Every organ becomes united with the subtle body of the dying man. It is then, people at his side say of him, "He does not see now." Thus when one by one all the presiding deities of organs withdraw and merge into the cause, the respective organ stops functioning. Then the dying man hears not, sees not, smells not, speaks not and becomes senseless. He loses his consciousness forever. He never remembers he is Mr. So-and-so and that he belongs to such-and-such a caste, etc. He loses his understanding, memory and waking consciousness. The external world becomes void for him. The organs are then united in the heart.
In the subtle body the self-effulgent intelligence of the Atman is always particularly manifest. It is because of this limiting adjunct that the self comes under relative existence involving all such changes as birth and death and going and coming.
How The Self Departs
The passage of the self from the body varies according to the number of good actions done by the Jiva and the knowledge gained by him. If he has a good store of virtuous deeds and relative knowledge that would take him to the Sun, the self leaves the body through the eye. It leaves through the head if he is entitled to the world of Hiranyagarbha. It leaves through other passages according to its past work and knowledge.
When the individual self departs for the next world the vital force or Prana also departs. When Prana departs all the other organs too depart. The self has particular consciousness as in dreams in consequence of its past work. It does not have independent consciousness. If it had independent consciousness everybody would achieve the end of his life. A man attains whatever he thinks of at the moment of death if he has always been imbued with that idea. Everybody has at the moment a consciousness which consists of impressions in the form of particular modification of the mind. He goes to the body which is related to that consciousness. Therefore, in order to have freedom of action at the time of death, those aspirants who desire emancipation should be very alert in the practice of Yoga and right knowledge and the acquisition of merits during their lifetime.
The self journeying to the next world is followed by knowledge of all sorts. It has the full knowledge of both the works enjoined and prohibited. It carries the impressions of experiences regarding every action that it performed in the past incarnations. These impressions play an active part in moulding the character of the Jiva in the next birth. His fresh actions in the next birth are motivated by the impressions of actions of past life. The senses attain skill in performing certain works even without much practice in this life. It is observed generally that some are very skilful in painting. They can excel the best painter even without any practice. There are others who cannot do the same work even after much practice. All this is due to the revival or non-revival of the past impressions.
Knowledge, work and past experience are the three factors in deciding the future of an individual. One should, therefore, cultivate virtues, perform good actions so that he may attain a desirable and agreeable body with desirable enjoyments.
The organs are all-pervading and all-comprising. Their limitation in the sphere of the body and the elements is due to the work, knowledge and past experiences of men. Therefore, although the organs are naturally all-pervading and infinite, since the new body is made in accordance with the person's work, knowledge and past impressions, the functions of the organs also contract or expand accordingly.
Just as a leech supported on a straw goes to the end of it, takes hold of another support and contracts itself, so does the self throw its body aside, make it senseless, take hold of another support and contract itself.
Just as a goldsmith takes apart a little quantity of gold and fashions another, a newer and better form, so does the self throw this body away, or make it senseless and make another, a newer and better form, suited for the enjoyments in the world of the manes, celestials, gods or Hiranyagarbha.
Desire is the root-cause of transmigration. Being attached to the desires the individual soul attains that result to which his subtle body or mind is attached. Exhausting the results of whatever work he did in this life, he returns from that world to this for fresh work. Thus, does the man who desires to transmigrate. But the man who does not desire never transmigrates. He who is free from desires, the objects of whose desires have been attained and to whom all objects of desire are but the Self–the organs do not depart; being but Brahman, he is merged in Brahman. To a knower of Brahman who has routed out his desires, work will produce no baneful result; for the Sruti says: "For one who has completely attained the objects of his desire and realised the Self, all desires dissolve in this very life"–Mundaka Upanishad.
Soul's Journey After Death
The soul accompanied by the chief vital air (Mukhya Prana), the sense-organs and the mind and taking with itself Avidya, good and evil actions and the impressions left by his previous existence, leaves its former body and obtains a new body.
When the soul passes from one body to another he is enveloped by the subtle parts of the elements which are the seeds of the new body.
He rises on the road leading through the smoke and so on, to the sphere of the moon. After enjoying the fruits of his good actions he again descends to the earth with a remainder of the works, by the way he went and differently too.
When the Karma, which gave the soul a birth as a god in heaven, is exhausted, the remaining Karma, good or bad, brings him back to the earth. Otherwise it is difficult to explain the happiness or misery of a new-born child.
It is not possible that in one life the entire Karma of the previous life is worked out. Because a man might have done both good and bad deeds, as a result of which he is born as a god, or an animal. The working out of both kinds of Karmas simultaneously in one birth is not possible. Hence although the result of virtuous actions is exhausted by the enjoyment of heaven, there are other Karmas in store according to which a man is born again in good or bad environments.
The soul has a vision of the body to come. Just as a leech or caterpillar takes hold of another object before it leaves its hold of an object, the soul visualises the body to come, before he leaves the present body.
The view that after death the entire store of Karmas about to bear fruit fructifies and that, hence, those who return from Chandraloka do so without any remainder of work, is wrong. Supposing that some of those Karmas can be enjoyed only in one kind of birth and some in another, how could they combine in one birth? We cannot say that one portion ceases to bear fruit. There is no such cessation except by Prayaschitta or expiation. If the entire Karmas bear fruit, there will be no cause for rebirth after life in heaven or hell or in animal-bodies because in these there is no means of Dharma or Adharma. Moreover, some sins like the killing of a Brahmin involve many births. Sri Madhvacharya writes in his Bhashya of Brahma Sutras that from the fourteenth year of age the Jiva does of necessity works, each of which would be the cause of at least ten births. How then can the entirety of Karmas lead to one birth alone?
The Two Paths–Devayana And Pitriyana
THE PATH OF LIGHT (DEVAYANA)
The Uttara Marga or Devayana path or Northern path or the path of light is the path by which the Yogins go to Brahman. This path leads to salvation. This path takes the devotee to Brahmaloka. Having reached the path of the gods he comes to the world of Agni, to the world of Vayu, to the world of Varuna, to the world of Indra, to the world of Prajapati, to the world of Brahman.
They go to light, from light to day, from day to the waxing half of the moon, from the waxing half of the moon to the six months when the Sun goes to the North, from those six months to the year, from the year to the Aditya.
When the person goes away from this world he comes to Vayu. Then Vayu makes room for him like the hole of a wheel and through it he mounts higher till he comes to Aditya.
From the moon to the lightning there is a person, not a man (Amanava Purusha), who leads him to Brahman.
The bright path is the path, to the Devas, Devayana, of the devotees; the bright path is open to the devotees.
