By Dr AK Srivastava
“The sole purpose of life is to save humanity.” – Leo Tolstoy
God has created numerous creatures, but human beings are unique in the sense that they have the mind to take decisions and distinguish between good and bad. Human beings are blessed with qualities like kindness, positivity and compassion. Humanity means a positive and affirmative outlook towards fellow human beings, animals and the entire planet on which we live. It means saving our environment and the world from negativity. Every human being has several qualities like tolerance, honesty, politeness, sincerity, courage, wisdom and thoughtfulness in different ratios or degrees. But no human being is perfect. These virtues distinguish human beings from other creations of God.
The history of human beings is full of illustrations of both positive and negative acts. But we always admire and appreciate the examples of Gautam Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Guru Nanak, Kabir and others who have contributed to the progress of humanity. The purpose of human life is to be humane and to protect fellow human beings from different types of natural and man-made calamities.
“Love, hope, fear, faith – these make humanity; these are its signs and notes and character.” – Robert Browning
Human beings follow various religions like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Judaism. But all religions guide us on the path of truth and righteousness. We are always taught to be sensitive and compassionate to one another. The purpose of all religions is to make followers understand the service of humanity. Numerous saints and noble persons have guided us to celebrate human life by being kind and helpful to others. In the Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that He has told him the right path and now it is his (Arjuna’s) duty to follow that path ignoring all worldly attractions.
Humanity has always faced various social, political and economic atrocities. But numerous organisations, visionary leaders and saints have always strived to save fellow human beings from such negativity. The sole purpose of their lives has been to save humanity and to contribute to future generations. A visionary knows that the world belongs to humanity not to kings, queens, politicians and religious leaders.
Right from the inception of human civilisation, there has been a strong urge to make the life of the coming generation more comfortable, and full of worldly wisdom. Hence, people have been striving to invent new items for the benefit of humanity which is an unending chain of continuity. Thousands of scientists and scholars have sacrificed their lives in the interest of humanity. If we start counting, many appliances which we use in our daily life were not available to the previous generations. Similarly, we have achieved remarkable excellence in all walks of life right from the medical field to music. All this has been possible through the endless efforts of our predecessors. Scholars, thinkers and authors have generated a huge amount of literature to guide humanity. The values established by previous generations guide us on the path of glory and righteousness.
God has blessed human beings with the quality of tolerance. This quality has always been instrumental in making human lives full of empathy and compassion. In modern times, the world is facing many contradictions in the name of religions, ethnic groups, languages and racial discrimination. It is the inbuilt quality of tolerance in human beings that is a uniting force. Education and awareness make people more and more tolerant and develops a better sense of understanding. The basic nature and traits of humanity are the same and will continue to glorify humanity.
In the last few years, we have seen different shades of humanity in the time of Corona Virus. People went out of their way to help others. Doctors and other health workers toiled day and night to save the lives of millions of people. Our country that celebrates the principle of “Vasudavkutumbakam” sent medicines and vaccines to many nations. We established the fact that the spirit and music of humanity are the same in the universe.
It is true that humanity is sometimes embarrassed by the deeds of some greedy, self-centred and narrow-minded people or leaders. This encourages terrorism, wars and international crises. But such people are limited and sooner or later they are cornered or defeated. Wisdom lies in curtailing their support system in the larger interest of humanity. Humanity is a large ocean of clean and transparent water celebrating peace and tranquillity. It cannot be polluted by a handful of drops of poison.
We have enjoyed the resources and pleasures of our planet. Now we are venturing to claim other planets. Expeditions and scientific exploits are guiding the spirit of humanity to a fascinating destination. Let us ignore the shameful clutches of religious, linguistic and ethnic boundaries and celebrate the ever-increasing glory of humanity.
“We must find what best fosters the flowering of our humanity in this contemporary life and dedicate ourselves to that.” – Joseph Campbell
(Dr AK Srivastava is Principal, DAV Inter College, Dehradun)
