13 Oct 2015
Shri Surya referred a question asked by a person through website. The questions are: 1) what is the proof for the re-birth of the soul? 2) What is the proof for the existence of hell and if the hell exists what is the reason for not having the memory of the punishments in the hell and also the previous birth? 3) If a soul is born in a criminal family and becomes the criminal, the fault lies with the family and not with the soul. In such case, why should the soul be punished? -Shreyans Kanswa
Shri Swami replied: The topic of deeds and the corresponding fruits is a very complicated cycle involving the three dimensional network of various aspects as said in the Gita (Gahanaa karmano Gatih). You cannot simply give a passing remark based on superficial observation of very limited area of this topic. First, you must understand that God is the most kind and the most generous Father of all the living beings in this world. His concentration is always to uplift every soul either by hook or crook. The procedures may be pleasant or pungent, but the ultimate goal is only one, which is the protection and the development of the soul from one birth to the other birth. The ignorant child may not understand this ultimate goal of God and may put various questions regarding the rationality and justice. The ignorance or little knowledge of the soul results in several confusions regarding the programme of God.
1) The proof for the re-birth is very clear if you observe various reported incidents of re-birth in various countries across the world. A new department called the department of para-psychology is opened in this line to study these incidents with impartial outlook. Hence, you need not ask for the proof of re-birth and mock the scripture, which says about it. The Gita says that the birth is for death and death is for re-birth (Jaatasyahi...).
2)The hell exists in the space far above our earth, which can be seen only by the grace of God. The reason is that the souls embedded in the energetic bodies reaching hell for punishments and the divine administration staff including the entire hell is made of energy, which has frequency far above the reachable frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum. The concept of hell will give some control on the sin, which is very much advantageous to anybody. If the faith on the existence of the hell shades away, your future will be very serious and I assuredly tell all of you about this point. You may argue that I cannot take you into the space and show the existence of the hell to you. But, at the same time you cannot also take Me into this infinite space up to its boundary and show Me the non-existence of the hell. In such case, the hell may exist or may not exist. Both the options have equal probability. In such case, a wise person will select the probability of lesser risk, which is to believe the existence of hell. If you are careful in not doing the sins, based on your faith in the existence of hell, nothing is lost even if the hell is absent. If you take other option to disbelieve the existence of hell and go on doing the sins, you are lost if the hell exists. Therefore, the first option is always far better than the second one. You need not believe that much only whatever is seen by you. Inference is also an authority of the knowledge in which you believe in the existence of something, which is not seen by you. The miracles exhibited by the devotees in this world prove the existence of unimaginable areas.
The Veda says that the past memory of the hell or previous birth is nipped off with the nails of God (Paraanchi Khaani...). This means that the memory in us is lost by the will of God only. The reason is that if the memory of the hell remains, the individual will just shiver with fear and will be unable to do anything or even to read the scripture. This is not desirable to God, who likes the soul to start a fresh life forgetting all the past and achieve not only the worldly goals but also spiritual goals. Similarly, if the memory of the previous births exists in the mind of the human being, such a human being will utterly confuse due to millions of family bonds that appear whenever it goes out of the house. In such a confusion, the human being will become mad and the same situation of inactivity results. Hence, everything set-up by God has its own meaning and do not criticize God in hasty manner. A passenger suffering with heat in summer came under a huge Neem tree to rest for some time. He thought that God is foolish because the huge tree is having tiny fruits where as the tender pumpkin creeper is loaded with very big fruits. Thinking like this, he slept for some time. He awoke after some time and found the tiny fruits, which have fallen on him from the tree. Then he realized his mistake thinking that he was foolish where as God is very wise. If the huge tree has proportionally huge fruits, his head should have been broken by the fruits, which are fallen on him! Therefore, patience must be the first quality of the spiritual knowledge as said by Shankara (Shamadamaadi...).
3.a) A good person may be born in a bad family like Prahladha born in demons.
b) A bad person may be born in good family like Duryodhana in the sacred family of Bharata.
c) A good person may be born in a good family like Shri Rama in Raghu dynasty
d) A bad person may be born in bad family like Ravana in the family of demons.