THE PATH OF DARKNESS (PITRIYANA)
The Pitriyana path or the path of darkness or the path of ancestors leads to rebirth. Those who do sacrifices to gods and other charitable works with expectation of fruits go to the Chandraloka through this path and come back to this world when their fruits of Karmas are exhausted.
There are smoke and dark-coloured objects throughout the course. There is no illumination when one passes along this path. It is reached by Avidya or ignorance. Hence it is called the path of darkness or smoke. The dark path is to the Pitris or forefathers–Pitriyana or the Karmins who do sacrifices or charitable acts with expectation of fruits.
These two paths are not open to the whole world. The bright path is open to the devotees and the dark path to the Karmins. Samsara is eternal and so the paths also are eternal.
The Pranas of Jivanmuktas who have attained knowledge of the Self do not depart. They are absorbed in Brahman. The Jivanmuktas who attain Kaivalya-Moksha or immediate salvation have no place to go to or return from. They become one with the All-pervading Brahman.
Knowing the nature of the two paths and the consequences they lead to, the Yogi never loses his discrimination. The Yogi who knows that the path of Devayana or the path of light leads to Moksha (Karma Mukti) and the path of darkness to Samsara or the world of births and deaths, is no longer deluded. Knowledge of these two paths serves as a compass or beacon-light to guide the Yogi's steps at every moment.
Chapter Three
Resurrection And Judgement
Resurrection
Resurrection is rising again from the dead. Resurrection, judgement by God, reward or punishment are the three important tenets of Mohammedanism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism.
The Jews, who lent this doctrine to the Christians and Mohammedans, themselves borrowed it from the Persians.
According to some writers the resurrection will be merely spiritual. The general opinion, however, is that both body and the soul will be raised from the grave. It may be asked how will the body which has been decomposed rise again? But Mohammed has taken care to preserve one part of the body to serve as a basis for future edifice, or rather a leaven for the mass which is to be joined to it. He taught that a man's body was entirely consumed by the earth, except only the bone called Al Ajib or the coccygis or rump bone. It was the first-formed in the human body. It will also remain uncorrupted till the last day as a seed from which the whole is to be renewed.
Mohammed said that this would be effected by a forty days' rain which God would send, and which would cover the earth to the height of twelve cubits and cause the bodies to sprout forth like plants.
The Jews also say the same thing of the bone Luz, but they say that the body would sprout by a dew impregnating the dust of the earth.
In the 31st chapter of the Bundehesh, the question is asked, "How will the body which the wind has carried away and the waves have swallowed be recreated, how will the resurrection of the dead take place?" To this replied Ormuzd: "When through me the corn which is laid in the earth grows again and comes once more to life, when I have given to the trees veins according to their kinds, when I have placed the child in the mother, when I have created the clouds which take up the water of the earth and send it down again in rain where I will, when I have created each and all of these things, would it be harder for me to bring about the resurrection? Remember, all this has been once and I have created it and can I not re-create what has already been lost?"
The simile of the seed of corn which is laid in the lap of the mother earth and afterwards shoots out into countless blades is often instanced as a proof of the resurrection, "When the seed of the wheat buried naked in the earth springs up in the manifold clothings of the blades, how much more will the virtuous rise again, who have been interred in their vestments?" Three keys lie in the hands of God and are entrusted to no delegate. These are: (1) the key of the rain, (2) that of birth, and (3) that of the resurrection. Signs of Resurrection: The approach of the day of resurrection will be known from certain signs which precede it. They are: (1) The rising of the sun in the west, (2) The appearance of Dajal, a monster of most curious appearance who will preach the truth of Islam in Arabic language, (3) The blast of the trumpet called Sur, which will be sounded three times.
All these are more or less Jewish ideas. After the resurrection, and before the Judgement, the resuscitated souls will have to wait for a long time under the burning heat of the Sun, which will descend to within a few yards of their heads.
The Day Of Judgement
The departed soul will wait for some time. Then God will appear to judge them. Mohammed will take the office of intercessor. Then everyone will be examined regarding all his actions in his life. All the limbs and parts of the body will be made to confess the sins committed by each. Each person will be given a book in which all his actions are recorded. This corresponds to the books of the Hindus in which Chitragupta, the Superintendent of Lord Yama, records all the actions of human beings.
Gabriel will hold a balance and the books will be weighed in the balance. Those, whose virtuous deeds are heavier than the evil ones, will be sent to heaven. Those, whose wicked deeds are heavier than their good actions, will be sent to hell.
This belief of the Mohammedans has been taken from the Jews. The old Jewish writers have mentioned of the books to be produced at the last day, which contain a record of men's deeds and the balance wherein they shall be weighed.
The Jews borrowed this idea from the Zoroastrians. The Zoroastrians hold that two angels named Mehr and Sarush will stand on the bridge on the day of Judgement to examine every person as he passes. Mehr represents divine mercy; He will hold a balance in his hand to weigh the actions of men. God will pronounce the sentence in accordance with the report of Mehr. If the good actions preponderate, if they turn the scale even by the weight of a hair, they will be sent to heaven. But those whose good deeds will be found light, will be thrown from the bridge into hell by the other angel, Sarush, who represents Justice of God.
There is a bridge called Al Sirat by Mohammed, which is on the road to heaven. This bridge is thrown over the abyss of hell. This bridge is finer than hair and sharper than the edge of a sword. Those Mohammedans, who have done good deeds, will easily cross this bridge. Mohammed will lead them. The evil-doers will miss their footing and fall down headlong into the hell, which is gaping beneath them.
The Jews speak of the bridge of hell which is not broader than a thread. The Hindus speak of Vaitarani. The Zoroastrians teach that all men will have to pass over the bridge called Pul Chinavat on the last day.
Chapter Four
Soul After Death
Soul After Death
(ACCORDING TO ZOROASTRIANISM)
After death the soul goes to the intermediate world (Hamistaken) which corresponds to Purgatory of Christianity. The soul of the righteous meets a beautiful maiden, the embodiment of his pure thoughts, pure words and pure actions. He crosses safely the bridge of the Judge (Chinavat bridge) which is the seat of judgement and reaches heaven. The bridge offers an easy passage for the righteous. The soul passes to 'Amesh-spentas' the golden seat of Ahuramazda.
The soul of the wicked meets a hideous hag, the embodiment of his evil thoughts, evil words and evil actions. He fails to cross the bridge and falls into fire or Hell. The bridge narrows to the size of the edge of a sword for the wicked.
The soul of the dead hovers round the last resting place in the house, for three days. It takes its seat near the head and chants the Ushtavaiti Gatha "Happy is he to whom Ahuramazda shall give salvation." Various ceremonies are performed for four days at the spot. The soul has to appear at the Chinavat bridge on the morning of the fourth day. In the case of the righteous there is a fragrant wind as it approaches the place and there appears a beautiful young maiden. The soul is quite astonished. It asks: "O beautiful maiden! who art thou?" She replies: "I am the conscience of your own Self. I am an embodiment of your own pure thoughts, pure words and pure actions."
