Life and Destiny

Goats have very little horns. Its requirement to dig the ground or do such other odd jobs is fulfilled by that. On the contrary, deers have long horns, most of which is of no use to it. Yet we enjoy and appreciate the beauty of a deer's otherwise useless horn. Similarly, the river flows in its own way. But very little water is put to real good use. Most of the water maintains the flow of the river save and except a little, which is used for irrigation. This maintenance of flow is important. The river must flow. We common people are also like that. We maintain the flow of mankind. After our deaths, nobody will ever write a biography on our lives. Nobody will build up our statue. After death very few people become immortal. That is why the world is still habitable.

Wise men say, "Get up, do some work. Do not waste time." There are people who do very little work and truly they waste a lot of time. But there is another class of people who cannot do their work properly. They spoil the work as well as the time. There is no harm if you cannot do any real good work. We common people are here to maintain the flow only. That is what God wants us to do. And Jesus Christ sacrificed his life only for us - the common mass. All great men have worked only for the welfare of mankind.....and the whole mankind is primarily composed of common people like us.

Everything in nature, like the grass, the stars, the sun and the moon, are all doing just that. Each of these does not ever try to go beyond their capacity. They devote themselves to their tasks very religiously. The grass never tries to become a big tree, or a small star never tries to become the sun, and thereby waste their energy. That is why so much beauty, peace and tranquility prevails in nature. Everything remains well within limits.

So we should not lament. It is the majority that keeps everything in motion. We are like tiny ripples in an ocean, without which the ocean will lose its greatness. Same way a large portion of all that nature has given to us is wasted, like sunlight. All grass does not produce rice. Very little of these are of any real value. The most common variety of grass simply covers the dust with a soothing green colour and gives the earth a soft, tender appearance. That is its job.

Mankind is basically divided into two parts. One part comprises ninety per cent while the remaining ten per cent makes up the other part. This ninety per cent mostly remains cool and calm. The other ten per cent always remains disturbed. Whenever a portion of this so called ninety per cent wishes to move to the other part and consequently tries to gain importance, they become restless, disturbed and quite agitated. That then becomes a dangerous situation for all and sundry. It becomes an unholy situation for all. Many a lives may be lost and they must get themselves prepared for that.

The river flows towards the sea. That is its wish ..... to get united with it. But a river can never become a sea. It can only get united with it. It is the same thing with us also. We can only get united with God.
The river passes through many a hills and dales, forests, villages, but never stops at any of these. It keeps on moving towards its destination, the sea.

We also, through all our actions, are constantly moving towards God. And that is at the root of all our peace, joy and happiness. The more we move towards Him, the more peace we get. We get so many things during the course of life, but we are unable to hold them for good. Ultimately we leave everything to get united with Him. That is our destiny ..... like the river. We can move closer to Him only when we exchange love and sympathy with others. That is the message of God. That is why we get so much peace when we get love from others, or are able to love others. Really we move one step closer to Him. The more we love others, the more peace we get. And then we feel just great.

Translation into English based on the Bengali works (essay) of Rabindranath Tagore

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