Therefore, you cannot say that the family can influence a person having no seed. The soul will have good or bad seed in it, when [it] is born in a family in this world. The soul after the death goes to hell or heaven or both as per the nature of its deeds. The nature or the strength of the quality is minimized in it on the enjoyment of the fruits in the hell or in heaven or in both. This nature becomes very weak like a seed. Generally, the soul is born in such an atmosphere, which is congenial to the nature of the seed present in it. These seeds have the capacity to give birth to sprouts, which can grow into plants and further huge trees with the help of the external atmosphere. When there is a specific programme of God, then only, the seed is born in a family having opposite nature like Prahlada in demons. You cannot say that the external atmosphere of the family can always help the seed. If it is so, the devotee Prahlada should have become a demon and Duryodhana should have become a pious person. Of course, generally, the homogeneous nature of the seed and environment are congenial to each other and result in a sprout, plant and gradually a huge tree. Simply, the soil and rain cannot give birth to a sprout unless a seed exist in the soil.
The existence of hell is very much essential for the control of the sin. In the hell, after the severe punishments, the nature of the sin becomes very weak like a tiny seed. When this soul is born again in this world, the soul will have some control on itself for some time at least because of the long time taken by the sprout to become a tree. At least, in this time, the world will be peaceful to some extent due to the reduced nature of sin of the soul. The seed will be burnt to become ash only when the seed is subjected to the fire of knowledge. Such a seed will never give birth to any sprout. Water will help the seed to give sprout but the fire will burn the seed to give ash only (Jnanaagnih... Gita).
[Respected Swamiji,
Kindly clarify the following question which I had on 2 types of devotees:
1. Some traditional people are telling that nowadays the spiritual path has been diluted and many spiritual aspirants don't properly follow the shastras.
They accuse that the karma kanda portion of the vedas is ignored and everyone wants a convenient spiritual path, and are focusing on jnana (through intellectual debates) or bhajans. They ask if the karma kanda is not important, why was it even given by God?
They also accuse that brahmins by birth are not doing veda abhyasa and mandatory rituals, and instead are after earning money in offices. By hook or crook, these traditional people try to argue that svadharma has to be determined strictly by birth so that one cannot escape from performing their duties. They say, if a person's duties is determined by guna, then, there is a risk that the person, even though he has the guna of a brahmana might look at a wealthy neighbour, get tempted to earn money, stop veda-abhyasa/rituals, and start doing vaishya dharma.
How to respond to such rigid traditional people even though they are very few in number?
2. The second type of devotees quote from the Bhagavatam that NamaSamKirtana is the way to please the Lord in Kaliyuga and sometimes even feel guilty that they are earning a lot of money in offices. They quote the examples of many saints like Tukaram, Namdev, and Purandara Dasa who neglected even their livelihood and spent their life in composing Kirtans on the Lord.
Is their inclination towards only Kirtana correct even though they have the potential to earn money, or can they be encouraged to work, earn money, and do Karma Phala Tyaga?
Sincerely,
Balaji]
Shri Swami Replied: Vedadhyayana or the study of sacred scripture is not mere blind recitation of it without knowing its meaning. Mere knowledge of the Veda is also not sufficient since there are several crucial points in the scripture, which must be discussed deeply and right conclusions have to be arrived especially in the context of various interpretations. After achieving the right conclusion only, your action starts. Is this not the normal procedure in the case of any human being even while doing the worldly works? You have to admit your son into the best school. Now, you have to find out the best school since several schools exist in the city advertising their merits. You will take the brochure of all the schools, study well and then analyse the merits and defects by discussing with your wife, relatives and friends. After doing all this procedure only, you will arrive at the right direction in the right path to take action in admitting your son into the best school. When you follow such a tedious procedure in the case of petty worldly works, should you not follow the same in a more serious way to travel in the right direction, in the right path to reach the right spiritual goal, which is accomplished only after a series of lives (Bahunaam Janmanaam... Gita). If you say that mere recitation of the scripture and performing the duties assigned in the scripture is the end of the effort, in such case, you should blindly recite the brochure-pamphlets of all the schools and admit your son blindly in some school. You cannot join him in the best school because you felt that understanding the brochure-pamphlets through deep study and arriving right knowledge through analysis is not at all required. In such case, the fundamental question comes that into which school are you admitting your son? If you follow all the procedure and arrive at correct decision, your son will be admitted into the really best school and will flourish in his life. Similarly, there are several philosophies in this world, which contradict each other and mere recitation of the scriptures of various philosophies will lead you into big chaos. The word Adhyayana itself means to know the scripture and not to recite it. Even the word Veda means knowledge and not mere text, which should be blindly recited without understanding its knowledge. The very first step of understanding the Veda is absent in the recitation. How can you expect the further step of analysis through debate when the very first stage of understanding the scripture is absent? Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva have written commentaries on the Scriptures, which are deep discussions to arrive at the right path. A Brahmana by birth simply reciting the scripture without knowing its meaning and performing the rituals or sacrifices blindly without even an iota of the knowledge in the brain is projected by you. He eats the goat cut in the sacrifice by blindly doing the ritual. If the knowledge is understood, here, the goat indicates innocent ignorance through blind faith on the butcher and you have to cut such ignorance only and not the goat (Manyuh Pashuh... Veda). In the case of Muslims also, who cut the goats in the festival, the ultimate essence of knowledge is only to cut their innocence and not the innocent goat. Muslims are famous for their innocence existing in their sincere faith to the scripture. Tell Me the difference between such a Brahmana and an animal? The Veda says that such a brahmana can be, at best, called as divine animal (Devaanaam Pashurahaha...)! If this is your ultimate goal set up due to your rocky rigid ignorance, I, Datta Swami, flatly prostrate on your feet and leave you forever and I promise that I will never show My face to you!! The reason is that you will not listen Me at all and even if you listen, you cannot understand what I say and therefore a stone should not be thrown on such mud pond as said in the Gita (Taanakrutsna vido...). Sometimes, I find some people in some houses speaking some sentences to the dog and their belief is that the dog understands their language. They do not know that the dog performs the corresponding actions due to simply two items only, which are fear and attraction. The actions of the dog are interpreted by these foolish people that the dog is reacting after understanding their speech!!
