals and other symbolic dispositions. Gradually, we shall transform ourselves into the pre-matured, astringent and sweet fruit, before absorbing the absolute philosophy, which is sweet by itself.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.

GIRI is Also the Humble Recipient of "The BEST TOURIST FRIENDLY SHOPPING CENTER in Tamil Nadu" Award For The Year 2019.