Excerpts from the epic

"When Brahma created living beings, he was filled with anxiety. 'These lives will multiply and soon their number will be beyond the capacity of the earth to bear. There seems to be no way of coping with this.' This thought of Brahma grew into a flame which became bigger and bigger until it threatened to destroy all creation at once.

Then Rudra came and pleaded for allaying this destructive fire. Brahma controlled the great fire and subdued it into the law that is known to mortals as Death. This law of the creator takes many forms, such as war or sickness or accident and keeps the balance between birth and death.

Death is thus an inescapable law of existence, ordained for the good of the world. It is not true wisdom to be impatient with Death or to grieve immoderately for those who die. There is no reason to pity those who pass away. We may have reason indeed to grieve for those who remain."

Footnotes:

I have presently completed reading the Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari and thought it apt to present this excerpt which moved me beyond anything that I have ever felt, known and heard! I feel unnecessary, and also grossly unqualified, to explain this simplest of truths any more than what has already been so wonderfully illustrated in this marvelous epic.

However, I have come to realize how true these words are, along with those others spoken at length, especially in the context of our lives in the present day!