It is Best to See Life as a Journey, not as a Destination

It is best to see life as a journey and not a destination. As the Panchjanya echoed across Kurukshetra, two armies stood ready for a battle which would be remembered for generations to come. Arjuna asked Krishna to place the chariot between the armies. Infront of him were standing - teachers who shaped his childhood, elders who always blessed him, cousins with whom he grew and friends cherished by him. His hands trembled, Gandiva fell.

To him victory became meaningless. He knew that his kshatriya-dharma had only one destination - win the war, this meant wiping off of all half his known ones. Krishna saw the state Arjuna was in. However, he did not speak of victory or defeat. He transformed the warrior's understanding of life itself. Krishna revealed that life was never about winning the war, success was never about acquiring a kingdom. But life was about walking one's path with wisdom, courage and detachment and following the neverending way of dharma. Long before the first arrow was released, the journey had already begun. The war belonged to an age however the journey became timeless. However, human beings are greatly and strangely inclined to live holding the compass which always points towards destination.

A child waits to be an adult, a student waits for graduation, a professional waits for promotion and retirement; in all this waiting, we are absorbed in 'being something' or arriving somewhere rather than 'becoming'. We are so obsessed with the arrival that we forget that life happens between arrival and departures and between becoming and being. Duryodhana for example was so preoccupied with acquiring Hastinapur that he forgot the path of dharma. In modern times, we see Hitler who was consumed by the goal of making Germans - the superior race, undermining the fact that mankind has a journey to follow and 'superior' race is an illusionary goal. The illusion of 'a landing place' arises due to human psychology. The mind mistakes completion for fulfillment. Completion of a target feels permanent yet it becomes an ordinary achievement soon. 'A house' becomes an address, 'a car' becomes merely a medium of mobility and qualifying a coveted examination becomes a designation. Once a goal is reached, horizon of desire broadens, what seems like final chapter becomes another page. If we turn the pages of Western philosophy, we find Aristotle distinguishing between energia and kinesis. Energia refers to activities valued for themselves. Music for instance has a destination - which is silence. However, the audience does not listen to music for destination but the journey it takes from overture to the finale. Hence, music is energia. Travelling to a music concert would be qualified under kinesis. When we see life as destination, we transform everything into kinesis - means to future ends. When we embrace life as a journey, we recognise life as energia and hence valuable in its own right. The Indian philosophy also values such thought. The Dharmashastras, Itihasas and Puranas give four principles of human life - dharma, arth, kama, and moksha. They are not ends but a continuous process. Even moksha, which is considered ultimate goal of human life is elaborated more as a process and not a destination.

Nirvana of Buddha was not a stage to be reached at but a continuous penance to keep oneself free from desires. Moreover, Bhagwad Gita emphasises - one has right over the actions rather than fruit. Krishna says - Karmanyevadhikaraste ma faleshu kadachana; he advises Arjuna to not let desire for an outcome be reason to act. The advice is of great significance in contemporary times. Success at present is seen through a myopic vision of destination obsession. The social media algorithm intensifies the reach of the results of top rankers, influencers who show off their imported vehicle or a magnificent house to million usually without incorporating struggles they faced while reaching the perceived success. Then, there are companies with their billion-dollar budget, placing their product as an end to all the problems we are currently facing. All this charade creates an illusion that the summit is more important than the climb. This thinking is referred to by the psychologists as 'arrival fallacy' - a belief that arriving at a point will cause everlasting happiness. There's a pattern to it. Destination is reached, there's a brief period of happiness, soon enough a new horizon catches the eye and a new goal is set. This pattern repeats endlessly and across generations. The reason for this is that we assume happiness as a feeling to be acquired when we cross the finish line. Conversely, happiness itself is the path, and naturally so. Nature does not work with an arrival mindset. A river for example does not stop at the sea rather resumes its journey again when it turns into rain. A tree does not stop growing after it has given fruits or has spread seeds or has shed all its leaves. Nature has much to teach humans. The Covid-19 pandemic taught us about the importance of process over result, which nature already screamed at us endlessly. All future destinations came at a halt. Be it promotions, admissions, exams, results and even the wedding plans, everything was uncertain. People with 'result oriented mindset' faced existential crisis. There was a surge in divorce cases and many of them due to domestic violence. However, those who could engage with present moments demonstrated greater psychological resilience. They deepened relationships, found happiness in beating thalis, lighting diyas, making the dalgona coffee, playing ludo with family, talking to grand parents and in all this, understanding oneself better.

The pandemic forced us to engage in things overshadowed by the obsession to reach the next terminus. It gave us a glimpse of what it is like when we value 'the process'. It is never 'the result' which transforms us, but the process, journey we take. We study not merely for a degree but because learning enables us to think critically and reason. It transforms our consciousness and in doing so makes the world a better place. As a child, Dr. BR Ambedkar was denied a seat in the classroom. He was forced to sit outside, was not allow to touch the vessel with which others used. Society had already decided the 'destination' of this boy. Most of the boys subjected to such behavior would have accepted the exclusion as 'end' of their lives, Ambedkar did not. He used exclusion as a fuel to embark a journey from school to Mumbai and then to Colombia and London. The road was long and society at every point hinted that there's no arrival. However, the pursuit of learning transformed him so much that he was entrusted with drafting the Constitution of India which in turn transformed millions of lives. Through his journey, he made 'Appo Deepo Bhavah' his guiding praxis. The same transformative potential lies at the hands of every civil servant and policy-maker. However, they both face a constant tension between measurable destinations like - GDP numbers, inflation targets, infrastructure plans, numbers to be achieved in various indexes and process values like - sustainability, social equity, and institutional integrity. 'Journey-oriented' governance and not 'outcome oriented' governance and prove beneficial to achieve the goal of sabka sath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas. One such initiative where the pursuit is prioritised is Bhutan's National Happiness Index. Bhutan evaluates its growth not in GDP but well-being of citizens, environment conservation, cultural preservation and community satisfaction. Conversely, rising student debt crisis in the US illustrates the cost beared due to 'destination mindset'. Markets, the flag-bearer of 'result-oriented thinking' created expensive degrees with little or no emphasis on critical thinking and skill development. This made it difficult to get hired. Eventually, the US firms had to depend on non-US graduates to run them. All of this has eventually led to 'sons of soil' like movement in the US in the name of Make America Great Again. Destination mindset led to geopolitical tensions and tariff wars. Destination however is never solely to be blamed or abandoned. Goals inculcate discipline, give direction to efforts and inspire perseverance. A ship without a destination is just a wandering piece of vessel, striving aimlessly towards nothing. Without a point, even the most well-intentioned effort would carry much value. Reality lies not in choosing one over the other but in holding both together. Aristotle's Golden Mean taught this to the West and Buddha's Madhyam Marg taught this to the East. Virtue lies in middle path. Destination is not an enemy of the journey rather a lighthouse while journey is what gives destination its meaning. When the eighteen-day war ended, Pandavas emerged victorious. They gained the kingdom. Yet the Mahabharata does not celebrate this as greatest achievement. The empire faded. What endured was the dialogue which transformed Arjuna. Only because the warrior prince took the journey from despair to conviction, Kurukshetra was transformed into Dharmakshetra - fight for DHARMA, which is the eternal principle holding the world.

When the eighteen-day war ended, Pandavas emerged victorious. They gained the kingdom. Yet the Mahabharata does not celebrate this as greatest achievement. The empire faded. What endured was the dialogue which transformed Arjuna. Only because the warrior prince took the journey from despair to conviction, Kurukshetra was transformed into Dharmakshetra - fight for DHARMA, which is the eternal principle holding the world.