Aim of Life
Living or surviving
Like countless others, I too have found myself contemplating the ultimate purpose of life.
Is it merely a cycle of work, chores, sustenance, and rest?
Is it primarily about laboring to provide sustenance for yourself and your loved ones?
Is it waking up every day until you die?
Is it about attaining fortune & fame?
Is it fulfilling your aspirations and dreams?
Is it about garnering respect and proving your worth within society? Or
Is it the ability to afford whatever one desires?
And if it isn’t solely about these pursuits, then what is its true essence?
While delving into a book, I stumbled upon a quote:
‘The aim of life is no more to control the mind, but to develop it harmoniously;
not to achieve salvation hereafter,
but to make the best use of it here below;
and not to realize truth, beauty, and good only in contemplation,
but also in the actual experience of daily life;
The quote was penned by the author during his early twenties.
Another pivotal and profoundly impactful lesson I drew from his life is:
The true aim of life is to be “happy, peaceful & free”.
Irrespective of life’s circumstances.
Let me tell you his story.
He was a freedom fighter & revolutionary who was sentenced to execution.
Throughout his two-year imprisonment leading up to his fate, his friends and family occasionally visited him.
During an interview, his mother recounted,
“Our visits to him began with tears, but ended with laughter and light-heartedness.”
He identified as an Epistemophiliac.
However, due to his involvement in the freedom struggle, he was compelled to leave college in between.
Yet, this setback did not leave him disheartened or dampen his spirits.
He did it with utmost ease.
Later, he studied around 500 books on a variety of subjects that too in approximately 3 years.
Despite the constant threat to his life, he remained dedicated to his duties while still finding moments of joy with his friends.
On his revolutionary journey,
he encountered numerous brilliant, philanthropic, and distinguished individuals, who hailed from different walks of life and regions within his country.
They engaged in the exchange of profound knowledge, and love, empathized with each other’s sorrows, celebrated happiness, supported one another through success and failure, and engaged in heartfelt banter.
Despite his deep affection for food, he chose to prioritize the simplicity of enjoying movies and spending time with loved ones, often prioritizing this over dinner by using the money for movie tickets.
During his time in jail, he observed disparities in the treatment of prisoners from his country compared to those from the ruling country.
In response, he went on a 114-day hunger strike, abstaining from both food and water, to protest against this injustice.
Even after enduring numerous hardships in his life,
it was observed that just before his execution,
his weight had increased by 4 kilograms.
This surprising change was attributed to his profound happiness at the thought of sacrificing his life willingly for such a noble cause.
Most importantly, he was an atheist, so his sacrifice for the freedom of his compatriots and the equality of workers and students worldwide was entirely selfless, devoid of any expectation of personal gain, even after death.
He was just 23, but still, lived more than a 100-year-old who just survived.
That individual is none other than Bhagat Singh.
His tale teaches us that true meaning arises not from personal gain, but from a life lived with purpose, joyfully embracing each moment and striving for the betterment of society.
