REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH
Not Morbid
HISTORY is a witness to some famous people’s futile attempt towards conquering death. Take the example of Louis XI (1423- 1483), the king of France, who ruled the country for a period of 23 years, from 1461 to 1483. His reign had been a long one but death was the last word that he would allow to be uttered in his presence. He did not want to die. During the last days of his life he went in seclusion in an enclosed fort where only selected people could enter. Around the fort was dug a deep trench so that no one could gain access to it.
All of the twenty-four hours, forty archers remained on duty, over and above which forty horsemen patrolled the fort night and day. Whoever was seen making any unauthorized effort to enter the fort was arrested and executed on the spot. All kinds of luxuries were provided inside the fort so that the king never became melancholic. King Louis XI was so eager to live as long as possible that he had given orders that the word ‘death’ should never be uttered before him. An expert doctor attended him day and night. This doctor drew a monthly salary of ten thousand gold crowns. In those days in Europe no military officer earned such a salary even with forty years’ experience to his credit.
Were man to remember the reality of death, his life would undergo the most sublime of transformations.
However, none of these precautions saved the king from weakness and old age. During his final days, he became so weak that he could hardly pick up his food and put it in his mouth by himself. But his will to live was indomitable. When he was told that tortoises lived for 500 years due to their possessing some life-giving properties, he despatched three ships to Germany and Italy to bring them for him in huge quantities. These tortoises were kept in a big pond near him so that they might pass on the gift of life to him.
Finally paralysis attacked him on 30th August 1483; death at last conquered him. The last words uttered by him were: “I am not as ill as you people suppose.” All his efforts went in vain. Finally the king of France had learnt that no one could conquer death.
While King Louis was an example of the one who did not want to die and was therefore constantly trying to forget and to conquer death, there are others who think about death very often. Now, in such cases the question arises, does remembering death help us in any way and does it have any benefits or will it lead people into fear and negativity?
The Guardian weekly quoted Linda Kurtz in the following words:
"Death is not the last taboo at all, but a very modern one. In this era of demystification, death becomes perverse and more mysterious, more terrible, than ever before. We need to have death back again. Its transcendence puts banalities, impotence, frustration, vanities and some kinds of love in their places. Contemplation of terminal issues is not in the least morbid, but life enhancing”.
How so are they life enhancing, we might ask? Were man to remember the reality of death, his life would undergo the most sublime of transformations. It would drive home the point with tremendous force how inane it was to oppress the poor, unfortunate individuals who crossed his path and fell into his clutches. He would realize how senseless it was to ill-treat others, how mindless it was to entertain ideas of his own greatness, for greatness which cannot endure is of no intrinsic value, how useless it was to have accumulated wealth which is of no use after death.
Not keeping the reality of death in mind makes man drift through life, an unthinking, pleasure-seeking, power-hungry, fame-loving, materially ambitious creature who enjoys making friends and accumulating riches and spending time in merry making. He revels in trivial distractions. Death comes unannounced and unbidden. In an instant he is bereft of all his worldly possessions , his friends, his loved ones, his pleasures, his riches—all that he holds dear and he is carried away to the utter solitude of the grave.
The Messenger of God said: “These hearts rust just as iron rusts" When someone asked what is the method of polishing, the Prophet replied, ”Frequent remembrance of death and recitation of the Quran."
The only condition of success is
continuous effort, that is, to make such
unflagging efforts, as are essential to
achieve the desired objectives.