Do you want to leave your legacy?

Historical Monument of Kalinga at Dhauli.

The ferocious Emperor Asoka was moved by

the crimson hue of the river water nearby.

Only then did the realisation of his tyranny

came fore. He became a pacifist, a Buddhist

and built stupas and pillars to remind

himself and his subjects on the value of life.

They keep telling me that I am insignificant; that I am inconspicuous to the grander scheme of things around; that I am just passing through. My existence in time is less than a millimicrosecondth of the 13.8 billion years since the time Big Bang happened. They ask me to be humble, to bow to the forces of Nature and to remember that I am weak; all just flesh, blood and bone. I am so brittle, organic and living on borrowed time. At the bat of an eyelid, I may be down and out. I remain but just dust, a part of the galaxy. I am told to invoke the blessings of the celestial bodies that govern our every move and not to incur their wrath.

This message of humility is apparently applicable only to some. It is shoved down the throats of lesser beings who are powerless and have to forever live on the goodwill of the crumbs from the mighty, the courageous and the wealthy. Social and moral mores are not applicable to them. They can act without impunity till death do them apart, or the Agent Intellect shine the ray of wisdom on them.

When their Consciousness becomes more manifest, they will insist that they are reformed and be given a new slate and a new lease on life. With their unholy earning, they would kosher it with mammoth structures to remind mortals that they are nothing. They would be anything but humble.

But then these megalomaniacs are the ones that history remembers. The average Joe whose existence follows the actual path of moderation as preached by the elders hardly matters to the more important direction of the human civilisation. Their lives are quickly forgotten.

My assertion is that rules only apply to the weak. The valiant segment of the population is exempt from the common rules and regulations. Well, some people are more equal than others. Some leave a legacy behind, others not even their carbon print or footprint.

Buddha statue Dhauli, Odisha