The sole certainty in life
By S.S. Prince

IN the list of all the frightening things in this world death is considered to be number one. The mere thought sends a shudder down our spine. The death of a close friend or relative is a heart-rending and soul-stirring tragedy. Death naturally marks the end of the eventful drama on the stage of this world. The history of this vast world testifies to the fact that no one has ever escaped its cruel clutches. The fear of impending death often robs a person of his sense of adventure.

Everything in this world is shrouded by uncertainty but an exception to this rule is, perhaps, death. The moment one realises the inevitability of death, the fear vanishes and one feels a miraculous strength touring in one’s veins.

History abounds in examples of these persons who overpowered the fear of death and performed heroic deeds. In his poem The Charge of The Light Brigade, the Tennyson tells us how 600 brave and disciplined soldiers knew that the order given by their commander was wrong, but still they obeyed it and attacked the enemy. They smilingly rode into the "mouth of Hell". What enabled them to perform this feat? Surely they had over-come the fear of death.

An interesting story illustrates the inevitability of death. A woman was madly in love with her husband. For her, separation from him was something unthinkable. As ill-luck would have it, he died of some disease. She went to a godman and requested him to restore to life her husband. The godman paused for a while and then asked her to bring ashes from the hearth of a family in which death had never occurred. She knocked at several doors but could not find a single such family. This experience made her wise and she learnt to accept the inevitable.

Mahatma Gandhi, writes in his book My Experiments with Truth, "that death is a true friend, it is ignorance that causes grief". If we try to dive deep into the philosophy of these simple words, we shall find that death is indeed a friend. It puts an end to all our agonies and sufferings. It paves way for a "Heavenly abode" where the ceaseless struggle for materialistic existence comes to an end and the human soul enjoys eternal bliss.

Some human beings mistakenly think that no one can replace them. Their contribution to the field of politics, religion, science or literature appears to be matchless. They receive so much love and affection from their admirers that the idea of making a quiet exit from this world never occurs to them. They attach so much importance to "self" that they forget what General Montgomery has written in his autobiography. "This world is full of the graves of such persons as considered themselves to be indispensable". Equally mistaken are the people who think that they have no substitute.

Death is a great leveller. When alive, human beings are victims of many complexes. Wealth, status, caste, colour, rank and many such things divide them. A rich man looks down upon a poor person. A man belonging to some high caste, despises an untouchable. A white complexioned American casts a contemptuous look at a black. All this happens when the heart beats and the blood circulates in the veins. The moment a person dies, the corpse is either burnt or buried. The distinction of the high and the low disappears. This realisation will surely enable us to always remember death. By overpowering the fear of death, we can inculcate in ourselves sympathy for the down-trodden, charity for those who need it, are some virtues which would surely demolish the unnatural barriers which divide mankind today.

John Donne, the reputed English poet suggests another method to minimise the fear of death. According to him, death has no power. It is a tool in the hands of bad luck, accidents, cruel kings and criminals. The best men of this world die. Death provides rest to their tired bodies by putting an end to their pain. It gives freedom to the soul by shattering the prison-house of the body.

Death should not be proud of its destructive power. While it devastates the human body, it cannot cause harm to the soul. Man is immortal from the spiritual point of view. Those people who die for a noble cause die a deathless death.

The day, we human beings, overcome the illusionary fear of death; this beautiful world of ours would become a happier, a more pleasant and a healthy place to live in.