We Live Forever, Albeit in Different Forms
- Tarasekhar Padhy
- Sep 23, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 29, 2024
न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः |
न चैव न भविष्याम: सर्वे वयमत: परम् || 2. 12||
Meaning of the Shloka: There was never a time when I, you, and all these kings (referring to other warriors on the battlefield) did not exist. There will also never be a time in the future when we cease to be. (Bhagvad Gita 2.12)
Context: When Arjuna got cold feet at the beginning of the war because his opposing army consisted of his friends and families, he became unsure of what he should do. Should he engage in the war because he is a warrior? Should he disengage because fighting against your own kin for the throne is a sin?
He was afraid of the deaths the war might occur. The deceased will include his friends, elders, teachers, brothers, and relatives.
To console him, Krishna explained to him what death is and how we all are immortal.
How are we immortal
What we perceive as death is the change of state of the human body. The human body undergoes six phases: creation, existence, growth, transformation, decline, and destruction.
The last phase is understood as death.
However, that doesn’t mean the elements that constitute us cease to exist. The subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules continue to live on, albeit in different forms. The traits exhibited by any entity in the universe depend on the way these subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules are arranged with respect to one another.
It is also true that most of us won’t view that perspective whenever we are dealing with death, loss, or any other kind of negative situation and emotions.
As a result, this does affect people’s actions which prevent them from doing the right thing, for themselves and others.
Another way to understand this is by looking at the collective. The multiverse. The multiverse is permanent. Universes get created and destroyed, but the multiverse, as a whole, remains. When you recognize that you are part of the multiverse, also known as the Absolute Self, your sorrow, depression, and other negative emotions get smoked.
More on the Absolute Self in the latter chapters.
Conclusion
Death is one of the many stark realities of our realities. However, it shouldn’t distract you from the fact that nothing is really “living.”
The conglomeration of the atoms and molecules that constitute of you are exhibiting the characteristics of you.
Tomorrow, they will be something else and will be exhibiting the traits of that thing.
And it goes on.
This is what death teaches us. The fleeting nature of everything we are attached to.
Understanding that will help you do the right thing by yourself and others most, if not all, times.
Until next time,
Tara
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Next Chapter: The Wise Remain Resolute in the Face of Death
Previous Chapter: The Unwise Lament of the Living and the Dead
Index (with Prologue): Krishna Said That: Prologue
