Mental strength in Old age

(adapted from a lecture of Swami Paramarthananda)

Lord Krishna says in Gita (2-27): “Jaatasya hi dhruvo mrityur dhruvam janma mritasya cha; (Death is certain for the born and certain is birth for the dead;). Same way old age also is certain for the young when they live long. This Swami Paramarthananda calls “getting banished to the forest of old age from ruling the kingdom of youth”, drawing an analogy from Swami Chinmayananda’s story that runs as follows.  There was a kingdom in which anybody can become the king but that person can rule for only five years. At the end of the period he will be banished to a forest across the deep river, infested with the crocodiles.  The forest also was inhabited by wild animals only with no human inhabitants. So after enjoying kingly comforts for five years they will have to suffer in the forest with fear and die miserably.  So anyone who became a king started crying when the time came to go to the forest and he has to be dragged into the boat and out of it on the other shore as he kept begging the boat-man to spare him and save him. But there was a person who laid down the kingship and left the kingdom cheerfully at the end of five years, got into the boat voluntarily and got down on the other side with a smile and a wave to the boat-man. The surprised boat-man asked the person how he could be happy and cheerful while every other person he had taken to the forest had been sad and miserable.  The newly banished king replied that during the five years of rule he had attended to carving out a kingdom in the forest establishing townships and settling people there and this kingdom he will be ruling now on and so doesn’t feel gloomy or despondent.  The story is told to illustrate the point that as one enjoys “Yauvana Samrajayam” (kingdom of youth) one must also prepare for the “Vardhakya Vanam” (forest of old age) of the future.

In youth one is at the peak of one’s physical and mental health, as body is free of infirmity and healthy, senility is distant, faculties have not lost their vigour, enjoying company of friends, basking in the attention of family members and having a growing income.  So he is said to be ruling the yauvana samrajyam.  In old age physical powers and mental faculties are on the decline, with a tottering body, and a fading memory. The earning capacity is gone and the friend circle and attention of the family members also vanishes.  So old age is called vardhika vanam, the degenerative diseases being the wild animals inhabiting this forest of old age.  One does not know which wild animal will attack which limb; and, whether one will survive the attack or not!   Getting old and getting into this situation is inevitable and choiceless as old age advances.  Physical deterioration in old age can only be slowed down but not prevented and this affects the mind also.  With increasing incapacity and isolation in old age, dejection, depression and despair sets in making one lose confidence and courage to face life.  Just like the king in the story making preparation for the life in the forest, one can take steps from the hey-day of youth to keep the mental battery charged and continue to charge it in old age so that it does not run out in the old age nor its functions impaired. For keeping the mental battery charged Swamiji names Bhagawan as the power bank and prayer as the charger.

Bhagawan is defined as “bhagaḥ asya asti iti bhagawan”, the one who has got bhaga and bhaga is the six qualities defined in Vishnu purana as:

aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasaḥ sriyaḥ I

 jnana-vairagyayoscaiva ṣhaṇṇaṃ bhaga itiraṇa II

Overlordship, courage, fame, wealth, knowledge, detachment, these six qualities together constitute bhaga.

Bhagawan is also defined as ‘Ananthaha’, the infinite one. So Bhagawan is one who has got in infinite measure all the six qualities of overlordship, courage, fame, wealth, knowledge and detachment.  Every day in the morning one must have one’s mental batteries recharged by connecting to this limitless power-bank through prayer.  The prayer can be kayika, physical puja; vachika, verbal puja like recitation; or manasa, mental chanting.  Among these the best prayer is Japa, mantra aavritti as Lord Krishna has stated in Gita (10-25) “Yajnayanam Japa yajno’smi”.  Japa has an added advantage that you can do the chanting in any choiceless situations anywhere, including a traffic jam. One can chant a Mantra on one’s Ishta Devata or as Swamiji suggests, the Mantra “Om namo bhagavathe Ananthaya” that appeals to His limitless aspect, making the sankalpa “I want the mind to face choiceless situations calmly with confidence”.  The chant can be 108 times or more and it should be done with sincerity and shraddha, On the degree of shraddha depends the quantum of energy derived. Starting on this practice from a young age one is well prepared mentally to face the physical problems of old age with courage, confidence, calmness and cheerfulness. But one should not stop with Iswara sraddah, but should proceed to acquire Iswara Jnanam, if possible, because Jnanam based shraddha cannot be shaken either by repeat of adverse situations or scientific challenge to Bhagawan’s existence itself.

Iswara jnanam as per Vedanta is embedded in the profound mindboggling equation laid down in the Maha vakhya given by the Upanishads.  It is Bhagawan = bhaktha i.e. Bhagawan, whom a bhaktha  has been worshiping all the time with bhakthi is equal to bhaktha, as Athma . The mantra ‘soham’ also exemplifies this as soham stands for sah aham, sah standing for Bhagawan.  There is no difference between Bhagawan, the creator of the universe and bhaktha, the experiencor of the universe at the Athma level. But acquiring this Jnanam and making it one’s own is a big project requiring one to undergo the process of sravanam, mananam and nididyasanam.  If this profound equation is understood, then three problems are simultaneously solved.

1)    All misconceptions regarding Bhagawan, GOD, will go away

2)    All misconceptions regarding bhaktha, that is self-misconceptions also will go

3)    All the misconceptions and doubts regarding the existence of GOD also will go away

So when you have the Jnanam, you realize you yourself are the powerhouse and derive the mental strength to face the physical problems of old age with the auto suggestion and assertion every morning and night “ I have the mental strength to bear with my old age problems”  So either through Iswara shraddha or through Iswara Jnanam; either from Bhagawan or one’s Self; one must start charging one’s mental battery every morning and prepare for one’s old age with the sankalpa “ I have the capacity and mental strength to face all choiceless situations with confidence, calmness and cheerfulness” and  also behave unruffled in choiceless situations as if he is not affected by the adverse course of events.  It is better if one starts connecting with Bhagawan early but no age is too late as well.

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