There's a dawn for every night

Bodhisattva’s path to enlightenment is said to be one railway track thousands of miles long: the railway track is always the same, with no beginning or end, no starting point or goal, nothing to attain, just to run on the track and do with sincerity what the moment requires us to do.

Netflix recently launched a limited series called The Railway Men. The pathos of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy is captured poignantly yet obdurately in the four episodes.

What, however, grips our hearts in the tragic drama is the relentless efforts put in by the railway men, who, in the face of the abject danger and disaster, decide to do what their path requires them to do. The series underlines the fact that the railway men were not just governed by an adrenaline rush but by carefully mediated processes that helped in mitigating the number of casualties.

Even when the environment was punishing, these men fought against the ravages of time and fate to help men and women pull through the cataclysmic night. They gave very little thought to their own survival and were rather fixated on doing what was required of them in the tumultuous moment. They followed their path without stopping to consider where it would take them. It comes as no surprise that most of these men survived the lethal gas leak, as they were not weakened or distracted by self-seeking goals.

The Bhagavad Gita reinforces this notion: Karma without attachment to fruits leads to the attainment of Supreme Reality.

Our preoccupation with ourselves and the journey we undertake often undermines our own potential. Coming back to the Bodhisattva’s path to enlightenment, we need to walk the path that we are committed to and duty-bound to. It is simply by following and not ruminating on the path that we will realise our purpose in life. Following the path sincerely makes responsibility a blessing rather than a burden.

The sights we see on the train will change, but the tracks will remain the same. There is no point in getting worried or curious about the tract; someone will take care of it. Someone has always taken care of it. All we have to do is follow the path with honesty, and even the most turbulent night will find a dawn.