By Col Sudhir Rana (Retd)
In the Mahabharat epic, Yaksha (celestial being) asked wise Yudhishthir multiple questions related to life, death and spirituality. One profound question was, “What is the greatest wonder in the world?” Yudhishthir replied, “Seeing living beings die every single day, yet believing that one will live forever.”
If someone asks a question, “Who among you would like to live forever?”, I am certain that a vast majority of us would opt for immortality. The desire for immortality is almost universal in the human race. This concept of immortality, i.e., indefinite continuation of life/ consciousness beyond natural death is deeply rooted in religion, philosophy and mythology. While man is aware of what happens after his birth up to his demise, his journey before and after, however remains shrouded in mystery. This mystery and perhaps his sense of self preservation, makes him afraid of his final act, i.e., death.
It is in human nature to conquer obstacles and explore new frontiers. This takes man on several quests like climbing the highest mountain, or dive into the sea or fly in the sky. But so far he has been unable to peek into the afterlife. This curiosity to know what happens after death, makes him want to conquer this final frontier too. This fear of the unknown journey and instinct of self-preservation, makes him afraid of death and he wants to overcome it and become immortal.
If we see around us, animals like elephants and box turtles live up to 100-150 years and bowhead whales and red sea urchins up to 200 years. Greenland sharks live up to 270 years and glass sponge can live up to thousands of years. On top of the list is immortal jelly fish (Turritopsis dohrnii) who is practically immortal. Some species therefore possess “biological immortality”. If one looks into the plant kingdom several trees live for even a thousand years.
If you look through the pure scientific lens, there are three main causes of death: natural aging, disease, and injury. The current causes of aging in humans are cell loss (without replacement), DNA damage, oncogenic nuclear mutations, cell senescence, mitochondrial mutations, lysosomal aggregates, extracellular aggregates, random extracellular cross-linking, immune system decline, and endocrine changes. Eliminating aging would require finding a solution to each of these causes. Some scientists, futurists and philosophers have suggested that human immortality may be achievable in the first few decades of the 21st century with the help of certain speculative technologies such as mind uploading (digital immortality).
Finally, there is “legacy immortality” where one can leave one’s footprints on the human history, through one’s deeds, e.g., legacy of great people like Ram, Christ or Gautam Buddha. They secured a form of enduring memory and influence that outlasts their biological body.
“I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.” — Woody Allen
Coming to religious and mythological aspect of the immortality puzzle, almost all mythologies of the world have dealt with it, in their own way. Immortality, in such texts, generally takes the form of an immortal soul, an afterlife, or the bodily resurrection of the dead. Across varying mythologies, it is achieved through devices like the elixir of life, the fountain of youth and by act of deification. Mythological literature of the world is full of immortals beings, who attained immortality due to divinity, or are bestowed immortality by God or by divine blood or consumption of nectar, ambrosia or water from magical fountains. In Indian mythology, 8 Chiranjeevis (humans living forever) are described as Hanuman, Parashurama, Vibhishan and Ashwatthama, etc. The Trinity like Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh are immortals, while gods like Indra, Agni, Vayu, and even demons like Rahu and Ketu became immortals after consuming Amrit (nectar). Most of these immortals have a purpose, i.e., Hanuman lives as long as Rama is remembered by people and Ashwatthama is condemned to live in disgrace and pain forever. Greek mythology also describes immortals in various categories like primordials and titans, etc. Some humans like Hercules have been granted immortality. Among Mesopotamians, there was a conviction that gods may be physically immortal, and that this is also a state that the gods at times offer humans. In Christianity, there is the conviction that God may offer physical immortality with the resurrection of the flesh at the end of time.
Immortality in all shades has been described in modern literature and cinema too. Worst consequences of a hedonistic life and immortality were discussed by Oscar Wilde in his famous work “The picture of Dorian Grey”. Movies like “Tuck Everlasting” and “Bicentennial Man” in recent times handled the theme of immortality.
So we come to a point where we have to question the concept of immortality. Is it a boon or a curse? This question lies in the domain of psychology and philosophy.
“Would you accept time stopping just for you? If you do, you will be making a big ethical mistake because you will live forever, but your loved ones will disappear as time progresses!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan
On the plus side, immortality give you time to learn and gain knowledge of all you desire, it gives you freedom to go on timeless voyages to distant worlds and galaxies without bothering about paucity of time. You could master every skill, read every book, learn every language, and travel the universe without the pressure of a ticking clock. It might give you power to see history at first hand. It gives you time to research something for a long time without constraint. Do you believe that overcoming biological limits is the ultimate goal of human evolution?
Imagine a life where one becomes immortal in a world full of mortals. That person will see his near and dear ones die. Watching friends, family, and every generation you know grow old and die can lead to profound, accumulating grief.
“That is the curse of immortality: to watch the world change, to see everything you know wither.” — Michael Scott
He will see the end of cultures, religions and social norms he was familiar with. In absence of death, he will suffer from loneliness and existential boredom. It is the temporariness of life which gives a life some choices and a meaning. Will you prefer ageing without death? If the world ends or humanity evolves into something unrecognizable, you might be left entirely alone. Even if you are given eternal youth with immortality, will you not be fed up with monotony of life after a while and seek an end of it? Without a finite timeline, life’s experiences and pleasures might eventually lose their novelty and excitement, leading to monotony. There is a story of King Yayati who got everlasting youth to indulge in worldly pleasures, but finally renounced the boon and chose mortality on his own free will. Would you like to be immortal like Ashwatthama who is cursed to live forever in pain and humiliation and he cannot find escape in arms of mortality?
“Immortality is your curse, Ashwatthama. Death will be your only desire, but it will never come.” — Krishna
So friends, given a choice, what will you choose – immortality or limited time on this blue marble?
