I come to sing a distant tale,
lost in sands of times and screams of war
It gave a warrior his strength to fight
and I go to it when I need mine
I do not trust the story
nor believe it to be true
It might be the exaggerated vision of a poet
or a story distorted in hapless translation
Yet, I know if I believe in this myth
it gives me strength to fight my wars
And it is a story which now has me by the hook
for now that I know it, I can’t overlook
So I don’t ask you to trust the story
nor believe in the imagination of an astute
I merely ask you to heed his offer
and make your decision after
So I go up to the crossroads of my life
And stand there for a while to ponder
Which road should I take for my salvation?
In this time of helplessness, which the right decision
- 2 -
Time and again, I feel confused
about right and wrong and good and bad
For these definitions change with time and circumstances
and there is no one principle on which one may stand
Surrounded by peers and family
I find eyes boring into me
Tried I am, not only by them
but also by my own sense of judgment
Misjudged I am, at every action
even my thoughts and considerations are judged
Some, do not understand but are patient
some, who I know are with me at heart
I see my actions beyond me
I wonder if I’m right or wrong
Would I hurt the ones I love
or would my life be a legacy they shall cry upon
I need not do anything I doubt today
but I wonder if inaction too is right or not
All I want is peace of mind
All I do not know is where it can be found
I desire not to rule a land
neither I wish for fortunes mammoth
All I desire are answers and peace
All I have is confusion and grief
I look up to the heavens
with tears flooding my eyes
when I hear a small within myself
It sounded as if it were dejected for long
but today was speaking to me on my crossroads
Before seeking answers, first let me know
that when destruction steps into time and lives
when time demands you of deeds
when despair and difficulties have surrounded time
and righteousness itself looks up to you for protection and victory
how did you dare to let such pity thoughts enter your heart?
Great men do not fall in despair like this
when time comes for action, they do not seek to desert
These emotions you have will take all glory from your life
and you yourself will be the cause of your criticism
Your actions are not to recognize or establish relationships
Find your duty and then take a decision,
because you are the only one who can take a decision
Because this life is yours, and its consequences would also be yours
I understand now my life and decisions are mine
but I yet don’t know which decision to take
I know I stand amidst values right and wrong
yet I’m unable to tell one from another
My senses fail me, they take me to despair
they make me feeble, unable to act
So I dig deeper into my soul, asking questions
and thus began, one of the greatest lessons I embanked
- 3 -
Those dead can never be called back
and the wise do not cry over corpses
they grieve neither for birth nor death
You think like a wise man, but your questions are foolish
before grieving just think, is the live you grieve for worth it?
You must understand that the true element is not the body
it is the soul
And death is not the end of its journey
because its journey is endless
Death is just station, a momentary lapse
just like the end of breaths, is not the end of the wind
the end of a body, is not the end of the soul
Take it this way that a child is born
that child grows to me a man
the man grows old, and finally dies
But this is the journey of the body,
the soul goes beyond
It simply abandons the body,
and finds a new one to embrace
So the journey which ends with death,
is only the journey of the body
The journey of the soul is endless
and at some point in its journey, the body is left behind
and the soul moves on
And just like you change your clothes
the soul changes its
Death and destruction can never touch the soul
So grieve for what? And for whose loss?
Would you cry over the death of the cloth?
But the cloth was never immortal
it was meant to be discarded one day
And the soul does not die, it never dies
There was never a time, when I was not there
there was never a time, when you were not there
there was never a time, when anyone was not there
So how is to be or not to be relevant
Because there would never be a time, when I would not be there
or you would not be there, or anyone would not be there
So how can you believe, that the present life is all life
The present is not eternity, you are for eternity
And on this grand scale of time, what happiness and sadness
These are merely seasons, which inevitably come and go
The man who is unmoved in happiness and sorrow,
and takes on them uninfluenced
only he is ideal, only he deserves salvation
Only that can die which has been born
the soul is beyond birth and time
Laws of birth are applicable to creatures, not souls
and if the soul cannot be born, then how can it die?
the soul is just… there. It exists
It exists on both ends of time, and it makes time flow
Soul is beyond birth, beyond time, beyond religion, shapeless, deathless
Death only affects the body, not the soul
because weapons don’t penetrate it, fire doesn’t burn it
water doesn’t wet it and wind doesn’t dry it
I remember the times, when I have lived
when I have written across pages in ink
When I entered a trance, taking no trace of my own
when bereft of sanity, only the task at hand matters
that is the time, when the soul lives
It is unaware of the body, unaware of life and relationships
and what matters is the soul, and the task at hand
We are born with it, and we die with it
and the soul is the only thing which journeys along
There’s something about me which hasn’t changed since birth
the soul it is undoubtedly
It has put on layers during this life so it’s difficult to discover it now
but sometimes it comes up
and when this body dies, all layers will come off
and once again I shall go forward with the soul
or perhaps, the soul shall go forward with me
But then, I think, the soul never dies
but people do
The soul is indestructible
but relationships die
People aren’t just souls, relationships aren’t a myth
they are real people with real feelings and real relations
So isn’t the loss real
I close my eyes again and ask the calm in me
In my mind, I receive the reply
Yes, people are born,
so let’s take your argument further
One who is born, will certainly face death,
so why lament the certain?
Whoever is born, has to die
and this death is not the end
Because the person dying will be reborn
This is an unshakable truth which none can change
So in this endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth
where is the place for grief?
Everyone you see, was there before this life
but you don’t know what they were
They will be there after this life
but what, you don’t know even that
Their existence is not confined between the points of birth and death
and the existence beyond life, is unknown, untold
Meaning, they were not there for you before this life
and they won’t be there for you after this
So why worry for this small part of their existence
Their life’s inescapable end is death
and this end can neither be eluded nor changed
so why do you mourn for death?
You knew none of your peers and relations before this life
and you won’t know them after this
Then, to grieve for them is useless isn’t it?
Like tearing is the last truth for a cloth
death is the last truth of life
So why lament the truth?
Man is not a mixture of body and soul, mortal and immortal
The body is just a tool for the soul
So without worrying for the body, one must follow one’s duty
And if you wish to live like a warrior, a man synonymous with victory
then also only your duty will bring you peace
And when wrong stands infront of righteousness
then you must face it and defeat it
So your duty is the only option you have
So I ask myself, what is the right thing to do?
What is the duty I must follow?
What am I? Who am I?
Am I a warrior? I am a warrior of life. A warrior of light
Life, is a war, of which we all are warriors
And the duty of a warrior is your duty
To fight the wrong is your duty. To fight immorality is your duty
And if in times of decision you do not stand for the truth and against evil
then with your devoir your glory will also be destroyed
And if this happens then not only your enemies
but the entire world will call you disgraced and dastard
and coming generations will call you a coward and sinner
So do not be lost in the questions
of victory and defeat, life and birth, happiness and sorrow
and do your duty
If you win in your life, then you shall enjoy the pleasures and fame of the world
and even if you lose, then also you’ll go to heaven with eminence
So get up, happiness, sadness, birth, death, victory, defeat; treat them all the same
and do your duty
For this is your warrior code, and human duty
