12 Jul 2022
[A question by Shri PVNM Sharma]
Swami replied:- Salvation means liberation from something that binds you. If you are bound by a rope, your liberation from the binding rope is called salvation. In spiritual knowledge, your liberation from the worldly bonds that are binding you with fascination is called salvation. Now, the fundamental question comes “why should I get liberation from the fascination of worldly bonds?” The answer is that you are perfectly correct because fascination is inevitable and is also liked by you. Moreover, the mind needs fascination due to some attracting bond. The mind can’t exist in an isolated state without being in a bond and its fascination. Even if you liberate yourself from all bonds and from all their fascination, you will shortly return back to that bond with doubled fascination! This means that the mind requires fascination of some bond without which it will die.
We are observing in the world that the climax fascination towards a bond is relieving you from all other bonds. A person very strongly attracted to a prostitute is totally relieved from all other worldly bonds. Similarly, if the soul is fascinated to God, all the worldly bonds are spontaneously dropped off without a trace of effort. Such dropout of worldly bonds is only a secondary consequence but not a primary effect due to your effort. Such liberation from all the worldly bonds is the real salvation and the mind is also fully satisfied since it is involved in the fascination of the bond with God. If the worldly bonds are dropped by your effort, such liberation from worldly bonds is unreal (since you will return back with double force after a short time) and cannot be called as salvation.
Salvation should be mental and not physical. Even if you are alive, you can get salvation from the worldly bonds while you are living with the worldly bonds. Even if you leave the worldly bonds physically, that is not real salvation because your mental fascinations exist in your mind even after death. Once you are liberated from the fascinations of the worldly bonds, you have got salvation while you are alive here, which is called Jiivan mukti. The soul getting Jiivan mukti is automatically getting salvation after death also, which is called as Videha mukti. The point is that your status continues to be the same after death as it is now. If you get salvation here while alive, you will get salvation after death also. If you do not have salvation while you are alive, you will not get salvation after death also.
People foolishly think that the ultimate goal is not to have rebirth in this world. This is the climax of ignorance. Even God is taking birth in this world again and again. Are you greater than God to avoid rebirth in this world? Even souls getting salvation are born in this world again and again to assist God (Human incarnation) in His divine program. When the soul after getting salvation is reborn here, it will not be attached mentally with these worldly bonds even though it is living in these worldly bonds. Hence, salvation is mental detachment from the fascination of worldly bonds and not detachment from the worldly bonds in a physical sense.
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