In the case of the unrighteous soul there is a foul-smelling wind when it approaches the bridge and there appears an ugly old hag. The soul asks: "Who art thou, O old lady?" She replies: "I am conscience of your own self. I am an embodiment of your own evil thoughts, evil words and evil actions."
What Does The Gita Say On Life After Death
The Blessed Lord said: "Many births have been left behind by Me and by thee, O Arjuna, I know them all, but thou knowest not thine, O Parantapa.
"This eternal individual Jiva, the world of Jivas, is a ray of Myself and at the time of leaving the body he draws round himself the various senses, that is, the sense of hearing, sense of sight, sense of touch, sense of smell and sense of taste, with the mind as sixth sense, all these having their abode in Prakriti i.e., the world of matter, as distinguished from the Purusha, who is the Paramatman. When He acquires a body, and when He departs from the same, the Isvara takes these and goes out, even as the wind is laden with fragrance gathered from flowers and other sources. Verily, the perverted and the deluded do not perceive Him, who thus leaves the body, or who resided and enjoyed in the body in conjunction with the senses; but the Sages, endowed with the eye of wisdom, do perceive Him.
"There are two classes of beings in the world, the perishable and the imperishable. The perishable comprises the whole of Creation, together with the Universe of changing forms, whereas the imperishable is the eternal and the immutable. Different even from these two is yet the highest spirit known as the Paramatman or the Supreme Self, the immutable, who penetrates and nourishes the three worlds. Insofar as I transcend the perishable and the imperishable and because I am superior to them, I am realised as the Purushottama or the highest divinity in the world of Seers and Scriptures.
"That time wherein going forth Yogis return not, and also that wherein going forth they return, that time shall I declare to thee, O Prince of the Bharatas.
"Fire, light, day-time, the bright fortnight, the six months of the northern path, then going forth, the men who know the Eternal go to the Eternal.
"Smoke, night-time, the dark fortnight, also the six months of the southern path–then the Yogi obtaining the moonlight, returneth.
"Light and darkness, these are thought to be the world's everlasting paths; by the one he goeth who returneth not, by the other he who returneth again."
Death And After
(ACCORDING TO THE YOGAVASISHTHA)
Lila said: "Tell me in short, Goddess Sarasvati, something more with regard to death, as to whether it is happy or painful to die and what becomes of people after they are dead and gone from here."
The Goddess replied: "Dying men are of three sorts and have different results upon their death. They are, those who are ignorant, and such as are versed in Yoga, and those that are abstemious and religious.
"Those practising the Dharana Yoga may go wherever they like, after leaving their bodies, and so the reasonable Yogi is at liberty to roam everywhere. (It consists in mental meditation and bodily patience and endurance.)
"He who has not practised the Dharana Yoga nor applied himself to acquisition of knowledge, nor has certain reservoir of virtues for the future, is called the ignorant lot and meets with the pains and penalties of death.
"He, whose mind is uncontrolled and full of desires and worldly cares and anxieties, becomes as distressed as a lotus torn from its stalk; in fact, it is the subjugation of inordinate passions and destruction of inordinate desires and anxieties, which ensure our true felicity.
"The mind that is not guided by the edicts of the Sastras, nor purified by holiness, but given up to the society of the wicked, is subjected to the burning sensation of fire within himself at the moment of death.
"At the moment when the last gurgling of throat chokes the breath, the eyesight is dimmed and the countenance fades away, then the Jivatman also becomes hazy in its intellect.
"A deep darkness pervades the dimming sight and then starts to twinkle before it in day-light. The sky appears to be obscured by clouds, and presents a gloomy aspect.
"An acute pain traverses the whole frame and a fata morgana dances before the vision; the earth is turned to air and the mid-air seems to be the habitation of the dying person.
"The firmament revolves before him, and the tide of the sea seems to bear him away. He is now lifted up in the air, and now hurled down as in a state of dream.
"Now he thinks as if he is falling in a dark pit and then as lying in the valley of a hill; he wants to tell aloud his sufferings, but his speech fails him.
"He now finds himself as falling down from the sky and now is whirled in the air or wind. He is now riding swiftly as in a car, and now finds himself melting as snow.
"He desires to acquaint his friends of the torments of life and this world; but he is carried away from them as rapidly as by an aeroplane.
"He whirls about as by a rotary machine or turning wheel and is dragged along like a beast by its halter. He moves about as in an eddy and is carried around as the machine of some engine.
"He is borne in the air as a straw, and is carried about as a cloud by the winds. He soars high like a vapour, and then falls down like a heavy watery cloud pouring out in the sea.
"He passes through the endless space and revolves there, to find as it were, a place free from changes to which the earth and the ocean are subject, (i.e., a place of peace and rest).
"Thus the rising and falling spirit roves interruptedly, and the soul breathing hard sets the whole body in sore pain and agony.
"By degrees, the object of his senses becomes as faint as his failing organs, as the landscape fades to view at the setting of the sun.
"He loses the memory of the past and present, is at a loss to know the quarters, after the evening twilight has passed away.
"In his fits of fainting, his mind loses its powers of thinking; and he is lost in a state of nescience at the loss of all his thought and sensibility.
"In the state of faintness, the vital breath ceases to circulate through the body; and at the utter stoppage of its circulation, there ensues a collapse much like swooning.
"When this state of apoplexy joined with delirium has reached its climax, the body becomes as stiff as stone by the law of inertia, ordained for living beings from the beginning."
Schopenhauer's Views On The 'After-Death State'
Student–Tell me now, in one word, what shall I be after my death? And mind you, be clear and precise.
Philosopher–All and nothing.
Student–I thought so. I gave you a problem and you solve it by a contradiction. That's a very stale trick.
Philosopher–Yes, but you raise transcendental questions, and you expect me to answer them in language that is only made of immanent knowledge. It's no wonder that a contradiction ensues.
Student–What do you mean by transcendental questions and immanent knowledge? I've heard these expressions before, of course; they are not new to me. The professor was fond of using them, but only as predicates of the Deity, and he never talked of anything else, which was all quite right and proper. He argued thus: If the Deity was in the world itself, he is immanent; if he was somewhere outside it he was transcendent; nothing could be clearer and more obvious. You knew where you were. But this Kantian rigmarole won't do any more: it is antiquated and no longer applicable to modern ideas. Why, we've had a whole row of eminent men in the Metropolis of German learning.
Philosopher–(aside) German humbug, he means.
