Purpose of Life

Divine Life Society Publication: The March of the Universe towards Self-realisation by Sri Swami Krishnananda

The urge towards action is an indication that evolution is not yet complete because an urge towards a forward movement through action, movement, or evolution mean one and the same thing. We are not yet complete, and we are trying to achieve a higher completeness. Though we act without an understanding of what it all means, the universe drags us towards this action. But the Bhagavadgita warns us: Can you perform this obligatory action with understanding, or do you want to go on working like a slave under the orders of nature?

When we act as slaves, we are samsarins. When we act as masters knowing what we do, we are liberated. The action of the karma yogin and the action of the bound soul are outwardly the same in their nature, character and form, but the one acts without knowing, and the other acts with knowing. There is nothing wrong with action, nothing wrong with the world, nothing wrong with anything, for the matter of that, but the wrong is with the state of our mind. Stone walls do not a prison make, as the proverb says. Prison is not four walls constructed around you. The consciousness with which you are living in a particular locality will determine whether you are living in a palace or in a jail. As far as the outer form is concerned, the jail also may look like a palace, but one is called a jail and the other a palace. The consciousness differs; the liberty of the person differs. The consciousness and the liberty of action make all the difference between the action of a master and of a slave – karma yoga and bundaka karma.

The liberation of the spirit is the purpose of the cosmos. Liberation from what? Liberation from the bondage of unintelligence. Bondage is identical with ignorance. Bondage is not physical. It is not something you can physically see with your eyes. It is a state of mind, a state of consciousness. Your happiness depends on the kind of consciousness that you are entertaining in your mind, in your heart. Life is consciousness. Your unhappiness is determined by the kind of consciousness that you have, and your happiness also is conditioned by the kind of consciousness which is in you. So the purpose of the universe is to blossom this consciousness into its fullest perfection and pristine purity. The purusha should recognise himself and free himself from the bondage of objective forces which is matter. The Kauravas have to be completely overthrown and their dominion has to be extended to the Pandavas. The spirit has to rule the cosmos. This is the millennium which Christ promised perhaps, or Ramraja which we are speaking of – spirit ruling the cosmos, which means to say, knowledge ruling everything, not ignorance binding things.

The purpose of life is, therefore, the achievement of this ultimate knowledge, the unfoldment of the spark of consciousness that is within us into its deeper and deeper implications both quantitatively and qualitatively. It is for this purpose that we are struggling and fighting the Mahabharata battle. Until the ultimate purpose of this consciousness is reached, life is incomplete. You will not be satisfied with anything that is given to you until this purpose is achieved.

Excerpts from: The Purpose of Life - The March of the Universe towards Self-realisation by Sri Swami Krishnananda