|  Tuesday, January 21, 2002 |

Forum  E-Mail  Site Search
 
THIS WEEK
  Front Page
  Manipur
  Features
  Opinions
  Profiles
  Editorials
  Interviews
  Potpourri
  Photos
  Books
Links
Forum
 
ARCHIVES
 
MANIPURONLINE
- About Us
- Advertise
- Feedback
- Contact Us
- Classifieds
- Letters to the Editor
 
TOOLS
Currency Converter
Stock Calculator
National Stock Exchange
Bombay Stock Exchange
xxx
 
Front Page >> Potpourri > Story

Step 2: In the <body>, place the 
   
The Precious Human Life
By Waikhom Damodar Singh
Life, of a living being is defined as the intervening period in between its birth or inception of its organisms and death during which it undergoes a series of activities. The activities so produced are caused by a source of vitality, an animating force or energy which is actually derived or acquired from the Sun, directly by the plants by a chemical process known as ‘Photosynthesis’, which is actually just a reversed process of the former.

In the process of photosynthesis, the plants make their own food, the simple sugar – glucose (monosachride) – C6H12O6 by absorbing Carbon dioxide gas (CO2) present in the air and water (H2O) from the soil by the help of the energy tapped from the Sun ray (radiant energy) through the green chemical matter, the Chlorophyll (C55H72MgN4O5 – Chlorophyll (a), bluish green color, (C55H70MgN4O6- Chlorophyll (b), brilliant green color) present in their leaves. The living beings then indirectly acquire the energy so trapped from the Sun by the process of respiration under which the food produced through the plants and consumed by them consisting of carbohydrates (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen), the proteins (nitrogen), the starch, the fats etc. are broken down as a result of the chemical reaction of oxidization of the food substances by the Oxygen (O2) inhaled through the nose and the lungs.

The chemical process is represented by the following simple equation:

C6H12O6 + 6O2 = 6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy

i.e. one molecule of the food substances, the sugar etc. reacts with six molecules of Oxygen inhaled giving out six molecules of Carbon-dioxide gas and six molecules of water (H2O) as the bye-products releasing the same quantum of energy trapped from the Sun Ray. Thus the plants play the most important and indispensable role as ‘carriers’ of ‘life-giving energy’ from the Sun for all the animals living on Earth. The body of a living being, particularly the human being is indeed a very ‘unique’ and ‘complex’ machine-like thing worked on its own by a chemical process right from its inception till death takes place by growing out from a very tiny cell known as ‘Zygote’ which again is formed by the fusion to two still very tiny cells – the positive cell called the ‘sperm’ produced by the male and the negative cell, the ‘ovum’ produced by the female, the process being called ‘fertilization’ in the case of the human beings, and ‘pollination’ in the case of the plants like the universe of ours had been formed and had grown out to such gigantic dimension from that of the insignificantly so minute a thing called the ‘Cosmic-egg’ (primordial hydrogen gas) after it exploded under its own highly compact pressure some 14/15 billion years ago, the great event occurred being called the ‘Big-Bang’ by the scientists as similar as the event mentioned in the Vedic version.

The similarity in between the two systems of existence of the living beings and the universe is differentiated only by their sizes i.e. ‘Macrocosm’ (the much bigger gigantic system) in the case of the Universe and ‘microcosm’ (relatively a very diminutive system) in the case of the living beings.

In fact, according to the findings of the scientists everything existing in the Universe began in the forms of energy only (in the forms of electrical, magnetic waves etc) to which everything in it – both the living and non-livings will also be reduced to it in the end.

According to the Vedic version also – Aum Tat Sat, meaning, all this, that was in the past, and all that would be in the future, and all that beyond these i.e. ‘Aum’, the pranva sound is the primordial source or originator from which the birth of the universe took place from the state of a complete darkness and sereneness with the ‘Big Bang’ sound thundered and energy flowed out from which subsequently created all the material objects, as a result also of the conjunctive effects of two primordial causers – namely, the time and space – it says that air was produced from space, and from air was produced fire and from fire water and from water the matter.

From the above facts it is then crystal clear that the universe is no doubt, existing under an energy-system which, according to the Vedic concept, is the God, the creator of it, He being the whole source of it constituted by the innumerable little specks of energy that build up all the living and non-living things like the atoms of water do in making the mighty ocean as a whole and hence both are eternal i.e. without any beginning or ending fully agreeing with the universal law of conservation of energy, which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed.

This fact has already been revealed by Lord Krishna to Arjuna as is in verse 23 of the second chapter (Sangkhya yoga) of the Bhagavad Gita – ‘Nainung shindanti shastrani, nainung dahati pabaka, na cheinung kledayantapo na shoshayati maruta’ – the soul, the animating force (the energy) residing temporarily in a living being can never be destroyed by cutting into pieces by any weapon whatsoever, nor by burning by fire, nor by moistening by water, nor by sweeping away by wind.