Student–The mighty Schleiermacher for instance, and that gigantic intellect, Hegel; and at this time of day we've abandoned that nonsense. I should rather say we are so far beyond it we can't put up with it any more. What's the use of it then? What does it all mean?
Philosopher–Transcendental knowledge is knowledge which passes beyond the bounds of possible experience, and strives to determine the nature of things as they are in themselves. Immanent knowledge on the other hand is knowledge which confines itself entirely within those bounds, so that it cannot apply to anything but actual phenomena. As far as you are an individual, death will be the end of you. But your individuality is not your true and inmost being; it is only the outward manifestation of it. It is not the thing in itself, but only the phenomenon presented in the form of time, and therefore with a beginning and an end. But your real being knows neither time nor beginning nor end nor yet the limits of any given individual. It is everywhere present in every individual and no individual can exist apart from it. So when death comes, on the one hand you are annihilated as an individual; on the other, you are and remain everything. That is what I meant when I said that after your death you would be all and nothing. It is difficult to find a more precise answer to your question and at the same time be brief. The answer is contradictory, I admit; but it is so simple because your life is in time, and the immortal part of you in Eternity. You may put the matter thus: Your immortal part is something that does not last in time and yet is indestructible; but there you have another contradiction. You see that by trying to bring the transcendental within the limits of immanent knowledge. It is in some sort doing violence to the latter by misusing it for ends it was never meant to serve.
Student–Look here, I shalln't give two pence for your immortality unless I'm to remain an individual.
Philosopher–Well, perhaps I may be able to satisfy you on this point. Suppose I guarantee you that after death you shall remain an individual but only on condition that you first spend three months of complete unconsciousness.
Student–I shall have no objection to that.
Philosopher–But, remember, if people are completely unconscious, they take no account of time. So, when you are dead, it's all the same to you whether three months pass in the world of unconsciousness, or ten thousand years. In one case as in the other, it is simply a matter of believing what is told you, when awake. So far then you can afford to be indifferent whether it is three months or ten thousand years that pass before you recover your individuality.
Student–Yes; if it comes to that, I suppose you are right.
Philosopher–And if by chance, after those ten thousand years gone by, no one ever thinks of awakening you, I fancy it would be a great misfortune. You would have become quite accustomed to non-existence after so long a spell of it–following upon such a very few years of life. At any rate you may be sure you would be perfectly ignorant of the whole thing. Further, if you knew that the mysterious power which keeps you in your present state of life had never once ceased in those ten thousand years to bring forth other phenomena like yourself, and to endow them with life, it would fully console you.
Student–Indeed! So you think that you're quietly going to do me out of my individuality with all this fine talk. But I'm open to your tricks. I tell you I won't exist unless I can have my individuality, I'm not going to put off with 'mysterious powers', and what you call 'phenomena' I can't do without my individuality, and I won't give up.
Philosopher–You mean, I suppose, that your individuality is such a delightful thing–so splendid, so perfect, and beyond comparison–that you can't imagine anything better. Aren't you ready to exchange your present state for one which if we can judge by what is told us, may possibly be superior and more endurable.
Student–Don't you see that my individuality, be it what it may, is my very self? To me it is the most important thing in the world.
"For God is God and I am I".
I want to exist, I, I. That's the main thing. I don't care about existence which has to be proved to be mine before I can believe it.
Philosopher–Think what you're doing. When you say, I, I, I want to exist, is it not you alone that say this? Everything says it, absolutely everything that has the faintest trace of consciousness. It follows then, that this desire of yours is just the part of you that is not individual–the part that is common to all things without distinction. It is the cry not of the individual, but of existence itself; it is the intrinsic element in everything that exists, nay, it is the cause of anything existing at all. This desire craves for and so is satisfied with nothing less than existence in general–not any definite individual existence. No! that is not its aim. It seems to be so only because this desire will attain consciousness only in the individual, and therefore looks as though it were concerned with nothing but the individual. There lies the illusion, an illusion it is true, in which the individual is held fast, but if he reflects, he can break the fetters and set himself free. It is only indirectly, I say, that the individual has this violent craving for existence. It is the will to live which is the real and direct aspirant–alike and identical in all things. Since then, existence is the free work, nay, the mere reflection of the will; where existence is, there too must be a will; and for the moment, the will finds its satisfaction in existence itself, so far, I mean, as that which never rests, but presses forward eternally, can ever find any satisfaction at all. The will is careless of the individual, the individual is not its business; although I have said, this seems to be the case, because the individual has no direct consciousness of will except in himself. The effect of this is to make the individual careful to maintain his own existence; and if this were not so, there would be no surety of preservation of species. From all this it is clear that individuality is not a form of perfection, but rather of limitation; and so to be freed from it is not loss but gain. Trouble yourself no more about the matter. Once thoroughly recognise what you are, what your existence really is, namely, the universal Will-to-live, and the whole question will seem to you childish and most ridiculous.
Student–You are childish yourself and most ridiculous, like all philosophers, and as a man of my age lets himself in for a quarter of an hour's talk with such fools, it is only because it amuses me and passes the time. I've more important business to attend to, so Good-bye!
Last Thought Forms
The last thought of a man governs his future destiny. The last thought of a man determines his future birth. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita, "Whosoever at the end abandoneth the body, thinking upon any being, to that being only he goeth, O Kaunteya, ever to that conformed in nature" (Chap. VIII, 6).
Ajamila lost his pious conduct, and led a detestable living. He fell into evil depth of sinful habits and resorted to theft and robbery. He became a slave of a public woman. He became the father of ten children, the last of whom was called Narayana.
When he was about to die, he was absorbed in the thoughts of his last son. Three fearful messengers of death advanced towards Ajamila. Ajamila cried aloud in great distress the last son's name 'Narayana'.
On a mere mention of the name of 'Narayana', the attendants of Lord Hari came speedily along and obstructed the messengers of death. They took him to Vaikuntha or the world of Vishnu.
The soul of Sisupala entered the Supreme Lord with an effulgent spark of ineffable glory and magnificence. This vile Sisupala spent his lifetime in reviling Lord Krishna and then he entered the Lord.
The worm on the wall when stung by the wasp changes into the form of the latter. Similarly the man who focuses his hate on Lord Krishna gets rid of his sins and reaches that Lord by regular devotion, as the Gopis did by Kama (passion), Kamsa by fear, Sisupala by hatred and Narada by love.
Lord Krishna says in the Gita: "Whoever constantly thinks of Me intensely and with one-pointed mind, to such steadfast Yogis, I am easily attainable, and having thus reached Me and merged in Me, they are not born again in the fleeting world of woe and misery. O Arjuna! While all the worlds, created by Brahma, are limited by time and have their moment of dissolution, on reaching Me, there is no rebirth, therefore at all times, meditate on Me, the Supreme Vasudeva, and with mind and intellect fixed on Me. Doubtless you will attain Me." (Chapter VIII–14, 15, 16.)
