Virtues of Solitude

Gregarious by nature, human beings need company to talk to, to intermingle and interact with one another. To be alone is, therefore, perceived as a curse, and so, solitary confinement is considered appropriate punishment for grave offenders of law. In colonial India, solitary prison cells of the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands were reserved for freedom fighters (‘traitors’). But the narrow, lonely cells failed to daunt their spirited inmates. On the contrary, the stunning isolation led prisoners to attain true realisation, strengthening them with vigour; they embraced death with a smile when condemned to the gallows. The body is like a piece of attire that with death is shed as worn-out garments. Likewise, the embodied soul casts off worn-out bodies and enters into other, new ones. Nothing that you gain or earn is eternal; and nothing is in your control. When revealing His Vishwaroop (world vision) on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Krishna told Arjuna that he should not be depressed and sad at having to wage war with his kith and kin because their death had been destined to happen with Arjuna being a mere instrument. There is a Supreme guiding force to whom you should surrender — lay your acts and deeds at the lotus feet of this Supreme Guide and be duty-bound without expecting reward or result. The Bhagavad Gita says, “A stable mind is one which remains unperturbed amid joys and sorrows, is free from passion, fear and anger and is unattached to worldly pleasures.”

Source: Economic Times, 14/02/2019