Posted on: 08 Feb 2022
[Question sent by Shri Lakshman: Padanamaskaram Swami. Please could You answer this question raised by Mr. Louis Nazmul to a Quote Message posted by Smt. Meena Lakshman. "Love of God alone is permanent" - this is good. But I have a question about this part - "the love between souls is not only temporary, but also unreal." Why is it temporary and unrealistic? If their relationship has a great and higher purpose and this relationship is successfully completed here in this world, how can you not think that it can continue their relationship in the hereafter? Don’t you think that the relationship between souls can last at the end of their journey (here and thereafter) and eventually be reunited with God? Although, if you believe that each individual soul originates from God Himself. Thank you for your service though. At Thy Lotus feet, Regards, Lakshman]
Swami replied:- Compared to the absolute reality, the relative reality is unreal. Shankara told that any temporary thing is also unreal by itself in all the three times namely past, present and future. This can be proved by the cinema shooting bond between two roles acted by two actors in the shooting. Neither the two actors had this shooting bond before the shooting nor they had it after the shooting. Since it is existing during the time of the shooting, you may say that the bond is temporary, which means that it is not unreal. But, if you analyse more patiently and more deeply, this shooting bond is temporary even during the short span of the shooting time. Even during the time of the shooting, the two actors are not really husband and wife or son and mother. Reality is always permanent existing in all the three times as said by Shankara (Trikālābādhya sattā). Unreal does not exist in any of these three times. From one cinema to other cinema, the bonds between the roles are constantly and continuously varying because such bonds are unreal. There cannot be change in the reality of a real item (Yadanityaṃ tat kṛtakṃ hi loke - Shankara).