Meaning and Purpose of Life

At the outset, this problem of life seems to be age-specific. At the age of eight or ten no child will ever bother about these things. Even the parents of young children have no time to think about all these things. Most of the life is spent is earning a livelihood. Entertainment, too, takes away the leisure time. Moreover, half the life is spent in sleep and recoup of energy. Now this question of meaning and purpose of life props up when a person has arrived at a certain station in life. 

  We have seen the life of some great persons who have made some name in the world. Those who have become great philosophers, scientists, engineers, or some experts in some faculty or the other, are mere a limited entity of knowledge. But,none, so far, have realized what this 'life' is since they have just lived one. Only those who looks at it while living have really understood it. Life has to be perceived as a witness, 'sakshin', and one must look at oneself and see how he/she has lived. Then only, one will get some idea how somebody else, a driving force, is working all through! This light flashes, knowledge dawns, when things go beyond ones hold, and the person feels helpless. This is the turning point in life. The situation arises, a bolt from the blue, a sudden unexpected event suddenly wakes up the complacent person. Many have experienced severe pain, irreparable loss, and experienced a strange quirk of fate and have come to the conclusion, "all that we struggle for is of no avail"This turns a philosopher to a spiritualist! Otherwise, mere philosophy is of no use. All others only exhibit a certain level of intelligence and shine for a short period of life. It is of no avail to their liberation from repeated births ad deaths. This brings us to the main issue- "What is the meaning and goal of life?" 

     The answer is given by Bhagavan Shree Krishna in the Gita. The Lord says, "The goal of life is to see Me, to reach Me, to merge in Me, to realize the fact that you and I are one and you have no separate existence from Me. I am the one who is seated in you and breathe! I am the pure Consciousness and you are the mind full of qualities such as ego, attachment,desires,ambitions, aspirations, expectations, and, a confused mind running after things which are not there"! 

   Realize the fact that you are the pure and pristine Atman, a particle of Light, Knowledge, Energy that is neither created nor ever destroyed. The suffering has come to you due to your ignorance. You have forgotten who you are. The moment a Guru reminds arrives in your life, sees you, touches you, breathes a sound or word in your ear, you remember the true nature of your self and you are redeemed! This is the gist of the Gitopadesha. Pratybhijnya hridayam of the Shaiva agama shastra gives these details.  .