Mystery

I was dwelling upon a mystery from a few years and would like to share my morning conversation with a brother from another mother… It’s a mystery to me as follows:

Today morning while going through the status on WhatsApp came upon “कालो न यातो, वयमेव याता:” (Kaalo na yaato, vayamev yaataha)… It is not that the time (kaal) has passed but it is i (we) who have passed by…

It struck an instant chord with me so decided to chat with my dear brother whose status it was…

I found this sentence a little negative before our chat so stated it… He lucidly explained that it is not so… Rather it is a self analytical statement made by our seer’s… It is scathing in its tone yet very inspirational… Most naked truth yet encouraging for those who observe themselves… Then he quoted the whole shloka :

भोगा न भुक्ता वयमेव भुक्ताः

तपो न तप्तं वयमेव तप्ताः ।

कालो न यातो वयमेव याताः

तृष्णा न जीर्णा वयमेव जीर्णाः ॥
हमने भोग नहीं भुगते, बल्कि भोग ने ही हमें भुगता है;

हमने तप नहीं किया, बल्कि हम स्वयं ही तप्त हो गये हैं;

काल पसार नहीं हुआ, हम ही पसार हुए हैं;

तृष्णा जीर्ण नहीं हुई, पर हम ही जीर्ण हुए हैं !…

Now here is the mystery unveiled… It is we who should enjoy the worldly desires, but it is vice versa in our lives (we have become toys of the worldly desires)… It is we should have done ‘tapa’ ( rough translation penance or pursuit of happiness), but we are rather ‘tapt’ ( rough translation unsure and directionless)… The last sentence is truly mind blowing… It is not that the desires have lessened, it is i(we) who have grown old…

In this context the mystery is unveiled that we are being led by our burning desires to live… Have we truly lived the way we are expected to?… The seer’s have emphatically stated that we have become toys of our unlimited desires and just in pursuit to find them, have let the time and ourselves pass by…

Now as a person who loves to read and think we can find many instances in our books about such human life and civilisation… The question that comes to my mind is that after knowing this, shouldn’t we try to find a way out?

What is the right way?

What is the right thought?

What is the right method?

These are questions which i leave upto my readers to answer…