Thus the source of energy acquired by all the living things and beings, at least on earth, is the sun, Korou hanba as named by the Manipuris which had been, in turn, originated from the primordial cosmic-egg as has already been mentioned above. Interestingly enough, the sun ray gives out three most important effect (caused by the effect of the white light formed by seven colour having different wave lengths, the Vibgor – violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red – perhaps, the seven salai-clan systems adopted by the ancestors of the Manipuris have been based on this intrinsic scientific fact of forming of one unit by the combination of seven different entities, what a deep-insight and scientific thought that the ancestors had, the heating effect (caused by the infra-red waves existing beyond the red color wave-length) and the chemical effect (by the ultra-violet waves existing beyond the violet color wave-length – it is by this very important effect that all the chemical reactions are taking place on our earth, such as the photosynthesis etc. as already mentioned above.

The scientists have been thus successful so far only up to the stage of finding the causes of how the universe had been originated and how everything in it are existing but they seem quite silent or unable to give a satisfactory answer as to who had caused the creation and why it had been so caused also. In this regard according to some opinions it is said that there is no such a thing as God or Creator of the universe. This opinion may be refuted well by the reasoning given in the following two concrete examples that – this is no denying the fact that this ‘I’ have come from ‘him’, the father and ‘he’, the father from the grand father, the grand father from ‘him’, the great great grand father and so on and so forth till the chain of hereditary finally culminates into ‘Him’, the ultimate progenitor, the primordial source or originator, called God.

Secondly, ‘this wrist watch was designed and made by someone who did not see at the time of making it by him – similarly, the universe of ours must have been made under the wills and designs of someone whom we call God under who-se mercy everything is perfectly existing and working – He is omnipotent (all powerful), Omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (all pervading) – whatever He does is unquestionable and uninvestigable by mere material human knowledge – His powers are mystic, he can do everything and anything as He likes while man can do only something under a very limited way. He is actually only One but called or known by different names – ‘Ekam Brahma Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti’ – call Him Krishna, Christ, Allah, Buddha, Sanamahi and so on, it doesn’t matter but the facts of truth about Him remain the same – it is like the different roads meeting at the same point of ending.

He is impartial to all – the Muslims believe in His existence in the formless state and call Him, Allah, the light which illuminates all over the places and not impartially only over the areas inhabited by the Muslims. The fact that things cannot come out of their own from nothing has been also clearly stated in the Vedic version – ‘Yato vah imani bhu-tani jayante, imani bhutani’, for all the things which are created and manifested there is surely a source of origin, called God.

It is when there is such a dispute or confusion that the question of two clear factors comes in or arises – the science and religion – both are no doubt knowledge – the former being related to the material and external aspects while the latter relates to the spiritual (much-in-depth) knowledge. Since matter has limited dimensions the material knowledge have therefore limitations whereas the spiritual knowledge has no boundary in its logic (reasoning) and hence only by the scientific knowledge the uniqueness in the existence of the universe vis-à-vis God cannot be fully answered.

It is in this context that Shri Sathya Sai Baba who is believed to be the God-incarnate of the present century has said that ‘science is a mere glow-worm in the light and splendor of the sun of spiritualism which, on the other hand, reigns over the cosmic field where science has no place, and that science is only a half circle whereas the spiritualism is the full circle – science seeks the causes and truth of the creation while spiritualism seeks the creator – once the creator is known the creation is automatically revealed’. According to the interpretation of commentaries given with reference to Text 2 of canto 1 of Chapter 1 of the Srimad Bhagavatam, religion is primarily the ‘pious activities’ of man, and leading to an irreligious life means he will live in a barbarous condition. Human life, indeed, begins when religion begins in man. Eating, sleeping, fearing and mating are the four principles or factors of animal life. These are common both to animals and human beings. But religion is the extra function of the human beings. This extra function is nothing else but it is the power of ‘thinking’ or ‘reasoning’ for knowing what Truth is – both the factors coming from the highly consciousness power of knowing and learning of things under their own instincts, as especially endowed only on the human beings.

Without religion human life is said to be no better than animal life. This fact could be mathematically expressed in the short algebraic form as shown below:

Animal + Religion (thinking or reasoning power for truth) = Man.

i.e. in the above equation if the factor religion on the left hand side is taken out then it is quite obvious that Man is equal to animal or he becomes animal-like or behaves like animal.

In the logic it is said that man is animal and dog is also animal but man is not dog – this differentiation has been made because of the highly reasoning power that man possess.

