The Lesson of Death

Death announces that man’s existence is in the power of Someone Else, God. As long as He wants, He keeps man alive in this world and when He wants, He brings death to that person.

Jyoti Basu died on January 17, 2010. At the time of his death he was 96. One of the great leaders of the Communist party, he served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for twenty-three years without a break. The cause of his death, as declared by the doctor, was multi-organ failure.

The body that man has been granted in this world is a living factory of a perfect nature. Many systems are simultaneously at work in it—the system of thinking, the system of seeing, the system of hearing, the system of digestion, the system of the pulsating of the heart, the system of breathing, the system of keeping the body continuously in motion, etc. All these systems function in a totally co-ordinated fashion, and only then is it possible, for a person to exist in this world as a living entity.

For instance, if the memory does not work, a man cannot recall anything. If the sight does not work, then a man goes blind. If the hearing does not work, a man cannot hear anything. If the speech system does not work, a man becomes dumb. If the system of digestion does not work, a man cannot remain healthy. If the system of motion does not work, a man becomes paralyzed. If the system of breathing does not function, a man can neither inhale nor exhale. If the system of the heart does not function, a man’s very survival will become impossible.

Death announces the reality that the different systems of man’s existence are in the power of Someone Else. As long as He wants, He keeps man alive in this world and when He wants, He brings death to that person. On a daily basis, about one lakh deaths take place in this world. They give us news of the utmost importance. But it is very strange that, the living have no conscious knowledge of the importance of this news.