SACRIFICE & LOVE

After learning The Mahabharata the other day, I was looking for the answer to Dr Edwin’s question; what is the difference between sacrifice and love? I think it would be easier to talk about love first. So, here it is.

I spent my night looking at a poster of the theater “Passion” directed by Joe Hasham which shows a picture of a man and a woman, both of them eyes closed probably lost in the land of lust and of course, passion. I asked myself, is this love? I never knew what love means, romantic love that is, until I was 21. That is when I was first defeated by the power of love. Although I do think that love nowadays is really, really over-rated, but still I hope there is love out there that requires sacrifice. To me, I think that loving someone is not necessarily means to have someone. Loving someone is when you are happy when he is happy, and you are contented when he gets what he wants. Sounds stupid? I think so too, because as human beings, I think it is quite impossible to be that selfless.

As for me, love and sacrifice intertwined. When you love someone, you are willing to give and do everything for him. You put his needs and desires above yourself. His happiness means more than your own. The number one priority in your life is not yourself but him. In a cliché kind of way, he is the last person you think of when you go to bed at night and he is the first person that you think of when you wake up in the morning. All day long, you think about him and wonder what he is doing and whether he is thinking of you too. Although sometimes this feeling and sacrifice are not mutual, but who can help it when you become that “stupid” and willing to give your all even at the expense of your own bliss?

Even though what I have written above is in the context of romantic love; but it can also be applied to Devavrata’s actions to his father, Shantanu. Devavrata obligingly assumes “a fate worse than death”, which is to be sonless in order for his father to marry Satyavati. Devavrata put his father’s happiness above himself and that I think is the best manifestation of sacrifice; when you are willing to be selfless and put the person that you love above everything else, even your own life. It takes a lot of courage to do that, especially in the world that we are living right now; where love and sacrifice has lost their meanings and values.