Being religious also means that Man has an ardent ‘faith’ in the existence of God, and he worships Him constantly with unflinching love by offering ‘prayers’ to express the reverent love for showering His merciful blessings upon him for a peaceful and well-to-do life. By becoming ‘God-conscious’ or ‘God-addict’ man can tame his ever floating and restless monkey-like mind with endless desires thereby enabling him to shed with all the consequent troubles and frustrations and thence to have a peaceful life throughout. Payer is really a power of energy that can cleanse the human mind for leading a peaceful life. It is also the most powerful form of energy that can be generated on the human mind and body as well thereby giving him greater intellectual vigor, moral stamina and a deeper understanding of the realities underlying human relationship. If one makes a habit of sincere and constant prayer, his life will be noticeably and profoundly altered. Prayer stamps with indelible mark our actions and demeanor. A tranquility of bearing, facial and bodily repose, are observed in those inner lines that are thus enriched as a result of being a true and constant devotee of God. Within the depths of consciousness a flame kindles. And man sees himself. He discovers his selfishness, his silly pride, his fears, his greed, his blunders. He develops a sense of moral obligation, intellectual humility. Thus begins a journey of the ‘soul’ towards the realm of grace. It has been said that when all the means of therapy has failed serene effort of prayer had lifted man’s disease and melancholy. 

The machine of the unique human body has been so made by the nature for producing the required energy as described above i.e. the force required for making it active and alive like a human-made robot (mechanical machine or engine) does for making it to function or perform for producing some useful works. However, the great difference in between the two is that – the human body-machine is ‘self-operated’ right from the time it was conceived in the mother’s womb in the form of a very tiny cell, the Zygote and undergoes the unique process of self-growth – due to the effect of self-action of multiplication of cells under the process known as mitosis, meiosis etc. by manufacturing thousands of different proteins from the amino acids – 20 in number under the instruction coded in the hereditary blue-print contained in the genetic DNA (Deoxy-ribonuclei acid). The self-growth process of the body in its size and weight continues till it attains its fully grown youthful stage after which it begins gradually the reversing process of ageing i.e. weakening ending finally in death. In a man-made machine, on the other hand, its working is operated only by an external agent i.e. it cannot independently work on its own, and that there is no question of having the ‘auto-capacity or capability’ of undergoing the process of the ‘self-reproduction’ and the ‘self-growth’ as well. Another main factor by which a human being has differentiated himself even from other living animals and beings, not to speak only of the man-made machines, is that of his capacity of self-thinking and self-reasoning i.e. to know and learn things by himself and act of his own under his own ‘instincts’ or capacity of self-consciousness as has already been mentioned above. Man-made machines also do get old as their parts, after prolonged working, are worn out due to wear and tear actions like the ageing or decaying of the living beings or things respectively with the passage of time. Here the difference is very much in favor of the man-made machines, in that by replacing their worn out parts by very new ones, their working orders may be made to resume afresh in standard condition but in the case of the living beings, in particular, the human beings and the animals, there is no way out up till now to stop approaching - is of the old age and to revert again to the fresh and energetic stages and conditions of childhood and youth.

Another factor that lies absolutely in favor of the machines is that – they do not immediately undergo any sort of decomposition i.e. rotting in their bodies as and when their working ceases. But in the case of human bodies immediately after their death takes place they undergo the unavoidable natural process of the chemical reaction known as decomposition or putrefaction (a process of breaking down of organic nitrogenous matters of the body by the action of the micro-organisms) making their erstwhile good appearance a most undesirable, and even quite fearful sights to look at, accompanied with emission of fowl smells from such putrefied bodies – it is these reasons that the dead bodies of the human beings and also of other animals beings are cremated or disposed of either by consigning to the fire or by burying underneath the earth as soon as possible.

Thus life of a human being comes to the end ultimately with the end of the working of his body-machine, and therefore lies the truth of the proverb stated by Sathya Sai Baba that ‘Life is a journey motoring to death’ – no one, even the so called God, for that matter, can save him from such a natural ending that he is destined to face inevitably. Even the God Himself cannot escape from this inevitable phenomenon of His own creation-laws if He also once assumes the ‘mortal-human-body’ as He did as Krishna, as Jesus Christ etc, as had been clearly shown in the case of the former who died when he was shot with an arrow by an ordinary hunter, named Jara as narrated in the Prabhas Khand, chapter 31st canto 11 of the Srimad Bhagavatam, and of the latter by the merciless ‘crucifixion’ done as described in all the Gospels of the Holy Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of the New Testament). In fact, this eternal truth has already been revealed by Lord Krishna to Arjuna in His divine message delivered to him as are in verses 13 and 17 of the 2nd chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita. In this regard, it may also be interesting to mention the story of a weeping and distressed woman who went to Lord Buddha and had requested him for doing the justice of bringing her dead child back to life – at this Lord Buddha calmly said to the woman – ‘Go my good woman, knock at every door in the city and enquire whether a life has lost at any time. When you find a house where death has not made an appearance them come to me and I shall return you child’. The woman realized at once how foolish she had been in her grief, for it is true that death touches every household at some time or the other. She was ashamed of herself and asked for forgiveness.

