Mohan understood the real meaning of freedom

Story

Mohan, the 10-year-old was very excited to attend the Independence Day special program at his school. He reached school early and grabbed a seat in the first row. 

The school principal hoisted the flag and green signalled for the sequence of events. 

One by one children presented beautiful items each sharing an inspiring message on freedom and patriotism. The whole atmosphere was blooming with the spirit of freedom and selflessness.

The program ended with an insightful speech on freedom by the principal, the ending words of which were “Freedom is the most precious gift one can have”.

These words left an impression on Mohan’s mind. After returning home he went to his grandfather’s room, his grandfather was reading the holy book Bhagavad Gita. 

Mohan sat beside his Grandfather with some deep thoughts. His Grandfather looked at him and asked, “What’s on your mind son? And how was the Independence Day program in your school?”

To this Mohan replied, “The show was very good dadaji. In the end, our principal gave a speech, he said that Freedom is the most precious gift one can have. I am wondering why did he say so. I get so many gifts on my birthday, are they not precious? Why is freedom so important? 

Dadaji smiled and said, “Have you ever seen a bird in a cage, no matter how much good care and comfort you give to it, once you open the door, it will fly away. Even a small bird values freedom the most. So, for us, freedom is very important. We should never give up our freedom for anything.

After thinking a little, Mohan said, “Thank God, Dada ji, we live in a free country, we can do whatever we want, go wherever we want to go. We do have this valuable gift called freedom.”

Dadaji nodded and added, “Yes, we should be thankful to those who worked hard to give us this freedom. But a matter of question is are we really free or in other words what does real freedom mean?”

With a puzzled face, Mohan asked, “What do you mean Dadaji?” 

“At one point it may seem that we are free but in the real sense, our actions are directed by our ego and desires. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, that the one who can win over his ego, fear and desires is really free,” said Dadaji.

As Mohan looked more confused, Dadaji explained to him, “Sometimes, you might stop doing your homework to watch your favourite cartoon. In this case, your desire to watch TV makes it harder for you to make the right choice and finish your homework. Sometimes, our ego makes it hard for us to do the right thing. For example, we might not say sorry to a friend when we make a mistake because we don't want to admit we were wrong. Or, we might be too scared of getting in trouble to tell the truth about our mistakes. This means we let our fears and ego take away our freedom to do the right thing.”

Mohan listened carefully, and Dadaji said, “Real freedom comes from understanding ourselves and learning from books like the Bhagavad Gita. They help us understand our thoughts and feelings and free us from wrong desires and ego.”

Mohan with a determined mind said, “Dadaji, I have understood the real meaning of freedom. From now on, I promise to read the Gita with you to learn to experience real freedom.”