FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS ( coping with the loss of a loved one)

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS

( coping with the loss of a loved one)

"A heart overwhelmed with grief

Mourning over the loss of a loved one

Lamenting day and night

Wishing things could be undone

How can one find solace?

How can one endure the pain?

Knowing well that life without the beloved 

Will never be the same again!"

Life is the journey of a soul on a brief solo trip to this material world. We are here because we desire to experience, enjoy and learn from this world and above all understand that the most important aim of life is self realisation. 

To help us survive on this wonderful planet, God has bestowed on all of us a family to nurture and prepare us for this amazing but unpredictable journey. It is the bonding of our family relationships that gives sustenance and strength by providing us with security, confidence, love and affection.  Gradually this filial love grows into attachment and soon we cannot imagine life without our loved ones.

The greatest fear of mankind is death, especially the fear of losing someone near and dear to us. The irreplaceable loss of a loved one leaves a huge void in one’s life, a vacuum that can never be filled. A part of us is gone forever and we can never be the same again.  Our world turns upside down and the future seems bleak and insecure. How does one overcome the grief and lamentation? 

 At the battlefield of Kurukshetra Bhagwan Shri  Krishna says the following words to a grief stricken Arjuna: 

Bg. 2.13

देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा ।

तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति ॥ १३ ॥

dehino ’smin yathā dehe

kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati

Translation

As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.

The individual soul is the fragment of the supreme soul. The body is perishable but the soul is eternal. One who has perfect knowledge of the constitution of the individual soul, the Supersoul, and nature – both material and spiritual – is called a dhīra, or a most sober person. 

Bhagwan Shri Krishna further explains about the nature of the individual soul:

Bg. 2.20

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि-

न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।

अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो

न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ २० ॥

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin

nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ

ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo

na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

Translation

For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

LIFE LESSON

Life is a journey from birth to death.  Every second, every breath, every step we take is taking us to our inevitable destination. We should realise that we are the insignificant fragments that belong to the super soul and our purpose of life is to find and know Him for He is our true permanent companion for not just this life but forever. 

An individual soul suffers due to being forgetful of it’s TRUE identity and nature. The end of a life should be understood as the beginning of a new journey. Only then can one overcome the grief. 

“With A heart full of love

And a mind full of sweet memories

Wish them well, as they begin their new journey

Let go! Set them free.....”

 Written by- Sarawathi M V

Mentor : Prof. Mrs Shalini Pujari