There Is No Time For Complacency

The structure of human body is so much specialized in comparison to other living beings that man has hardly any need to think about problems and inconveniences detrimental to his subsistence. Why amongst all living beings who are found living happily and playfully, the human species, which is so much evolved, is plagued with problems? Today man is being strangled under the vicious grip of many adversities like sickness, sorrow, deprivations, misery, alienation and perturbation. Worries and apprehensions are one's constant companions. Everyone is found lamenting about one's own countless characteristic problems, because of which one feels strangulated in a suffocating environment. Is it not enigmatic that the most evolved species of this world has to live in most miserable conditions?

A little consideration would show that the reason is not far to seek. Today man has woven around himself such a strong cobweb of lust, infatuations and egoism that these worldly shackles continue to torment him day and night. A human being is so much eager to satiate his greed, bonds of attachment and ego that except aspiring for more and more one does not find time and energy to think of something else. Nor does one feel motivated to extricate oneself from this labyrinth and like a spider withdraw its web to escape from the confinement.

Man's natural needs are limited in number. They are easy to satisfy within a few hours of one's endeavor. There does not appear any need to beg or borrow. Fruits of one's personal efforts can be multiplied manifold. Perseverance endeavor for success, even in an unknown field, can provide one ever increasing returns. In the process, each moment of life becomes full of contentment, happiness and exhilaration.

It is an enigma of life, that living beings generally tend to follow a self-destructive course in running after ghosts of happiness. The moth rushes towards the burning wick-lamp and instead of receiving anything in reciprocation burns its wings and dies in misery. When birds and fishes look for easy food which is available without any effort they fail to see the deadly bait end hook of angler's net. A deer in the desert is unable to identify the mirage and loses its life running after the pool of water which does not exist. The musk deer wanders aimlessly in search of aroma emanating from its own navel. A dog feels happy in tasting its own blood, while chewing a dry piece of bone.

Being an intelligent being, man is expected to behave more prudently. He even does so to some extent, but in matters pertaining to collections of worldly objects and acquisitions thereof, he behaves like a maniac. For no rhyme or reason man keeps on collecting useless articles and not long after appears happy in discarding them. In social behaviour man emulates the flock of sheep, in which each follows the herd irrespective of destination. Swarms of locusts are overwhelming but they also lack direction and purpose. Consequently, they face mass annihilation in the burning sands of some odd desert or sea. But one feels bewildered in finding the human species behaving in such an irresponsible manner. Why does man, who creates wonders in the world without, behaves so foolishly for one's own self and heads voluntarily for self decadence, and even vehemently opposes those who desist him from doing so?

Skill and intelligence can be utilized in two ways. Irrespective of ethical considerations one can make use of them for achieving success in any field by taking recourse to all possible ways. In such cases, activities for the apparent personal benefits are motivated by selfish interests, for which man adopts all fair and foul means without any qualms. On the other hand, while utilizing one's excellence one can also give preference to ethics and morality. Here one takes decisions and initiates action only after thoroughly analyzing all aspects of propriety, honesty, responsibility and courage relevant to the issue. In latter case, human skill and intelligence keeps the interests of other beings also in view along with the personal interests and acts according to conscience.

Unfortunately in all endeavours modern man is giving too much importance to the apparent materialistic aspects. Materialism is dominating all facets of society. While interacting with a fair, young, attractive, well-dressed youth, does one ever think of the possibilities of contagion of diseases like AIDS, Syphilis or Tuberculosis, the person might be harbouring? The cunning and hooligans exert their influence in all sections of society and succeed in intimidating most of the persons. Most of the affluent persons are found in possession of wealth acquired by unfair practices. There are many imposters amongst the so-called leaders hypocritically advocating merits of idealism. On the other hand, there are persons who are always prepared to face any hardship to maintain their standards of credibility, talents and efficiency at whatever price they have to pay. For them it is not their physical appearance, but high character which becomes a source of inspiration for upliftment and progress of millions of other persons. Such are the individuals, who shape the destiny of super persons throughout the course of history and protect the excellence of ideals for humanity.

The lesser we talk about such persons who, are foolish, clumsy and are not prepared to give importance to anything in life besides exhibition of their cleverness, manipulation and vulgar displays of riches, the better it would be. The majority these days, consists of this class of people. Hence there is hardly any justification in accepting the propriety of the so-called “public opinions". One cannot hope to protect human values by emulating the majority of this class. It is thus imperative and proper that instead of getting overawed by the sphere of influence of the so-called great people one should seek the patronage of the truly great persons and value even if they are considered weak and subdued in the existing milieu.

Any reference to greatness in modern concept is inconsequential, since it is ephemeral and like a soap bubble floats high in the air and disappears in a short time. The discussion here relates to those who like a lighthouse in the sea remain unperturbed by the commotion around them and enlighten the path of many. Whether or not this planet is supported by Seshnag (a metaphorical expression pertaining to stability of solar system, indirectly implying dependence of social stability on wisdom) it remains an undisputed fact that dignity and reputation of human race depends exclusively on these idealists who can be relied upon for establishing lasting peace and progress. These are the persons who can be called truly prudent and contemplative.

