7-12-2014 GLIMPSES FROM BHAGAVATAM (102): When everyone re-assembled in the morning after their morning routine which included an early morning bath in the cold river water, Sandhya Vandanam invoking the Goddess of the Dawn (who clears the Earth of its darkness making the job of the Sun-God easier), Surya Namaskaras, Pranayamas, and light break-fast of fruits, nuts and raw milk, Suta restarted: “Lord Vishnu takes birth in this world when and atrocities are committed and dharma is suppressed. You will appreciate these avatharas better if you know the difference between His birth and the repeated birth of an average human being. Human mind has 4 aspects – manas (looking out), budhi (looking in), chitta (hard-disk storing saved experiences of each life) and ego (“I” sense). These 4 are emptied after death and fresh mind-intellect-chitta is received – that is why the new-born has no memories of past births. Below the mind is the ‘seed’ or karana sharira (source code) which is the net essence of all our worldly exposures till date. These ‘karma-phalas’ (fruits of our actions) are accumulated inside the seed just like a recurring deposit in a bank. But, punyas cannot be set off against papas - they have to be suffered/ enjoyed either in this life or later. Since both enjoying and suffering has to happen with a human body, man is born again and again. This is Karma theory in a nut shell. How to stop this cycle? First, stop accumulating new papa or punya through practice of Karma Yoga – faithfully dedicating actions to the Lord. Dedication is complete when we are convinced through scriptural knowledge that “this body/mind is not m’ – Lord functioning through me is the actor and I am only a role played by him. Similar to me, He is everything and everywhere”. When we are convinced that God is acting and we are only instruments, we will not be ‘actors’ – so results of actions will not bind us. This ‘knowledge about God’ will wipe off all the accumulated papas/punyas called ajnana (anti-knoweldge). Since the ‘seed’ is burnt, when the present life ends, there will be no more rebirth. This is ‘jeevan mukthi’ or freedom from rebirth. We will become body-less like rishis and will be available to the Lord. But Lord is not bound by karma because he is master of Maya, never dluded, has no ego and all his actions are self-less (shuddha sathvam). His birth is on his own choice. Jeeva’s birth can be compared to a person who has ‘fallen’ into the well while Ishara’s avathara is like that of a savior ‘descending’ into the same well to save the victim. Though both are going into the same waters, their motivations are different - one is helpless and the other is helpful – one is bound the other is free. Naturally, His birth is very different from the average birth of a human being. Let us now unravel the mysteries behind his Avatharams.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 02:23:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015