The word Love is the most misunderstood and abused word in society! The nobility and idealism of the word is completely lost in the way it is used by many! It has become a commonplace word and degenerated in its meaning! People forget that love includes sacrifice and there cannot be love without sacrifice! How can you become an immortal? It is through sacrifice alone says the Upanishad.This sacrifice cannot happen without absolute and pure love! “ Na karmana na prajaya na dhanena tyage naikena amrutatwa manasuhu”. It is very difficult to define love. It can be called as total dedication to a God, a person, an object, or a subject of study or an ideal.
“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul, that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.” It is rare to find such type of love in modern world that is steeped in materialism and a terrible rat race for money! Love has been commercialized! People love money more than anything else! It was Shakespeare who said “Beauty provoketh thieves more than gold”. But it is not true today! People marry for the sake of money! “Love thy neighbor as thyself” says the Bible! But how many do so? There is more hate and jealousy than love! ‘He has a beautiful home and wife, a car, and kids! I don't have them. How can I pull him down?” Thoughts like this shall always be affecting you and you cannot have peace of mind! “ Love all, Serve all” declares Sri Satya Sai Baba. But is it possible to practice that ideal! We are so selfish that we love ourselves only and don't think of others and their problems! We have become self serving machines and in whatever we are involved, seek maximum benefit for ourselves at the cost of others! The multiplicity of scams, bribery, and corruption cases against politicians and business magnates testify to this fact.
Love is of different kinds. The father loves the mother. Both of them love their children! But the love of the father for the mother is different from the love they extend to the children. Parental love for children is called filial love! Their love is pure and unsullied. The mother, especially, almost dies to deliver the child and suffers excruciating pain in the process. Sometimes she loses her precious life in doing so! She is the noblest example of Platonic love in the world! No wonder, the Vedas have given the pride of place to the mother and proclaimed, “ Matru Devo Bhava”. Secondary importance is allotted to the father and the next to the teacher! Maternal love is unique and can never be repaid by the children. There is an expansion of love from being selfish to the well being of children and their prosperity! This expansion should lead to the love of society and the nation in which it finds its fulfilment! We come across fraternal love among brothers and an enlargement of it is to consider all as brothers and sisters! But unfortunately people do not think on those lines today. Religion, race, community, nationality and language have become stumbling blocks to the progress of mankind.
Love is different from infatuation. “ Whoever loved that loved not at first sight” said Shakespeare. Obsession for a girl at first sight cannot be called love. It requires proper understanding and building up familiarity. Without this first step it dies soon. “Marry in haste and repent at leisure” is a well known adage! Many marriages fail because of lack of understanding. In some cases it is the dominance of either of the partner. Ego is another cause for the ruin of marriages! Today love has degenerated to lust! Modern youth equate love to lust. They are more interested in the physical satisfaction of the senses! Love has its price! We are aghast at the horrible barbaric gang rape of Nirbhaya recently! Incidents of rape, and abduction are continuing unabated in society because of lust! Murders, throwing of acids on young women and other atrocities are committed by misguided youth jilted by girls! Love has severely suffered in the hands of modern youth!
Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own! Can we ever think about this attitude today? Charles Dickens the famous novelist in his novel “ A Tale of Two Cities” describes the ideal Platonic love between Sydney Carton and his lady love Lucy. Lucy marries a different person, Charles Darnay, as Sydney carton was a little late in proposing to her! But Carton loved her nevertheless! Charles Darnay was put in jail and about to be guillotined! Feeling sorry for her plight, Carton comes to France, and releases Charles Darnay! Both Darnay and Carton looked alike and Carton puts on the dress of Darnay and manages to send him out of the prison. The prison authorities mistake Sydney Carton for Charles Darnay and execute him!! For the sake of his true love and to see his Lucy happy always with her husband, Sydney Carton sacrifices his precious life! This is supreme sacrifice because there cannot be anything better than one’s sweet life! Let us realize what real, true love is and be prepared for any sacrifice to prove our Love!
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