Death – A Reality or An Illusion

Death lays her icy hands

on kings even.

sceptre and crown

Must tumble down;

And in the dust be equal made

with the crooked scythe and spade.

These were the words of a poet who believed in the mighty power of death, Death, he said, is a great leveler. Nothing or nobody can stand in the way of death. The mighty and the weak, Kings and paupers, all fall like crumbling pieces of dust in the face of the mighty power of death. It comes to all, it has no time; it reaches every nook and corner of the world. Shelley’s poem, “Ozymandias’ is a great reminder of the cruel and all destructive power of death. Anything that is born is destined to die one day. Lord Yaksha, the great philosopher asked Yudhishthara, “What is the strangest thing on the earth?” He replied, “The strangest thing is that we see people dying every day but we do not entertain this idea of death for ourselves.” Even though every man knows that he must die one day, yet he tries to postpone this idea when it comes to himself. Such is the strange irony of this great reality of life. Lord Buddha saw a man dying and being cremated. And this scene gave birth to his great philosophy: ‘life is an abode of sorrows’.

In spite of all this, there have been several poets, thinkers, and philosophers who have been attaching no importance at all to death. Death, according to them, is a break in the long journey of life.

John Donne wrote:

“One short sleep past,

We wake eternally.

Death, thou shalt die.”

He considered Death only a short, well-earned rest, a sleep after a life full of labour, after which we wake eternally in Heaven. Lord Krishana also told Arjuna when he stood bewildered in the battlefield of Kurukshetra during the great war of the Mahabharata,” Soul is deathless. It is the body that dies. Soul is immortal”. Death, he was told, is only a change of clothes or vesture. Just as a man changes his old dress and puts on new clothes, similarly the body changes into a new attire after the so-called death. There are hundreds of examples in human history where people wilfully and joyfully embraced death. What then is the mystery of Death? Is it a reality or an illusion? Man has failed to find an exact answer.

Some people believe that we are living in an absurd world like a bunch of fools. We do not know where we’ve come from and where we’re going. Neither do we know why nor what for we are here in this world. If this so, is we not moving about like lost cows or buffaloes in the field of life? Or, are we moving about like a bullock who pulls the wheel day in and day out without knowing that he is covering no distance but is actually moving in a circle only? Life is really very enigmatic. So too is Death.