This constant practice of fixing the mind on the Lord, although a man is engaged in worldly pursuits, will enable him to intuitively and automatically think of the Lord, even at the time of his departure. The Lord says: "With the mind thus engaged in the Yoga of constant practice, not deflected by any other obstacles, one attains the Supreme Purusha of resplendent glory". The Lord further says, "At the time of death, he who thinks of My real Being as the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, or Narayana, leaves the body and verily reaches my Being. Doubt this not! In whatever form a man thinks of Me at the time of death, that form he attains, that form again being the result of nourishing that thought in a particular groove and by constant meditation of the same."
The Lord further says: "He who further establishes his mind on Me, even at the time of forthgoing and who is in that Divine state of renouncing everything and of dwelling in Brahman or Brahmic state, is free from delusion."
He who has a strong habit of using snuff in his life imitates the act of snuffing with his fingers when he is in an unconscious state just before his death. So strong is the habit of snuffing in this man.
The last thought of a licentious man will be the thought of his woman. The last thought of an inveterate drunkard will be that of his peg of liquor. The last thought of a greedy moneylender will be that of his money. The last thought of a fighting soldier will be that of shooting his enemy. The last thought of a mother who is intensely attached to her only son will be that of her son only.
Raja Bharata nursed a deer out of mercy and became attached to it. His last thought was the thought of that deer. Hence he had to take the birth of a deer, but he had memory of his last birth as he was an advanced soul.
The last thought will be the thought of God only for that man who had disciplined his mind all throughout his life and who has tried to fix the mind on the Lord through constant practice. It cannot come by a stray practice in a day or two, in a week or a month. It is a lifelong endeavour and struggle.
Personality And Individuality
There is a distinction between personality and individuality. Many have no clear understanding of these two terms. They get these mixed up and are confused. Some people think that personality is individuality and individuality is personality. That which distinguishes a person from a thing or one person from another is personality. Personality in common parlance refers to the body. When a man is tall, has good complexion and beautiful features, when his face has a fine cut, we say that Mr. So-and-so has a charming personality. When one is able to influence others, people say that such-and-such a man has strong personality. When one is timid and shy we say that such and such a man has weak personality; he must develop his personality. Personality counts much in society for success in life.
The term personality comes from the Latin persona, the mask. Personality is that particular consciousness which concerns the physical body. Mr. or Mrs. or Miss So and so is the personality. Hunger, thirst, physical beauty, black or red colour, height, stature, anger and all the limitations of the body relate to the personality. He is a Brahmin. He is a Sannyasin. He is a merchant. He is a doctor. All these concern the personality. This is the mask which the man is putting on now.
Death destroys the personality but it cannot annihilate the individuality. Individuality is separate and has distinct existence. It is something which is beyond the body. It has no relation to your personality at all. It is the sense of 'I'. It is like a continuous current. It is the continuity of the one thought, the thought of 'I'. All other thoughts are centred round this 'I'. I was a boy. I become a man. I was a doctor. I ate. I drank. I spoke. I meditated. I talked. I went to America, England, France and Germany. The same 'I' has gone through all these experiences. 'I' is the dweller in this body. 'I' is the same in childhood, youth and old age.
Personality changes but your individuality, the sense of 'I' can never change because the sense of 'I' will continue to exist with you. After leaving this physical body the sense of 'I' continues to exist. After death you take the sense of 'I' with you. Even in dream you have the sense of 'I' within. Even in deep sleep you have the sense of 'I'. If you have not got the sense of 'I' in deep sleep you would not remember that you slept happily.
You can lose this individuality by becoming one with the Supreme Self or Para Brahman through meditation and Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Just as the water in the pot becomes one with the ocean when the pot is broken, so also the individuality becomes one with the Infinity or the Universality when ignorance is destroyed, when the idea of separateness is annihilated through knowledge of the Imperishable or Brahma Jnana. Do you see now clearly the difference between personality and individuality?
Belief Of The Ancient Egyptians
The Egyptians believed in a 'double' which was like a shadow of the body. This double remained as long as the body remained. The soul was only a double. It had no individuality of its own. It was never able to do away with its connection with the body. If the body was injured in any part the double or soul was also injured. Hence they preserved the bodies to keep the soul intact. They took recourse to mummification of the bodies of the dead. They wanted to preserve the dead bodies for a very long time in order to make the departed soul immortal.
The double remained only so long as the body remained. If the corpse is destroyed, the departed soul also must perish. The soul after death wandered about freely all over the world, and returned to the place where the corpse was kept with intense thirst and hunger.
The Chaldeans also believed in a double which would be destroyed if the body were destroyed. They expected a resurrection of the corpse again to life. They could not conceive of a state without this physical body.
The ancient Egyptians or Chaldeans could never entirely dissociate the idea of the soul from the corpse of the departed or the place of burial. Some of the Christians expect a resurrection of the corpse. Hence they embalm and bury the dead. They do not cremate the dead bodies, just as the Hindus do. They still believe that the body will rise after death.
The Hindus do not wish that departed souls should hover round the body even for a minute.
The departed soul is always extremely desirous to enjoy life once more. It wishes to enter a physical body to fulfil its desires. The Hindus do not wish that the souls be earth-bound. They wish that the souls should march quickly towards their abode of happiness. That is the reason why they cremate the dead bodies at once.
Chapter Five
Doctrine Of Reincarnation
Emerson, Plato, Pythagoras had perfect belief in the doctrine of reincarnation. The doctrine of reincarnation is the foundation of Hinduism and Buddhism. The ancient Egyptians believed it. The Greek philosophers made it the corner-stone of their philosophy.
Man clings to this earthly life. This clinging to life proves that there is past experience and existence. This proves also that there is a future life. Man likes this life immensely and strongly yearns for a future life also.
Some are born and pass out within a few weeks, a few months, a few years. Some children die in the womb. Some are centenarians. Why is this? Why do some people come and live for a short time and others live longer? Is this accidental? Is there any law that governs life and death? Do the human beings come here and pass out without any definite purpose? There is a law which governs life and death. That law is the law of cause and effect.
The law of cause and effect governs everything. The law of cause and effect is inexorable and all-powerful. This whole world runs under this supreme law. All the other laws come under this law. The law of Karma is the law of cause and effect. God does not punish any one. Man reaps the fruits of his Karma. The law of cause and effect operates on him. He reaps a harvest of pleasure for his good actions. He suffers and experiences pain and disease, loss of property for his wicked actions.