The caste system can be referred based on birth or quality based actions. If you take the word Brahmana, what is the aim of such word in your mind? Do you mean that Brahmana means a person, who should be respected or even worshipped by the humanity? If it is so, you should certainly take the second option only that the word Brahmana means the person decided by quality based actions and not mere birth in that caste. In such case, you should respect and worship a Brahmana decided by qualities and subsequent actions only before respecting him. In such context, the Brahmana by birth is not at all the meaning of your concept. Hence, if you respect a Brahmana by qualities and actions and not by birth, you should respect and worship Shri Rama as the Brahmana, who is the real Brahmana by qualities and actions though He is not a Brahmana by birth. In this context, you cannot worship Ravana, who is a Brahmana by birth because your present context is to worship a Brahmana decided by qualities and actions only. God has given this option only for respect or worship by saying that the caste in this context should be decided by qualities and deeds only (Guna Karma Vibhagashah).
Suppose your context is quite different from the above context. Now, your second context is to mention the Brahmana, who is born to the Brahmana parents and to indicate that all his ancestors were only Brahmanas by birth and qualities. This context is not to respect or worship the Brahmana. It is only to give the address of such Brahmana indicating his ancestors only. In this context, you can say that Ravana is a Brahmana because his parents and ancestors were Brahmanas. This context is just to give the ancestral information of a person only and not for the sake of respect or worship based on qualities and deeds only. Therefore, if you are sure of your context, there is no quarrel to call Rama as Brahmana or Ravana as Brahmana. Hence, before the decision in this topic, kindly fix the context and then proceed into the nomenclature.
Earning money is not wrong because it is given the second respectable place in the category of the four achievements (Purushaartha). Earning the money is not a sin at all since without the money even a saint cannot maintain his or her life (Shareerayaatra... Gita). If you are a householder, your wife and children depend on you as the dependants with sincerity and love in serving you. Hence, it is your bound duty to earn the money for their maintenance also and satisfy them with all the comforts that you can provide to them. There is no trace of sin up to this point. All this is Pravrutti, by which you can reach the temporary heaven as reward. Even in Nivrutti, the Veda says that the sacrifice of money alone decides your divine love (Dhanena Tyagena Ekena...). The sin starts only when you grab the money of poor people through business and politics or even unjust professional ways to accumulate it for the sake of your family due to your blind passion to it. Remember that the family is not going to share even a trace of your sin even though they enjoy that sinful money earned by you. If you follow justice in your earning, this much is sufficient and you will be granted salvation even if you do not sacrifice single paise to God. There is a saying, which states that if you do not spread bad odour in the temple through purging, it is as good as litting a K.G. [Kilogram] of camphor before God! Hence, the qualities and subsequent related actions (Guna Karma) are very important in deciding the right direction in the right path to reach the right goal, which is the grace of God.
You said that following one's own tradition is always good as said by the Gita (Swadharme...). But, the tradition of a Brahmana set by the ancient sages should be taken and not the tradition set by the middle aged Brahmanas, who just recited the Vedas without knowing the knowledge. The tradition of a Brahmana (decided by qualities and actions) refers to that of the ancient sages and not the middle aged ignorant ancestors. Here, the word ‘Swadharma’ also refers to one's own religion like Hinduism, Christianity, Islam etc., since Universal Spirituality is one and the same in all the religions. Conversion of one's own religion is foolishness and this is also the meaning of this verse in the Gita.
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