PURPOSE OF LIFE

FICTION

Long time back there was a man. He wanted to achieve something great. So he started acquiring knowledge. He wanted to know the purpose of life . But no book could give him that .

It was not mentioned by any of his mentors , some of whom were of great expertise and fame . He became very sad that he couldn't get the answer. He was depressed all the time. He further studied and studied . .

Later he thought penance would give his answer. So he went to a mountain and started his penance. But no avail , he still didn't get the solution . His sadness persisted and progressed . He became very old and fragile, still his quest moved on.

 Finally he was in his death bed , when God appeared in front of him.' Son , what is it that you want to know from me?' God asked in a kind voice. The old man asked 'The great one, please tell me the purpose of this life, the existence .'

God replied ' I pity you, for the reason that the answer is rather simple, life is there so that you can enjoy it. Purpose of this life is to be happy . Too bad you spent it in misery.'

A story of two stones

Long time back there were two big stones lying near a city. One of them was a bit prideful and the other one was very humble.

The king of the city decided to build a temple so he thought of building it outside the city. So the workers started building the temple . The two stones were selected as good ones . They were washed and cleaned. One of the stones thought it was very valuable where as the other one was silent.

Soon the sculptors started hitting the stones with their instruments . It was highly painful process, chips of its own parts were being removed. So the proud stone prayed to god.

God appeared in front of it and asked what was its problem . The stone said people were causing harm to it and creating pain throughout its body. So it wanted the pain to stop. The god granted its wish .

From that day  sculptors didn't come near it. Where as the other stone was still getting blows and pains all the time . It didn't break down or budge . It silently took all the pain and still didn't complain . The proud stone felt like laughing at this idiotic behavior.

Time went on and the temple was completed. It was a majestic structure . The king himself came for the opening ceremony . He saw the proud stone lying by the side and instructed it to be used as a place to wash legs and clean the utensils . So the stone was used for that purpose, everyday getting all the dirt and filth. One day one of the sculptors was passing by , stopped to wash his legs in that stone.

The stone asked him what had happened to the other silent stone . “Oh that one? We constructed a beautiful idol of god out of that stone. Now it resides inside the garbha griha of the temple receiving all the prayers and offerings from people .”

This story had appeared in some book or magazine long time back. I like the way how the moral is brought out in this story. Hope you liked it too.

My ideas about stories

Its interesting to study human habit of constructing stories and telling it to others. Many a times a story is not what it seems to be. Although the story looks simple, it does have very profound and deep meaning if you really look at it clearly .

 In India there is no scarcity for stories . Even a stone lying by the roadside has its own story! Also important is the Indian tradition of imparting values through small stories. I can say the panchatantra , jataka stories, the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata , Birbal, Tenali.. so many more . All intended to impart the profound philosophy of life into the young minds .  Indian system of joint family is also of importance here. Grandparents are the one who usually tell such stories to children in home. In fact my earliest memories comprise of my grandpa telling me stories from Mahabharata. .I can vaguely remember how I used to fantasize about the great battles and other stories. They had a big impact on me. By the age of 4 I was already into story books . I have read thousands of stories by now but still the enthusiasm hasn't subsided. 

May be it has to do something with the basic mechanics of mind. The philosophy appears bland and tasteless if its imparted as it is but if you hide the philosophy behind a story it does look interesting .  Its like how a mother gives a bitter medicine hidden in honey to a child.

So I believe our culture is so rich and ancient not only because some great men did some works but also  because those values were transmitted from generation to next through stories . My next post is going to be such a story which I read when I was a kid .