Instinct is the result of past experience. One of the important arguments for reincarnation has been built on this by the Hindus. The past experiences of death remain in the subconscious mind or Chitta in a latent or dormant state. They are in the form of Samskaras or impressions. They are working underneath the conscious, objective mind. Man is terribly afraid of death, because the past experience of pain is in the subconscious mind.
Love at first sight is a certain feeling of a previous life lived together. These souls loved before. They remember that and actually feel as if they had met each other. Such loves are not at all a matter of sex, and are seldom broken off. Lord Buddha told his wife of her kindness to him in a previous birth and several times gave details of the previous lives of other people.
Every effect must have a cause. Something cannot come out of nothing. Existence cannot come out of non-existence. This is the fundamental principle of modern science. This is the fundamental doctrine of philosophy also. You have not come out of nothing. There is a cause for your existence here. One is born blind. One is a genius. One is dull. One is rich. One is poor. One is healthy. One is sickly. There is a definite cause for all these things.
The cause is the unmanifested condition of the effect. The effect is the manifested state of the cause. Tree is the cause. The seed is the effect. Vapour is the cause. Rain is the effect. The whole tree remains in the seed in potential form. The whole human form remains in the drop of semen in an invisible potential state. The seed of a banyan tree can produce only a banyan tree but not a mango tree. The drop of human semen can produce only a human being but not a horse. From a tiny drop of semen a big human form with various limbs and organs comes out. What a great marvel! From a small seed a gigantic banyan tree comes out. What a great wonder! Just close your eyes and reflect over this mystery. You will be struck with awe and wonder.
Within the gross physical body there is another subtle body or Linga Sarira or Sukshma Deha. This subtle body comes out with all its impressions and tendencies at the time of death of the gross physical body. It is like vapour. It cannot be seen by the naked eye. It is the subtle body that goes to heaven. It manifests again in a gross form. This re-manifestation of the subtle form into the gross physical form is called the law of reincarnation. You may deny this law, but the law is there. It is inexorable and unrelenting. If you deny the law, it clearly shows that you are quite ignorant of it and it will surely operate whether you admit it or not. The light of the Sun is there whether the owl accepts it or not.
You acquire your knowledge through experiences. A man plays on the harmonium. He places each finger on each key consciously. He repeats it again and again. After some time the movement of fingers becomes a habit. He plays a tune without looking into the particular keys. Even so your tendencies are the result of your past conscious actions.
Sri Sankara and Sri Jnana Dev knew the Vedas and other Sastras in their boyhood. A child plays on the piano in a masterly manner. A child delivers lectures on the Gita. Goethe, the eminent German poet, was the master of seventeen languages. These geniuses did not acquire these in this life. They must have had them in past lives.
Every child is born with certain tendencies or predilections generated by past conscious actions. No child is born with a vacant mind or a clean blank page of a mind, a tabula rasa. We have had past lives. This is the emphatic declaration of the great sages, Rishis and Yogis of the past and of modern times. Jesus Christ believed in it. He says in the Bible: "Before Abraham was, I am". Reincarnation made its appearance in the early Christian Church. Elijah is reborn as John the Baptist.
Heredity cannot explain all these inequalities and diversities, the cases of geniuses. The parents, brothers and sisters of these prodigies are quite common persons. Tendencies are the result of the past actions. They do not come through heredity. The geniuses have gained their talents in their previous lives. If your desires are not gratified in this life under present conditions, you will have to come back again to this earth-plane for their fulfilment. If you have a strong desire to become a Master Musician in this birth and if you cannot achieve this and still cherish this desire, this desire will bring you back to this earth-plane and place you in suitable environments and favourable conditions. You will start again from your childhood with a tendency to become a Master Musician.
An objection is brought against the doctrine of reincarnation. That objection is, "Why do we not remember our past?" Do you remember what you did in your childhood? Will you say you did not exist then, because you cannot remember? Certainly not. If your existence depends upon your memory then this argument proves that you did not exist as child, because you do not remember your childhood. The details have passed out of your memory, but the knowledge you have acquired through your experiences is still in your subconscious mind or Chitta as impressions.
If you remember your past you may make a bad use of the present. Your inveterate enemy in your past life may be born as your son in this life. If you remember the past you will draw your sword to kill him. Feelings of enmity will rise in your heart at once. When you enter college you carry with you all the knowledge you acquired at school. You increase and develop that kind of knowledge in your higher studies. You do not remember fully everything you did at schools, yet the experience is there when you are in the college. Even so past experience influences your present life.
Mother Nature has concealed the past from you. It is not desirable to remember the past. Suppose for a moment you know the past–you know that you have committed a sinful action in your past life and you are going to suffer for it. You will be thinking of this always. You will worry yourself constantly. You will not have sound sleep. You will not relish your food. That is the reason why sages tell you, "Do not think of the past. Do not plan for the future. Mould your present. Live in the solid present. Entertain good thoughts. Do virtuous actions." You can make your future better.
A Yogi can remember his past lives, through concentration on the Samskaras. He can tell you all about your past lives also through concentration on the Samskaras or impressions that are lodged in your subconscious mind.
Your present birth is the result of your past actions. All the actions that you do now will determine your future birth. You have set the law of causation in motion and you are caught in this wheel of birth and death. This is the law of reincarnation. This law binds all beings. When you attain the perfect knowledge of the Imperishable the wheel is broken and you attain freedom and perfection.
Your experiences can hardly be destroyed. Your actions are endowed with an invisible power called Adrishta or Apurva which produces fruits. The actions manifest again as tendencies. If you do several merciful acts you develop a very strong tendency to do acts of mercy. Those who are merciful in this birth have done great acts of mercy in their previous births.
Reincarnation depends upon Karma. If a man does actions of a beastly nature he will take the birth of an animal.
The doctrine of reincarnation is as old as the Vedas or the Himalayas. The doctrine of reincarnation will solve many problems of life. Each word, thought and deed lays up a store for you. Be good. Do good. Entertain good thoughts. Do virtuous actions. Purify your heart. Meditate regularly on the Immortal Atman, thy universal Self. You will free yourself from the round of births and deaths and attain Immortality and Eternal Bliss in this very life.
