Page 28 - NAMAH-Apr-2024

Namah Vol. 32, Issue 1, 24th April 2024

Desire and fear are understandable causes of
distortions in our perceptions. Desire, instead
of focusing on what it is trying to manifest,
overly focuses on self-centred wants. Fear
makes one imagine the worst that can happen,
rather than focusing on the best possibility
and giving that energy and attention.

But hope — how does that cloud a mortal’s
Privilege of Pain
perception and cause unnecessary suffering?
The inclusion of hope adds a nuanced layer.
The title of this paper, ‘Privilege of Pain’ Here, hope is a powerless hope where one
comes from lines that occur at the very end simply wishes for the circumstance to change,
of the Canto:
because one does not like it, one is afraid of it,
one perceives it not as an opportunity to grow,
“Heaven’s wiser love rejects the mortal’s prayer; a challenge to be surmounted, but a challenge
Unblinded by the breath of his desire, to be avoided. It reflects an aspiration for a
Unclouded by the mists of fear and hope, painless progression, avoiding the necessary
It bends above the strife of love with death; rupture and transformation inherent in
It keeps for her her privilege of pain.” pp. 456-57
evolution. Thus, human hope too creates
suffering.
The poignant lines press upon how, “Heaven’s
wiser love rejects mortal prayers” and asks the Strife of Love with Death: Mother vs.
mortal heart of the queen to allow Savitri to Daughter Perspective
undertake her privilege of pain. This privilege
of pain is not given to any ordinary human “It bends above the strife of love with death….” p. 457
being, it is given to special souls, who have the
power and the possibility of walking on the A fascinating dichotomy emerges as both
stones of suffering towards a higher destiny Savitri and her mother, in their own ways,
that can transform herself and all around.
engage in a “battle of love with death.”
But what stops us from seeing and experiencing The mother’s perspective frames it as a strife
this privilege of pain?
to avoid suffering, a desire for preservation.
In contrast, Savitri envisions a battle that
Desire, Fear and Hope: The Trinity Behind challenges and transforms death, seeking a
Suffering
transcendence beyond mortality.
Here Narad mentions a trinity of emotions The mother is striving with death, Savitri
that cloud a mortal’s perception of events also strives with death. The difference is the
— desire, fear, and hope — and shape the mother does it out of fear and mortal love, full
human plea.
of attachment; Savitri challenges death out of
courage and divine love, full of self-giving.

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