Nowadays clever manipulating persons establish their supremacy in society following contemporary practices designed to achieve success by fair or foul means. The wise on the other hand, do otherwise. They think and act in manner conducive to promotion of discipline, besides enthusing people for incorporation of modesty in thought and character. Enlightened individuals having such dignified objectives in life never lose sight of the following three essential aspects of human existence and endeavour to seek answers to related queries. One: That man, who is an artistic creation of nature, unparalleled in animal kingdom, has been gifted by God with unique advantages. Why has Creator bestowed on man these exclusive characteristics? Two: How can one make the best use of one's resources and status in the existing environment? And Three: Since death is as much a certainty as birth for man and at any moment of life one is likely to die, how is one going to justify before the creator, the values of life chosen for self ? One, who on self-examination is prepared to answer these questions satisfactorily for one's ownself, is the person who has truly understood the sanctity of human existence and has made proper utilization of opportunity and activities in life. The number of such persons in a society may be insignificant. But those who have understood this concept are the exclusive individuals who could be considered rich in talents and having a high order of credibility in society.

Then, there are others who are least concerned about these virtuous aspects of life; who never give a thought to such considerations or do not find any necessity or time for them. Who would consider this latter category of humanoid animals as responsible human beings, who remain totally unconcerned about such vital responsibilities of human race? The society sarcastically refers to such persons as "Big", "Clever", "Worldly - Wise" and "Manipulators". Like counterfeit currency, such persons often establish their status by fair or foul means, but they prove to be worthless by all norms of dignified human behavior. The credibility of one's dignity is tested on the anvil of ideals. Only after going through this test, one becomes a superperson, who makes an impact over majority without any distinction of caste, creed or status. The zeal of such persons inspires everyone coming in contact and like clouds they shower their love equally and on all beings. Like sun, which illuminates and provides warmth to one's own self as well as to others and is ever active in pursuance of this mission, they constantly endeavor to acquire wisdom for self, attempt to make others wise and extend their warm-heartedness to all. Only such persons understand the mystery and purpose of their birth as human being and appreciate the responsibilities, which make it possible for them to live objectively and proudly and present before the Creator a satisfactory account of multifarious activities of their life.

It must be appreciated that even the lowliest of living beings, such as worms and insects pass their entire life in activities related to their own sustenance and procreation of their kind and that too more leisurely than a human being. If the life of man, who is the most beautiful creation of God, also remains confined to this much of activity, it should be considered most unfortunate. Hence, the aforementioned way of life is the only correct step towards self-evolution of a being. Researches in Hindu philosophy have established that soul too undergoes a progressive evolution through various life-cycles, in which, after inhabiting various forms of lower orders of biological species, it appears in human body. Thereafter, following successive births as a human being, it either again degenerates to lower orders, or progressively evolves into a superior person as a patriot, martyr, social reformer, saint, godman, messenger of God etc., and ultimately merges with the omnipresent Super Soul i.e. God. Hence, one is warned to be careful and avoid the pitfalls by following the righteous path. 

In normal situations of life one has the freedom of a casual approach in deliberations and actions, but often there arise moments of contingency necessitating quick decisions and immediate actions. Let us take some examples: One cannot remain indifferent to a raging fire in the adjoining house. When the signal turns green, the passenger has to show alacrity in boarding the train. During a written examination, all questions are required to be answered with total concentration within the stipulated time. Any distraction during examination proves to be disastrous. Unless one promptly treats a person seriously injured in an accident, the latter is likely to die because of excessive blood-loss. Today, human race is facing such a contingency in which one cannot afford to be indifferent.

Today, human endeavour is sharply divided in two opposite directions of progress and regression. There is not much time left to make a choice between the two. Boarding a train going in a direction opposite to the destination could be disastrous for an indecisive passenger. Time and tide do not wait for anyone. All great men in the course of history owed their success to timely decision of action for the right cause. Among such persons were Hanuman,Vbhishan, Arjun, Buddha. Had they vacillated in decision, they would have lost that easy opportunity to become great, which they had availed of by recognizing the need of the hour. A farmer knows that only limited numbers of days are available for sowing and harvesting. Any wastage of time during this period results in a big loss in the income from the crops. Though a habit of complacency (Pramad) is always the main factor contributing to huge loss in any venture, it must be remembered that there are moments of unprecedented opportunity which are very significant and are lost forever because of least indifference. Even the horse of the best breed cannot win a race unless 'it makes the best use of time with a steady pace. Whosoever followed the advice of messengers of God had left his name in the history in indelible ink. It is so well known how Dhruva,Prahlad, Uma, and Savitri were benefited by following the directives of Rishi Narad. However, there is no dearth in this world of fools who disregarded even the most valuable hints and messages. The sanctity of wisdom lies in its association with a fruitful endeavor at an appropriate time. That moment has now arrived.

-By Sri Ram Sharma Acharya