Veedu: The One Home, and the Infinite Ways to Find It

We often think of our home as a fixed point on a map, a simple address. But is it really that simple? A recent exploration of this idea revealed a profound truth: while the destination is singular, the journey home is infinite.

This journey begins with a simple paradox. Imagine a home in Mylapore, Chennai. It has one address, one set of GPS coordinates. Yet, the paths to its doorstep are limitless. You can take the main road or the winding back-alley; you can walk, drive, or cycle. Each path, each choice, creates a unique story of arrival.

The Journey’s Meaning is in its Scale

The story of “coming home” transforms entirely based on where it begins.

• From the Next Street: The journey is a short, familiar routine. Home is a place of immediate comfort.
• From a Neighbouring City: A trip from Puducherry or Bengaluru requires planning. The return feels like a true settling back into your own space after a brief departure.
• From Across the World: A journey from America is an epic. It crosses oceans and time zones. Here, home is not just a house; it’s an anchor of identity, a profound reconnection to one’s roots.
• From Another Reality: If one were to arrive from another multiverse, “home” would be an uncanny reflection of their own. It becomes a journey not just of distance, but of identity, a return to a life that is almost, but not exactly, theirs.

Home is Real, The Address is Virtual

This led to a powerful shift in thinking: what if the address isn’t the real thing? What if the home is the reality, and the address is virtual and infinite?

Home is the tangible, sensory experience—the smell of filter coffee, the sound of temple bells, the feeling of belonging. It is the one, true reality.

The “address,” however, is just a pointer, a virtual label in a system. And these labels are infinite:

• The Postal Address for the mail.
• The GPS Coordinates for a navigation app.
• The Landmark Address: “The house next to the old banyan tree.”
• The Emotional Address: “The place where I feel safest.”

Each is a different language describing the path to the same, singular truth. The map is not the territory, and the address is not the home.

Veedu (வீடு): The Ultimate Destination

This is where the idea finds its deepest meaning, especially in the Tamil language. The word “Veedu” (வீடு) holds a profound duality. It means:

1. A physical house, the one in Chennai we’ve been imagining.
2. The ultimate spiritual destination, also known as Moksha or Veeduperu (வீடுபேறு).

This second meaning refers to the soul’s true home—a state of liberation, of union with the divine, an eternal place of everlasting bliss where happiness never diminishes.

Just as there are infinite physical paths to a house, there are infinite spiritual paths to this ultimate “Veedu.”

The great spiritual traditions speak of

• Bhakti Margam (the path of devotion),
• Jnana Margam (the path of knowledge), and
• Karma Margam (the path of selfless action),
• Yoga Margam (the path of discipline and meditation)
• among countless others. Each person’s journey is unique, tailored to their nature, yet every path leads to the same final, blissful home.

The simple act of returning to our house at the end of the day is a beautiful metaphor for the soul’s grand journey. We walk infinite paths in life, but all are, in essence, a search for that one true home—our “Veedu”—the place of eternal peace.