Guest guest Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Dear Friends, HARI OM Right from my childhood I have been observing that when some politically prominent person dies there used to be running commentary over All India Radio of the proceedings of the last journey of the body of that person. Much later came the video coverages and broadcasts over the Television. In all these scenes I have been hearing (or seeing) the accompanying people shouting, for example, "Mahatma Gandhi Amar Rahe", "Jawaharlal Nehru Amar Rahe", Indhra Gandhi Amar Rahe" etc. after the respective political leader breathed his or her last. I also used to notice certain insertions in Newspaper under the title,'Obituary' or "In Memoriam" columns where certain expressions such as 'May his soul rest in peace' used to appear. At that time I was too young to understand the meaning , significance and appropriateness of such words. I concede even to-day I have not understood the implications of such slogans or insertions. What is meant by 'Amar Rahe'? By shouting such a slogan what did the people at that time wanted to convey? ' Amar' in Hindi literally means 'undead', 'non-dying'etc. It also means 'immortal'. People wanted Mahatma Gandhi to remain immortal ie., one not subject to death after Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and was declared dead! Now, what do we understnd by the words, 'mortal' and 'immortal"? These expressions are very important to understand. We talk about 'mortality rate' of a country. Apparently, mortality refers to death. Now, what is death? We see it happening daily. Can we say that somebody is dead at the moment one`s body stops beathing? We see people in coma and they still breathe. Can we consider them as dead? Again, we come across expressions like clinical death, brain dead etc. etc. The phenomenon of birth and death is complicated and one needs to understand it calmly. We all know that death is a certainty, but in our heart of hearts we are not mentally prepared for it. We would not like to die. Let us admit. We pray to God for long life so that death is postponed to an unknown distant future. This may also be attributable to our unsatiable wants and desire to enjoy material comforts and pleasures for a longer time in this world. We hear people saying, " I would like to live until my great grand child gets married". Whatever may be the underlying reason for such prayers, the fact remains that none of us would welcome death willingly. (to be continued) G.Balasubramanian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 HariOm Hare I feel that three things are involved 1]Atma-it never die & changes clothes by taking rebirth. 2]Body-it die burnsor it is notvisible in that form 3]Name-now only name remains, & that what I feel they shout ......Amar rahe ie this name remain alive & it remains for years & years. mggarga--- On Sat, 6/27/09, G Balasubramanian <gbsub wrote: G Balasubramanian <gbsub SOME THOUGHTS ON IMMORTALITY AND DEATH--1 Cc: USBrahmins , Aryakrishti-Vedic-Dharma , "Bhagavataseva Bagavataseva" <BhagavataSeva >Saturday, June 27, 2009, 6:32 AM Dear Friends, HARI OM Right from my childhood I have been observing that when some politically prominent person dies there used to be running commentary over All India Radio of the proceedings of the last journey of the body of that person. Much later came the video coverages and broadcasts over the Television. In all these scenes I have been hearing (or seeing) the accompanying people shouting, for example, "Mahatma Gandhi Amar Rahe", "Jawaharlal Nehru Amar Rahe", Indhra Gandhi Amar Rahe" etc. after the respective political leader breathed his or her last. I also used to notice certain insertions in Newspaper under the title,'Obituary' or "In Memoriam" columns where certain expressions such as 'May his soul rest in peace' used to appear. At that time I was too young to understand the meaning , significance and appropriateness of such words. I concede even to-day I have not understood the implications of such slogans or insertions. What is meant by 'Amar Rahe'? By shouting such a slogan what did the people at that time wanted to convey? ' Amar' in Hindi literally means 'undead', 'non-dying'etc. It also means 'immortal'. People wanted Mahatma Gandhi to remain immortal ie., one not subject to death after Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and was declared dead! Now, what do we understnd by the words, 'mortal' and 'immortal"? These expressions are very important to understand. We talk about 'mortality rate' of a country. Apparently, mortality refers to death. Now, what is death? We see it happening daily. Can we say that somebody is dead at the moment one`s body stops