The Aim of Life and its Fulfillment - Prof. C R Mahata

The author, a professor of electrical engineering at the College of Engineering and Management, Kolaghat in West Bengal, attempts a scientific explanation of the purpose of life and its end.

Life is a struggle for survival and for ensuring happiness. Willingly or unwillingly we all get involved in it. For many of us this is a quite difficult struggle, leaving practically no time and reflect on the aim of life itself. Most often, spending time to this question is nothing, but intellectual speculation without any practical utility. Even then some very prosaic and rude incidents force us to introspect. Death is one such incident. When the life of a very near and dear person ends and his/her body gets slowly burnt to ashes, we ponder: What is the aim of our life? Thus, death is to be recognized as a very powerful agent in making us thoughtful.

Life invariably terminates in death. The sight of death and sufferings of life impelled prince Siddhartha to renounce the world and proceed to search for immortality. Siddhartha could correctly appreciate the aim of his life from a few common events. Then, for the fulfillment of that aim, he engaged himself in hard austerities. He decided that he would not stop though the body may get emaciated and even destroyed. Many of us also witness old age, disease, death and monks, but very few learn the lesson. We strain all our energies in trying to achieve something or make our children something. Transitory happiness ensues when that goal is attained. But, Shortly, thereafter, we find that either that desire was a wrong one, or many other things remain to be achieved further. Apart from this, the attraction towards something which is already achieved starts diminishing and may eventually vanish. Along with this, when one desire subsides, another arises, causing us to chase it. In ordinary life, the chain of such successive desires or goals and running, after them continues endlessly. And there seems to be no universally accepted goal or aim of life at all in ordinary parlance. Non-gratification appears to stand out as the universal tragedy.

© "Prabuddha Bharata" (May, 2000) published by Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Champawat, Himalayas from its Publication Department, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014.Website: www.advaitaonline.com. Reprinted with permission.

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