Light acts as the sine qua non for getting rid of darkness. The pangs of darkness that engulf us are not able to deter our spirits, as long there is light to counter them. In a world moving ahead at breakneck speed, with little care for the meek, the adage, “DARKNESS CAN NOT DRIVE OUT DARKNESS” is a healthy reminder that only light has the potential to drive away darkness. When faced with difficulty, we have a profound belief that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as a ray of light enters a dark room, it provides hope that difficulties can be overcome. It acts as a ray of hope which conveys that everything is transitory in the world. The eye of heaven shines so brightly that the clouds of thunder have to shy away.
There used to be a time when people were engulfed by the pangs of hunger, ignorance, apathy, illiteracy, and poverty. The darkness caused by ignorance, apathy, illiteracy, and poverty could be dealt with, only by lighting the lamp of hope and taking the right actions in the right direction. At the time, when students’ turnout in schools was low, the government had to adopt suitable legislation to deal with the problem at hand. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme has been instrumental in improving the level of turnout and augmenting the level of education. It has led to significant betterment of health too. Do you think all this would have been possible, had we not taken any action and allowed darkness to prevail?
An unemployed youth who is unable to make ends meet cannot improve his condition until he works hard to achieve more. A hungry beggar cannot fill his stomach until he does some work. People belonging to the downtrodden sections of the society cannot ameliorate their condition until they get access to good education and get incorporated into the mainstream of the society. To get rid of the dark night, even Earth has to rotate so that it can experience life, vigour, and vitality. Mankind must take inspiration from nature. If the forces of nature leave no stone unturned to make life better for the denizens of the Earth, then can’t we as individuals take hold of our lives and make an effort to make things better? Human beings have better brain development than other living organisms. This provides food for thought and introspection. We have language which acts as the vehicle of communication. Bipedalism has enabled human beings to use their hands for other chores. In short, out of all the organisms living on the Earth, human beings are the most privileged ones. Hence, if they are resilient, they can surely drive out the darkness that surrounds them.
During the time of Colonial Rule, it was believed that the sun of British Rule never sets in. The relentless efforts of the freedom fighters helped us in becoming the masters of our destiny. Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Salt Satyagraha’ provides one such example. In every Indian household, salt is an indispensable ingredient. The Salt Satyagraha was initiated as an attempt to get the infamous salt laws repelled. When he started the satyagraha, the Time Magazine mocked him by saying, “The man with a spindly frame and spiderly loins who would probably sink after two days of walking.” But in the end, the satyagraha was extensively praised by the European and American Press. The spell cast by darkness did not affect him. He turned a deaf ear to what they said and put his best foot forward to get the demands addressed. Today, with our heads held high, we bask in the sunshine of our independence. We have been able to set our feet on the international pedestal and made the world recognize our potential. From time immemorial, human civilization has been subjected to a plethora of evil forces, which have tried to weaken our spirits at some time or the other. History provides conclusive evidence that, whether the Nazi occupation of Germany, the Colonial Rule in different parts of the world, or Alexander’s dream to rule the world, indomitable will and persuasion have always helped us fight the evil.
When India became independent, conducting elections through Universal Adult Suffrage was a mammoth task. The first Election Commissioner, Sukumar Sen faced a lot of flak for not efficiently conducting the elections. Most of the citizens were illiterate and it wasn’t an easy task to create the electoral roll for such a huge population. When the whole world was mocking us, we made it a point to not let the clouds of ignorance prevail. The elections were held with Universal Adult Suffrage; and today, we have become the largest democracy in the world.
When light ascends, darkness descends. In the quest to deal with the global pandemic, our scientists had been diligently working to develop a vaccine that could combat the disease. As a result, we were able to create a vaccine and not only used it to save the lives of our citizens but also exported it to other countries in an attempt to help the global community. All these examples bear testimony to the fact that darkness in itself cannot drive away darkness. If this had been the case, we would still have been under Colonial Rule. Had it not been the zest to break through the vicissitude, we would not have been able to reach the pinnacle of success that we have been able to. Darkness breeds more ignorance, instability, and apathy. The hope that gets ignited in face of problems helps us to drive away the obstacles that hinder our path. Just like good kills evil, love kills hatred, peace kills disharmony, LIGHT, KILLS DARKNESS.
Just like every coin has two faces, the approach toward darkness is also two-fold. When faced with difficulty, people give two types of responses- Fight or Flight. If they are resilient, determined, and dedicated, they tend to deal with the problem by putting in their heart and soul. In this case, they give a fight response. A fight response to darkness restricts its continuation and paves way for light to make its appearance. Darkness ceases to exist and there is happiness all around. If a flight response is given to the problem, the person shies away from the situation. He tends to avoid the problem without taking relevant action to deal with it. We can take inspiration from the incident related to the invention of the Electric Bulb. Edison kept on striving hard until he was able to succeed. He failed 1200 times but every time he failed, he learned something new. He often said that he did not fail 1200 times, but the Electric Bulb was an invention that involved 1200 steps.
An ailing person can never get better if he does not consult a doctor to cure his ailment. If darkness was able to drive out darkness, people would have never approached doctors for the treatment of disease. If darkness in the form of disease was able to cure itself, there would have been no need for doctors. A student not performing well in academics would have never toiled hard to score more, had his performance been automatically improved. Problems abound in every nook and corner of the world. If darkness starts providing the means to an end, people will tend to become lazy and feel less responsible for their duties and responsibilities. We, as human beings, do get frustrated when confronted with problems, but adopting such an approach does more harm than good. Adopting such behavior might provide short-term benefits, but in the long term, it might be detrimental to our existence. We will start thinking that our problems will automatically find a solution. Practically, this is impossible. Such an attitude will impact us both physically and mentally.
We can get rid of darkness only when we are fearless. Freedom from fear paves way for freedom from darkness. Fearlessness heads the list of divine attributes enumerated in the sixteenth chapter of the Bhagwad Geeta. When we are fearless, no one has the power to let us down. Fearlessness doesn’t require the use of carnal weapons for our protection. Fearlessness connotes freedom from all kinds of darkness- the darkness of fear, of disease, of dispossession, of losing reputation, of bodily injury and death, of losing one’s nearest and dearest, and so on. One can always drive away the clouds of darkness by determined and constant endeavour and by cultivating self-confidence. Darkness is conquered as and when we give up all the external fears. We must fear internal foes. Internal foes include anger, depression, stress, animal passions, anxiety, etc. Once we conquer these traitors within the camp, external fears cease of their own accord. Darkness revolves around the body as the center. Darkness would certainly disappear as soon as we have shaken off the attachment to wealth, family, and the body.