Passage 6

In English

The main mission of man is the march towards Unity

People celebrate the birth of a child; they are happy when the child grows tall and strong. But, the fittest event for such celebration is when the child justifies its birth, by achieving good fame as a benefactor of man or a servant of manking. Emperor had hundred sons! He must have celebrated their birthdays, too. But, no one of them did any one good; they were all arrogant, greedy and full of spite. Therefore, they accomplished only the extinction of the entire dynasty and all who were attached to it! Sons and daughters are now keen to share the properties of their parents and spend their portion as quickly as possible. They do not care for the much more precious wealth of experience that their forefathers have earned for their sake. They waste their years in fallow efforts so much that even their health is destroyed; children wear glasses when barely ten; they dye their hair when barely fourteen; they age fast and show signs of senility when barely sixteen! To praise the habits that people adopt today as 'modern,' or 'conducive to progress' is ridiculous to say the least. As the ancients emphasised, food habits and recreation habits have to become Sathwik (conducive to health of body and mind), that is to say, such as cannot arouse and feed the passions of man, or make him dull and stupid, idle and listless. Above all, everyone must realise, (and guide himself accordingly), that the main mission of man here below is the march towards the ideal of Unity and Peace.