Life is an Examination

Life is an Examination

 

Saran Rai

Every moment of life,
Every second of time,
Is a moment of examination.

Progress, decline, ascent, descent,
Uphill, downhill, light, and darkness,
Love, hatred, victory, and defeat—
Moments of struggle and battle.

What, who, and why are important?
Engrave Tolstoy in your heart,
Whatever the field, wherever you are,
Fight like a warrior with courage.
If Darwin is true,
Reaching the destination while battling is life.
To succeed in the examination of life is to live.
Life is an examination,
And an examination is life.

To think that success in life's examination brings
Only happiness, enjoyment, delight, wealth, progress, heights, greatness,
Achievement, and glory
Can be an illusion of ignorance.
Even those who fail exams are alive,
Smiling like flowers in the garden of life with contentment.
The beauty of worldly life lies in
Activity, service, restraint, and patience.
Concealing sorrow within the heart
And smiling gently—
This is greatness.
Examinations are forever life itself.

Where is life without tests?
Where is life without examinations?
Examinations are held in love.
Hatred is tested too.
To what depth of love
Can a lover reach—this, the beloved wishes to know.
Every moment, every second,
In every moment of life, day and night,
Examinations are ongoing.

Those who give the test are greater
Than those who conduct them.
Not everyone can be like the truthful Harishchandra.
Just like Einstein, who failed in math,
Or like Van Gogh, a great yet foolish lover—
You might fail in the test of love
And take boundless hatred into the battlefield.
If love doesn’t exist, even hatred becomes a weapon.
With that very weapon, you fight life’s battles.
Winning and losing are mere excuses.
Giving the exam is the essence of survival.

Come, in this journey of life,
Let us join hands.
Let us walk together as far as we can.
The paths may diverge...the destination separates us.
But before parting,
Let us sit together and take the test of love.
Pass or fail, fulfill the desires of your heart.
Carry the scars of examinations, the wounds of love,
And walk alone towards your destination.
We came alone into this world,
And alone we must go into the embrace of death.
To smile while embracing death
Is to succeed in the final examination.

The questions asked in life's examinations:
Why can flowers not live forever?
Why do stars shine only at night?
Do tears and blood also form lakes?
You must answer them.
Write the answers in the immortal corner of your heart—
Humanity, love, and faith are eternal.
Even if flowers wither, beauty is everlasting.
Stars always shine in love.
In the lakes of tears and blood,
The brave warriors who take life's tests swim.
They forever, in a gentle rhythm,
Sing the songs of life.