My Life

   Henry David Thoreau was an archetype of what humans could aspire to be if we had the conviction to live life on our own terms    On July 4, 1845, a 27-year-old Henry David Thoreau moved into a cabin near a lake called Walden Pond in Massachusetts, north-eastern United States. His goal, he wrote later, was “to live deliberately, to confront only the essential facts of life”. We learn of these and other words that speak of Thoreau’s intentions from the writings he left behind. His journals tracked his life from October 1837 to November 1861, eventually filling up 47 manuscript volumes.    The most famous of his books was Walden; or, Life in the Woods, an assemblage of sustained thinking about life in a rural setting, deeply felt psychological insights amidst everyday life and some sharp criticisms of the society around him. All of these are sketched out in an artful prose that is extraordinary in its attention to the sensuousness and specificities of reali...

      When all five Pandava brothers were present, why did Lord Krishna single out Arjuna to be the recipient of His advice in the form of the Bhagavad Gita?     It could not have been a random choice. Before the Kurukshetra war began, Yudhishtra walked over to the opposite side where Bhishma and his teacher Drona were ready to fight the Pandavas. Yudhishtra sought their blessings before the war began. They said that dharma would triumph in the end. Yudishtra knew that dharma was on his side. He had been more than reasonable in his requests to the Kauravas. But they had turned down all his proposals, and peace with them was no longer possible. Yudishtra knew that he was doing the right thing by fighting them. He knew he was waging a dharmic war. So as far as he was concerned, there was no confusion in his mind.     Bhima was eager to fight and was not bothered with dharmic questions. But Arjuna was the one who was troubled in his mind. ...

   Life and its attractions hold tremendous sway and prevent one from investigating why one has come to live in this world. If this is analysed in the proper way, then the subtle truths of one’s existence are likely to be revealed in one’s consciousness. The conversation between Yagnyavalkya (the sage) and Maitreyi (his first wife) in the Brihadharanyaka Upanishad illustrates this.    The sage says he wishes to renounce the world and begin a life of meditation in solitude. He wishes to divide his property between his two wives, Maitreyi and Katyayani. Maitreyi wants to know if the whole earth belonged to her with all its wealth, would she be able to attain immortality through its possession. Yagnyavalkya says wealth and riches can certainly confer a comfortable life; but these are not capable of granting liberation from the cycle of birth. None can hope to gain immortality through wealth.    Maitreyi has no need for such wealth. She wishes to be instructed ...