beathing? We see people in coma and they still breathe. Can we consider them as dead? Again, we come across expressions like clinical death, brain dead etc. etc. The phenomenon of birth and death is complicated and one needs to understand it calmly. We all know that death is a certainty, but in our heart of hearts we are not mentally prepared for it. We would not like to die. Let us admit. We pray to God for long life so that death is postponed to an unknown distant future. This may also be attributable to our unsatiable wants and desire to enjoy material comforts and pleasures for a longer time in this world. We hear people saying, " I would like to live until my great grand child gets married". Whatever may be the underlying reason for such prayers, the fact remains that none of us would welcome death willingly. (to be continued) G.Balasubramanian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Dear Friends, During my student life I came across a Bengali poerty written by Madhusudan Dutta, who had expressed few thoughtful lines on death and immortality, that I always remember, while seeing this type of discussions. Though the poetry is secular in nature, but it will not be irrelevant to share those lines with You. He said-" Those who have born, must die, no body is immortal in the human world, as, water in a river can not remain static, similarly our life and time can not stop,but the person whom people do not forget or whose works are unforgettable, remains immortal in the hearts of others. I think, that was why people say the "Amar rahe" slogan after a politician or a great personalities death. People want to remember his good works for all ages to come.(Bengali Version of the poetry-Janmile Morite Hobe,Amar Ke Kotha robe,chiro-sthir kobe neer, hai re jibon nade? Sei dhonyo narokuleLoke jare nahi bhule Mala Mukherjee--- On Sat, 27/6/09, G Balasubramanian <gbsub wrote:G Balasubramanian <gbsub SOME THOUGHTS ON IMMORTALITY AND DEATH--1 Cc: USBrahmins , Aryakrishti-Vedic-Dharma , "Bhagavataseva Bagavataseva" <BhagavataSeva >Saturday, 27 June, 2009, 6:32 AM Dear Friends, HARI OM Right from my childhood I have been observing that when some politically prominent person dies there used to be running commentary over All India Radio of the proceedings of the last journey of the body of that person. Much later came the video coverages and broadcasts over the Television. In all these scenes I have been hearing (or seeing) the accompanying people shouting, for example, "Mahatma Gandhi Amar Rahe", "Jawaharlal Nehru Amar Rahe", Indhra Gandhi Amar Rahe" etc. after the respective political leader breathed his or her last. I also used to notice certain insertions in Newspaper under the title,'Obituary' or "In Memoriam" columns where certain expressions such as 'May his soul rest in peace' used to appear. At that time I was too young to understand the meaning , significance and appropriateness of such words. I concede even to-day I have not understood the implications of such slogans or insertions. What is meant by 'Amar Rahe'? By shouting such a slogan what did the people at that time wanted to convey? ' Amar' in Hindi literally means 'undead', 'non-dying'etc. It also means 'immortal'. People wanted Mahatma Gandhi to remain immortal ie., one not subject to death after Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and was declared dead! Now, what do we understnd by the words, 'mortal' and 'immortal"? These expressions are very important to understand. We talk about 'mortality rate' of a country. Apparently, mortality refers to death. Now, what is death? We see it happening daily. Can we say that somebody is dead at the moment one`s body stops beathing? We see people in coma and they still breathe. Can we consider them as dead? Again, we come across expressions like clinical death, brain dead etc. etc. The phenomenon of birth and death is complicated and one needs to understand it calmly. We all know that death is a certainty, but in our heart of hearts we are not mentally prepared for it. We would not like to die. Let us admit. We pray to God for long life so that death is postponed to an unknown distant future. This may also be attributable to our unsatiable wants and desire to enjoy material comforts and pleasures for a longer time in this world. We hear people saying, " I would like to live until my great grand child gets married". Whatever may be the underlying reason for such prayers, the fact remains that none of us would welcome death willingly. (to be continued) G.Balasubramanian Love Cricket? Check out live scores, photos, video highlights and more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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