A saint died in an accident last week. Why did this happen?

[Reply to a question by Shri Balaji] Swami replied: The actual reason of why it happened cannot be identified by us. The exact reason is known only to God. We are not omniscient to know every detail regarding the deeds and nature of the saint. Even a great saint might have committed certain hidden sins. We were not following him all 24 hours, with a video camera. Even if we managed to that, we would still have no idea of what thoughts were going on in the mind of the saint. Besides, there might also be a good side to such an incident, in that the saint might have finished the work assigned to him by God.

An accidental death is thought to be an untimely death because we assume that it happened before the lifespan stipulated by God got over. This assumption is wrong because God writes on the person’s forehead the exact lifespan and nobody can die before that period, under any circumstances. Even the so-called accidental death is decided by God at the time of that soul’s birth itself. In any case, an accidental or untimely death need not be viewed as bad. Jesus was crucified at the age of 32 years. Śaṅkara was killed by the black magic done by Abhinava Gupta at the age of 32 years. These were also accidental or untimely deaths. It is also wrong to think that a person becomes a ghost after an accidental death. Jesus and Śaṅkara never became ghosts. A soul becomes a ghost only due to the soul’s excessive fascination for worldly bonds. A person who is thus excessively attached to worldly bonds can become a ghost, even if the person dies at an old age.

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