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‘Give me liberty or give me death.’ This is a celebrated quote, stressing the importance of freedom to all men. Perhaps it inspired our forefathers to fight for freedom from British rule.
On August 15, 1947, when India became a free nation, our founding fathers would have risked everything, including their very lives, for their freedom. Today, 77 years later, as we celebrated our 78th Independence Day a few days back, it was a reminder for all of us to take cognizance of what true freedom means to our lives.
Freedom, is a special privilege to think, speak and act as we wish in our day to day lives. However, this privilege, though a birth right for us now, should be guided by the right knowledge and understanding that comes through the proper study of ethical, moral, humanitarian and spiritual principles and truth. Thus, to partake in and enjoy our freedom in the correct manner, we have to transcend from a state of ignorance to a state of enlightenment.
In order to do this, we need to understand the boundaries within which our freedom falls. We all have boundaries set by traditions, norms, ethics, morals and spiritual instructions. We ought to study, understand and act within these boundaries. This calls for self-restraint to turn away from our desires and passions. When we cannot achieve this and act all too freely, we become a prisoner living in bondage to our own passions and desires.
In a free nation where freedom has been handed down as a gift, we have taken our freedom too lightly. Acting too freely without the necessary learning and understanding, we have all singularly and jointly contributed to the current scenario of increased violence and recklessness.
Let us therefore pledge to enjoy our freedom in a worthy and fitting manner. Let us make it our goal to turn away from our passions and to pursue a virtuous life. Let us commit ourselves to embrace self-control and discipline in all relevant areas of our lives. For, only those who take this commitment seriously, can say no to their freedom to be selfish, lazy, ignoble, weak, irresponsible and cowardly. It is to these self-made people that true freedom belongs. They alone can merit themselves to be worthy of freedom!