From ashes to ashes

Death.

Each day in the universe something new is being created. Something's being consumed to some other form. And one fine day it shall go up in glorius flame of destruction only to start over again and plod in the endless rthym of life and death.

I was reading an article by Uma. I love her blog. It may be because I love emotive people. People who feel sad and cry,people who rejoice in their happiness, exult in love,..I love all of them. I hate only to feel alone even when I am in a crowd of people. This happens a lot. But I dont understand why.

If you are angry, if you are feeling irritated over something, speak it out. I would always like to get over things with rather than to keep brooding about it. I am digressing.

Death never used to affect me personally. I used to think that if somebody died, it was just as fine. What's the big deal? You got to die someday. Someday might just be today. So? I dont bother about death personally. Even today. If I die, I die. That' all.

But of late I am being persecuted by death in a different form. This guy thinks, "Oh. Well!. If you are not afraid of me personally, let me go ahead and try to get to you in a different form. Sadistic though!" So he goes and threatens my relatives. My near, dear and loved ones. My mom, my dad, my patti, my anna.

He gets them to some crisis, sees me crawling like a worm in a hot oven and then pulls them out and laughs..I got you!.

More often than not, I feel the Thirukkural, "Embilathanai veyil pola kayume abilathanai aram" should have been changed to " embillathanai veyil pola kayume, anbulathai aram".

In tamil the noose wielded by the symbolic God of Death, Yama is called "pasa kayiru". I dont know if it is literally a translation for the noose but I think it means the Love rope. The soul does not want to leave the world. He throws the rope and pulls it away from all it loves.

I am reminded of a story in the Mahabharata. There is this disciple under a guru. He is for some reason(which escapes my memory now) is cursed by the Guru to be born a pig. He pleads with him to rescue him from the terrible(he thinks so) fate to befall him. The guru relenting says that if somebody gets to the place where the pig is to be born and kills him soon after birth, he would regain human form and be born in the same family. Also he reveals the coordinates(:))) of his birthplace.

The disciple goes to his friends and narrates the story and pleads them on the love of their friendship to come and kill him as soon as he is born. They agree. The disciple dies and soon after is reborn as a pig. Actually a cute piglet.

The friends reach the place and take aim with the arrows. The piglet squeals and runs behind its mother. A hot chase ensues. Finally the piglet is cornered. It suddenly begins to speak. It says, "Oh noble fellows. For the reason of friendship, you have come to dispel me this lowly birth. But listen. I have come to love even this birth. I am loved by my parents. My brothers and sisters take extreme care of me. I am loved and petted by my owner's daughter. But I being a brahmin of previous birth, understand my superior nature but an not ready yet to forgo the love of my relations. Let me be. I shall complete this birth and be back in the Ashrama again. Thank my guru for this oppurtunity to realize that each body is divine and neccessary to the soul within".

The friends return to the ashrama. The guru nods his head even before the tale reached his ears. For arent teachers supposed to know all?

The point I wanted to make with the above story is that, even a piglet, though a lowly creature we may deem it to be, throbs with love and affection for its surroundings. Fears death and shrinks from it.

As man, as a higher creature of living, though we claim ourself to be,we have not divested the love of our body and our thoughts. We are still being defeated in effect, word, deed and creed by death.

I myself stand bowed down by that reaper. Defeated, crushed and cringing. Not due to love of me. But due to love of others.

God save the man.