The Reality of the World

The 13th November 1983 issue of the Hindustan Times carried a report about 35 year-old Mr. R.N. Pandey, who was an officer in the Indian Army. On 12th November 1983, he boarded the Jammu Tawi Express. When the train left the station, he suddenly realized that he was sitting in the wrong train. He should have actually boarded the Utkal Express instead. And so, he opened the door of the train and jumped out. The train was moving fast, and Mr. Pandey fell under its wheels and died on the spot.

This incident depicts the reality of man’s utter powerlessness. He makes a train. He sits in it, and it takes him to his destination. But man is so utterly weak when compared to the train that he has made that if he comes under its wheels, he cannot save himself from their deadly effect.

A rich man lives in a mansion, which he thinks symbolizes his prosperity. He owns a factory, the source of his income. His innumerable friends are, he thinks, proof of his influence and popularity. These are things that are conventionally thought of as a measure of a man’s worldly success. But if all these things are brought together and thrown on a man’s head, he is bound to be completely crushed under their weight.

This is what the reality of worldly progress actually is. All the progress of this world appears as such as long as it retains its deceptive form. But as soon as it appears as it really is, it becomes simply a heap that causes destruction. In terms of its final consequences, this progress can certainly become the cause for someone’s ruin, not for his true success.

True joy is that which is enjoyed in Heaven, not the deceptive delights of this world. The mistake man makes is to want to obtain in this world itself that which can be had only in Heaven. And because of this, he remains deprived of this, both in this world and in the next.