Pradeep Lawande
One of the names of time in Sanskrit is Kaal. Kaal also means death. There is a saying in Konkani that death comes unannounced and spares none.
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There was an English poet named John Donne. One day his only son died untimely. The poet was greatly shocked. In that sad mood, a poem sprouted in his heart. In this poem Donne personified death and scolded him thus “O Death, be not proud.
I know you do not spare anything in this world. You destroy all the living and nonliving things in the Universe. Moreover, because of you the suns, the moons, stars, planets, mountains oceans et al lose their permanence. This has made you arrogant. But listen carefully O Death, as soon as my son died; he took birth in another life. Therefore, it is you who has in fact died. O Death, only thou die”!
As regards death, Yudhishthir, the eldest among five Pandava brothers made an intelligent comment. Yaksha, a supernatural being asked him a question “What is the greatest wonder in the world?”
And Yudhishthir answered; “Every man knows that death is the ultimate truth of life. He sees countless people dying around him and he acts and thinks like he will live forever! This is the greatest wonder in the world”.
We all live within a framework of time. Time means a particular period. Each one of us is born at a certain point of time and then dies at another certain point of time. And our life is a period between these two points of time. Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 and then passed away on January 30, 1948. Thus Mahatmaji’s life is a period between the above two dates. Similarly, the life of each one of us is a definite parcel of time. The success or failure of our lives depends upon how we use this time.
There is a story by Aesop entitled ‘The ant and the grasshopper’. The ant was hardworking and thrifty. She toiled and moiled the whole summer and accumulated food for the upcoming winter. The grasshopper on the other hand did not like to work. Throughout the summer, he wandered from place to place singing.
In winter when there was nothing to eat, the grasshopper went to ant’s house and requested her to give him some food as he had nothing in store. With great astonishment the ant asked him, “Then what were you doing the whole summer”?
“I sang,” the grasshopper proudly answered the ant’s question.
“You sang then? Well, now you go and dance,” said the ant and closed the door. The ant made good use of time whereas the grasshopper misused it.
Broadly, time can be divided into three parts. They are past, present and future. One cannot change the past, nor does one know what is in store in future. But the present is in our hands and we can make the best use of it.
Therefore the name of this part of time is indeed significant. It is present. Present means gift! And this period of time is certainly a valuable gift for humankind. Spiritualism gives it the greatest importance. All the sages and saints across the world are appealing to us in one voice that we should live in the present tense.