Karma And Reincarnation (ii)
The doctrine of reincarnation is accepted by the majority of mankind at the present day. It has been held as true by the mightiest Eastern nations. The ancient civilisation of Egypt was built upon this doctrine and it was handed over to Pythagoras, Plato, Virgil and Ovid, who scattered it through Greece and Italy. It was the keynote of Plato's philosophy when he says that all knowledge is reminiscence. It was wholly adopted by the Neo-Platonists like Plotinus and Proclas. The hundreds of millions of Hindus, Buddhists and Jains have made that doctrine the foundation of their philosophy, religion, government and social institutions. It was a cardinal point in the religion of the Persian Unagi. The doctrine of Metempsychosis was an essential principle of the Druid faith and was impressed upon the Celts, the Gauls and the Britons. Among the Arab's philosophers it was a favourite idea. The rites and ceremonies of Romans, Druids and Hebrews expressed this truth forcibly. The Jews adopted it after the Babylonian captivity. John the Baptist was to them a second Elijah. Jesus was thought to be a reappearance of John the Baptist or one of the old prophets. The Roman Catholic purgatory seems to be a makeshift, contrived to take its place. Philosophers like Kant, Schelling and Schopenhauer have upheld this doctrine. Theologians like Julius Muller, Dorner and Edward Beecher have maintained it. And today it reigns over the Burmese, Siamese, Chinese, Japanese, Tartarian, Tibetan, East Indian and Ceylonese including at least 750 million mankind and nearly two-thirds of the human race. Is it not surprising then that this great and grand philosophical education, which the Hindus and Buddhists and Jains gave to the world centuries and centuries before the Christian Era, should or could be blotted out of existence from the Western and European world by the soul-blighting and absurd dogmas of the dark ages that supervened? By the persecution of the wise men and destruction of the innumerable works in the Library of Constantinople, the Church hierarchy managed to plunge the whole of Europe into mental darkness, which has given the world the black record of inquisition and the loss of millions of human lives through religious wars and persecutions.
Here is a challenge to the non-believers of the Hindu theory of transmigration. In Delhi, a little girl Santi Devi gave a vivid description of her past life. There was great sensation in Delhi and Mathura, nay, throughout the United Provinces. There was a great assembly of persons to hear her statements. She recognised her husband and child of per previous birth who were living in Mathura. She pointed out the place where money was kept and an old well in the house which is covered now. All her statements were duly verified and corroborated by respectable eye-witnesses. Several cases like this have occurred in Rangoon, Sitapur and various other places. They are quite common now. In such cases the Jiva takes immediate rebirth with the old astral body or Linga Sarira. That is the reason why memory of previous births comes in. He did not stay in the mental world for a long time to rebuild a new mind and astral body to his various experiences of the world.
Transmigration made its appearance in the early Christian church. Elijah was reborn as John the Baptist. "Did the blind man sin, or his parents, that he was born blind?" asked the believers in transmitted retribution. There is a period of anxiety immediately after death, when angels contend with demons for the possession of the departed soul on its way to purgatory.
Pythagoras and others had their belief in metempsychosis from India only. Pythagoras who flourished in the 6th century also taught a doctrine of transmigration; and, curiously enough, prescribed abstinence from the eating of flesh.
The suckling of a child and the act of swimming of a duckling–these instinctive acts are proofs of memory which must be the result of their corresponding and inseparable impressions left by the same acts in a previous incarnation, never mind when and where. Every act leaves Samskaras in the Chitta which causes memory. Memory in its own turn leads to fresh actions and fresh impressions. This cycle or Chakrika goes on from eternity like the analogy of seed and tree.
There is no beginning for them, the desire to live being eternal, for them, i.e., for the desires. Desires have no beginning or end; every being is clinging to this physical life (Abhinivesa). This "will to live" is eternal. Experiences are also without beginning. You cannot think of a time when this feeling of 'Aham' or 'I' has existed. This 'I' exists continuously without any interruption. From this we can easily infer that there have been previous births for us.
Now could there be fear of death to avoid pain, in any being who has been born, if he has no experience of liability to death, it being understood that desire to avoid anything is only caused by remembrance suffered in consequence thereof. Nothing which is inherent in anything stands in need of a cause. How should it be that a child, which has not experienced this liability to death in the present life, should, as he may be falling away from the mother's lap, begin to tremble and hold his hands tightly the necklace hanging on her breast? How is it that such a child should experience the fear of death, which can only be caused by the memory of the pain consequent upon aversion to death, whose existence is inferred by the trembling of the child?
We have got boy-geniuses. A boy of five becomes an expert in piano or violin. Sri Jnanadev wrote his commentary Jnanesvari on the Gita when he was fourteen years old. There had been boy-mathematicians. There was the boy-Bhagavatar in Madras who conducted Kathas when he was eight years old. How could you explain this strange phenomenon? This is not a freak of nature. The theory of transmigration only could explain all these things. If one man gets deep grooves in his mind by learning music or mathematics in this birth he carries these impressions to the next birth and becomes a prodigy in these sciences even when he is a boy.
Even in the New Testament there is sufficient evidence for reincarnation. In St. John IX-2, a question is put to Jesus by his disciples–which did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? This refers to two popular theories of time–one, that of Moses who taught that the sin of fathers would descend on children to the third and fourth generation, and the other, that of the doctrine of reincarnation. Jesus merely says that neither that man's sin nor his father's sin was the cause of his blindness; he does not deny the pre-existence of that man. Lord Jesus indicates that John took the reincarnation of Elijah.
But people may say–if this doctrine is true, how is it that he does not remember his past incarnation? I will ask such people, in what way do we exercise the faculty of memory? Certainly, so far as we are living in a body, we exercise it through the brain. In passing from one incarnation to the other, the soul does not carry the former brain in the new body. Even during the course of one life, do we always remember our past doings? Can any one remember that wonderful epoch–the infancy?
If you have a knowledge of the Raja Yogic technique of perceiving the impressions directly through the Raja Yogic Samyama (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi at one time) you can remember your past lives. In Raja Yoga philosophy of Patanjali Maharshi, you will find: "Samskara-Sakshat-Karanat Purvajati-Jnanam." By perceiving the impressions, comes the knowledge of the past life (Ch. III–18). All experiences that you have had in various births remain in the form of impressions or residual potencies in Chitta or subconscious mind. They remain in a very, very subtle form, just as the sound remains in a subtle state in the gramophone record. These impressions assume the forms of waves and you get memory of past experiences. Therefore if the Yogi can make a Samyama on these past experiences, in the Chitta, he can remember all the details of all his past lives.
Reincarnation Is Quite True (i)
Man can hardly attain perfection in one life. He has to develop his heart, intellect and hand. He has to mould his character in a perfect manner. He has to develop various virtuous qualities such as mercy, tolerance, love, forgiveness, equal vision, courage, etc. He has to learn many lessons and experiences in this great world-school. Therefore he has to take many lives. Reincarnation is very true. One small life is a part of the long series that stretches behind you and in front of you. It is quite insignificant. One gains a little experience only. He evolves very little. During the course of one life man does many evil actions. He does very little good actions. Very few die as good men. Christians believe that one life determines and settles everything. How could this be? How can the everlasting future of man be made to depend on that one small, little, insignificant life? If in that life he believes in Christ, he will get eternal peace in heaven; if he is an unbeliever in that life, he will get eternal damnation, he will be thrown for ever in the lake of fire or horrible hell. Is this not the most irrational doctrine? Should he not get his chances for correction and improvement? The doctrine of reincarnation is quite rational. It gives ample chances for man's rectification, growth and gradual evolution.
