From the Wisdom of the Puranas
Everyone fears death, but birth and death are laws of creation … It is essential for the balance of the universe. Without it, humans would dominate one another. How? Read this story…
Once, a king visited a sage who was sitting under a tree outside his kingdom. He asked, “O Swami! If there is any herb or medicine that can grant immortality, please let me know.”
The sage replied, “O King! Please cross the two mountains in front of you. There, you will find a lake. Drink its water, and you will become immortal.”
After crossing the two mountains, the king found a lake. As he was about to drink the water, he heard painful groans. Following the sound, he found a very weak man lying in pain.
When the king asked the reason, the man said, “I drank the water from the lake and became immortal. After I turned a hundred years old, my son threw me out of the house. I have been lying here for the last fifty years with no one to care for me. My son has passed away, and my grandchildren are now old. I have stopped eating and drinking, yet I am still alive.”
The king pondered, “What is the use of immortality with old age? What if I gain youth along with immortality?” He went back to the sage to find a solution and asked, “Please tell me how I can gain both immortality and youth.”
The sage replied, “After crossing the lake, you will find another mountain. Cross it, and you will find a tree filled with yellow fruits. Eat one of them, and you will gain both immortality and youth.”
The king crossed another mountain and found a tree filled with yellow fruits. As he was about to pluck and eat one, he heard loud arguments and fighting. He wondered who could be quarreling in such a remote place.
He saw four young men arguing loudly. The king asked why they were fighting. One of them said, “I am 250 years old, and the man on my right is 300 years old. He is not giving me my share of the property.”
When the king asked the man on the right, he said, “My father, who is 350 years old, is still alive and hasn’t given me my share. How can I give mine to my son?”
The man pointed to his father, who was 400 years old, and shared the same complaint. All of them told the king that their endless fight for property had driven the villagers to expel them from the village.
Shocked, the king returned to the sage and said, “Thank you for teaching me the importance of death.”
The sage then said, *”Because death exists, there is love in the world.”*
“Instead of trying to avoid death, live each day and every moment happily. Change yourself, and the world will change.”
1. When you chant the name of God while bathing, it becomes a holy bath.
2. When you chant while eating, the food becomes sacred.
3. When you chant while walking, it becomes a pilgrimage.
4. When you chant while cooking, the food becomes divine.
5. When you chant before sleeping, it becomes meditative sleep.
6. When you chant while working, it becomes devotion.
7. When you chant at home, it turns into a temple.
