DO THE DREAMS AFFECT HUMAN LIFE?

by Chitragupt Pariwar (Hum Kayasth) on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 5:45pm

Dreams do affect our day-to-day life, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively, though the scientific investigations to support this point are lacking. Your own experience with the dreams and how you felt afterwards are the only things that support this view. It is entirely a spiritual or para-psychological matter, which is far beyond the precepts of physical sciences. But experiences of even a layman have certain weight when it comes to the analysis of dreams.

Our religious scriptures contain profuse description of the dreams and their effects. In Sundar kand of Ramayana, an ogress Trijata relates her dream to her companion that in the dream, she had seen Ravan with tonsured head and going to the south riding an ass and that there was great stampede in Lanka. It is well known that within a month, her dream came true as Hanumana caused devastation by setting Lanka on fire that resulted in a great stampede there. Even Ravan ultimately migrated to the south i.e. met his death.

Dreams may also be termed as premonition i.e. having knowledge of the events that are to take place in future. But all the people are not able to draw an unfailing conclusion on the basis of the dreams. Those who are more pious, more spiritual in nature have a developed ability to draw a conclusion on the basis of the dreams. Same was the case with Trijata who is stated to be more pious and spiritually inclined than the rest of the ogresses as is apparent from this stanza:

TRIJATA NAAM RAKSHASI EKA, RAAM CHARAN RATI NIPUN BIBEKA ||SABANHU BOLI SUNAESI SAPANA, SEETAHI SEI KAREHU HIT APANA || SAPANEN BANAR LANKA JAARI, JAATU DHAAN SAINA SAB MAARI || KHAR AARURH NAGAN DASASEESA, MUNDIT SIR KHANDIT BHUJ BEESA|| EHI BIDHI SO DACHCHHIN DISI JAI, LANKA MANAHU VIBHISHAN PAI || NAGAR PHIRI RAGHUBIR DOHAI, TAB PRABHU SEETA BOLI PATHAI ||

All the dreams do not have similar effects. Outcome of some of the dreams begins to manifest within a few days whereas others might take months or even years to show their outcome. It is generally believed that only those dreams have effect, which we have during deep slumber. Those dreams that we have during short nap are usually ineffective. Thus, time of the dream is equally important. In any case, correct interpretation of dream helps us to condition ourselves physically and mentally to deal with the ensuing circumstances.