Transmigration Of Souls
The word 'transmigration' means passing from one life to another. The one great and fundamental tenet of most schools of Indian Philosophy, with the exception of the Charvaka or the materialist, is the belief in the immortality of the soul. The soul passes through a number of lives for attaining perfection. This is technically called 'transmigration of souls'.
Belief in the metempsychosis or transmigration of soul 'dates from primeval times. It is as early as primitive man. One solution of the mystery of death and a consoling thought about death is the indestructibility of the soul and its existence after death in other forms. In India the ancient Aryans found in it the solution of the age-long problem of human suffering and developed it into a very distinct religious doctrine.
The purpose of transmigration is not reward of punishment, but betterment and perfection. It prepares the human being for the ultimate realisation which frees him from the cycle of births and deaths. It is not possible to achieve perfection and absolute freedom without a plurality of lives.
Man develops tendency and aptitude in several births and becomes a genius in one birth. Buddha gained experiences in several births. He became a Buddha only in his last birth. In one birth all virtues cannot be developed. One can cultivate the virtues by gradual evolution. The baby sucks, the young duck swims. Who taught this? They are the Samskaras or the tendencies of previous births.
There had been many instances of children like Santi Devi, etc., who have narrated all about their previous lives. All these have been fully corroborated also. The children have actually pointed out their houses in which they lived in their previous lives.
Soul, retribution, transmigration, divinity were all accepted by Plato. Pythagoras also taught the doctrine of transmigration. Buddha also taught the doctrine of transmigration.
The older Egyptians embalmed their dead and buried them in the best tombs they could afford. The deceased had a kind of twin soul, one half of which remained in the tomb as long as the body continued undecayed, while the other proceeded on passport to the immortal gods. The requisite indication was given by a divine Judge, whose opinion as to destiny was final. Transmigration in some obscure form was nevertheless held by the Egyptian priesthood.
The human body is only a vesture and dwelling place for the immortal soul. The soul can certainly re-inhabit another dwelling place and put on another vesture in order to develop and realise better than before the Divine plan and purpose for it. The Creator has so planned. The soul of a depraved and corrupted human being is given another training in another body. The evolution of all beings is for a better condition. Evolution to the higher and not a deterioration to the lower is generally the law and principle of Nature. But there is exception to the general rule.
The soul armed with the little virtue and divinity gained in the previous existence enters another life to increase, develop and better that original stock. There is now a greater response of the body controlled by the soul to God, Goodness, Truth, Holiness and other attributes of God.
No opportunity is afforded to the sinner to purify himself in later births. His finite sin, if not somehow purged, precipitates him at death into endless misery. This cannot be. This is not reasonable. The doctrine of transmigration gives ample scope for the sinner to correct and educate himself in future births. Vedanta says that there is hope of salvation even for the worst sinner.
He reaps the harvest of his misdeeds for a limited period. After he has been purged of his sins, he is again born as a rational being and is thus given a fresh chance for working out his emancipation with freedom of will to choose the right path or the wrong one, and with knowledge to distinguish the one from the other.
You are responsible for your well-being or otherwise, through your own Karma or action. The diversity in individual characters, the different predilections or tendencies of the different children at their births and the inequalities of human lives can only be accounted for and explained through the Law of Karma. The Law of Karma gives liberty and freedom to an individual to grow to his full perfection.
The image of a man is reflected in a mirror. Nothing passes from the man to the image. The image is not the same as the man nor yet is it another. In exactly the same way rebirth takes place. The new being is like the image. The Karma which gives rise to the new being is like the mirror, through the agency of which the image of the man is reflected.
The enlightening influences of Yogis and Sages, their lives and teachings assert themselves more and more in the new life. The light of God is more sought after and the gravitation towards God becomes stronger and stronger. More and more the life becomes fit to see God and hear His voice. Progress advances from the existence to the next–we cannot say through how many lives–until the final and stainless state of perfection is reached and the individual soul merges itself in the Supreme Soul.
Whence have I come? Whither shall I go? These questions will be asked by every intelligent person. They are problems of life. Your present life is but one in a series of countless incarnations, though not all in the human form necessarily.
The union of the soul with a particular body is known as birth and its separation therefrom is called death, when the soul leaves its physical sheath, it transmigrates into another body, human, animal or even vegetable, according to its merits. The Kathopanishad says: "Now I will tell you, O Nachiketas, the eternal and divine mystery as to how the soul fares after attaining death. Some souls attain to other bodies, while some fall to the vegetable state according to their action and knowledge" (1-2-18).
The process of transmigration continues till the soul being purged of all its impurities and having acquired a true and full knowledge of the Imperishable Soul by Yoga attains Mukti or the final emancipation and enjoys perfect, eternal bliss by its union with the Supreme Self or Para Brahman.
According to Indian philosophy, there is a subtle body or Sukshma Sarira within the physical body. When the physical body perishes, this subtle body does not perish. It moves to heaven to enjoy the fruits of its good actions done here. This subtle body perishes only when the soul attains the final emancipation. The impressions or Samskaras, Vasanas or the tendencies are carried in the subtle body.
There are blessed souls like Vama Deva, Jnana Dev, Dattatreya, Ashtavakra and Sankaracharya who in their very first entry into the world attained a high degree of perfection before death. They are all born Siddhas. There are some other souls who will need few further rebirths for their full perfection and attainment of Moksha.
A good soul makes a good body, a bad soul a bad body. Body is an indispensable aid to the soul in its progress towards God. The body was designed by God to carry the soul on its onward march. Petrol and steam are great forces. But by themselves they cannot make the journey with a definite course and a definite destination. They must be harnessed to a machine, a running train or steamer. A pilot or a driver puts petrol or steam into the conveyance and drives and steers it towards his destination. Therefore the soul must have a body to run its course and reach its destination in God.
When knowledge of the Imperishable is attained, there is no more transmigration. Mother Prakriti's work is over now. She shows all the experiences of this world to the individual soul and takes him higher and higher through various bodies till he regains back his essential divine nature, till he merges himself in the Supreme Self or Para Brahman.
Strive by every means to make your life better by ceaseless spiritual culture and practical Yoga Sadhana. Only by enlightenment or Brahma Jnana you can obtain deliverance from the wearisome round of births and deaths.