Thus lives of all the living beings are ephemeral (short lived or transitory) and are subjected to the parental cycle of Samsara i.e. birth and death. However the human birth is a very rare thing and very precious which is obtained after many births and deaths as stated in Srimad Bhagavatam (11.9.29). The preciousness and rareness of the human body and its life have been also highlighted by Lord Krishna during His discourse, this time, with His most beloved friend and devotee, udhava, in the ‘Prabhas Khanda’ of the Srimad Bhagavatam (11.20.17) by saying that – ‘The human body is a most suitably built ship, which, when captained by a competent Guru and favored by the wind of God’s grace can be used to cross the Samsara. If a man fails to utilize all these favorable conditions and opportunities given, and indulges to live in barbarous conditions and to lead a frustrated and unvirtuous life because of his own sinful and forbidden acts, then he could be called a suicide, a killer of his won spiritual-self. For the smooth journey of such a precious and well contended ‘mind’ throughout the period of his short living during this present birth. Restlessness of his mind is caused due to his endless ‘desires and wantings’ for accumulation of material wealth and knowledge about the worldly things which are beyond the reach of his complete satisfaction and reasoning powers respectively. Man always forgets that his desires for material wantings can never be fully satisfied as the same are always of endless nature. It leads only to multiplication of the wants and consequent troubles and frustrations thereof. He forgets of the fact that ‘material wealth is spiritual poverty’. In fact, desires of the human mind are ‘insatiable’ and are compared to fire. We can throw in the whole house, the whole country and even the whole Universe, but at no point will it say, ‘No thank you, I’ve had enough’.

This is the very nature of fire. So also of the human desires. The more we feed it the more its appetite increases, the higher and wider, is its sweep. The only way to tame the restless ‘monkey-like’ mind of the human being is by having a ‘lowly and humble living but high thinking’ – for, the desires of the mind will vanish only when it is tamed i.e. cessation of the so called ‘random and wild thoughts’ created by it all the time, this actually could be possible only when the ‘senses’ are controlled. Controlling or taming of the sense is not however a very easy thing but it could be certainly possible by carrying out constant practice of ‘meditation’ i.e. concentration of the mind from all of its distinction by random and wild thoughts of turbulent air-like nature’. The difficulty or even impossibility of controlling the ‘turbulent’ air like mind was pointed out by Arjuna in a very pathetic mood to Lord Krishna during the beginning of their discourses in the battlefield by saying – ‘chanchalang hi mana Krishan, pramathi balabaddriram, tashyanhang nigrahangmanyeo bayoriba sudushkaram’- for the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind’. – At this, the blessed Lord said, ‘Ashangshayang mahabaho, mano dunigrahang chalam, abhyashen tu kaunteya, beiragyeona cha griharjate’ – O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by constant practice and by detachment – Bhagavad-Gita verses 34 and 35 of chapter 6 (Dhyan yoga)’. And the easiest way of meditation of the mind that one could carry out is by following the divine path of ‘Bhakti yoga’, the practice of observing ‘devotional services’ with full devotion and unflinching love to the Supreme Lord, the Almighty.

Yoga is a system of controlling the ‘senses’. The different systems of yoga which one could mainly follow are – the ‘karma yoga’, the ‘gyan yoga’ and the ‘bhakti yoga’. The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and the intelligence is the driver, mind is the driving instrument, and senses are the horses pulling the car. Intelligence directs the mind. But the mind is strong and obstinate. Such a strong and obstinate mind can only be controlled by controlling the horses, the ‘senses’ by constant practice of yoga, and that also by following the easier path of ‘Bhakti yoga’, the simple system of performing devotional service to the supreme lord without causing undue bodily straining hardships.

The high thinking that has been mentioned above is meant not for accumulating material wealth and endlessly ‘craving’ for worldly comforts but for moving towards the spiritual realm timely for realization of the self and its inherent relationship with the absolute truth so that his soul may graciously and peacefully undertake its journey and may achieve the goal of finally escaping from the sorrowful perennial cycle of birth and death and merge with the super soul (attaining of the so called salvation or Mokhsha or Mukti) who alone will remain eternally in His ever ‘blissful state (Sat-Chit-Anand)’ in his transcendental abode-this is the only goal that every human being born and gifted especially with a most ‘precious life’ should endeavor to achieve during his present lifetime. 

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

 Copyright © 2002 ManipurOnline. A Virgo Communications Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..  | Privacy Policy | Contact Us