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to run around. At these times, mother nature only facilitates the activity that can be done in relaxation. This is such a wonderful act of the routine of the time cycle. To describe old age in saint Narsinh Mehta's words : "The door-post of the house appears to be as tall as the mountain, and the outskirts of the village appear as distant as a foreign country".
You have to change the gear to reduce the speed of the car, rotate the regulator to reduce the speed of the fan or to decrease the heat of the gas- burner. But human body is amazing. When the time comes to reduce the intensity of the senses, it reduces automatically with the old age. The teeth also try to convey this message before falling off: "now give up the cravings of eating and chewing". But man, a slave of indulgences, instead of accepting this signal gracefully, dips the khakhra, (the roasted roti), in tea and makes it chewable. Then, man is not chewing the khakhra, the demoness called lover of sensual pleasures is chewing the man. Saint turned King Bhartruhari correctly said : भोगा न भुक्ता वयमेव भुक्ताः we are not consuming the pleasures of life, but the pleasures of life consume us.
Old age is not a phase of physical rest, but one of withdrawing from indulgence in pleasures. Nature is giving that indication by slowing down the limbs and diminishing the power of the senses. When the vision blurs, instead of considering that as a signal for turning his vision inwards (towards his soul), he continues to stress his eyes to read the worthless newspapers and watch the useless television. It is as if his eyes are now embedded in the newspapers and television.
MIND YOUR mind : 17
