Transmigration: Here We Go Again!
B Shankar
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Sanatana Dharma subscribes to the principle of transmigration or reincarnation. In the Bhagwad Gita Krishna says, “All the worlds from the realm of Brahma down to the earth, are subject to rebirth, But O Arjuna, one who has attained to Me is never reborn“ (8:16).Again in 2:13 Krishna says, “An embodied soul continuously passes, in this body , from boyhood to youth to old age. The soul similarly passes into another body at death; a sober person is not deluded by such a change.“
Creation and dissolution helps the jiva to regain full divine nature overcoming domination of the material nature in the state of ignorance.
The creative period, when all the worlds are in manifestation, is called Kalpa and is followed by dissolution of the manifested world into the elemental condition and this period is called Pralaya. Kalpa and Pralaya are said to be of equal duration, alternating in a cyclic process.
All jivas are involved in this cyclic process, undergoing birth and death continuously according to their karma, enjoying and suffering. This entanglement in the cycle of births and death is samsara. Delinking of jiva from this cyclic process of time is the ultimate aim of evolution. The attainment of delinking is called moksha. Attaining the Lord is the way to moksha.
In the seventh chapter Krishna says, “I have two power of manifestation, Prakrtis, lower and higher. Lower prakrt is material nature, consisting o earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intellect and ego. Higher prakrt is my manifestation as jivas or centres of consciousness.“ The former is my unconscious nature and the latter, conscious nature.Consisting of subtle and gross bodies, the human body evolves out of this material Nature. The subtle body persists through all embodiments until the jiva gains liberation, attaining to his natural state as Purusha.
In chapter 15 Krishna says, “A fraction of myself, immortal in nature, having become the embodied spirit in the world of the living, attracts to himself the mind and five senses born of Prakrti“ that he has chosen to be part of all jivas by subjecting himself to the vagaries of mind and senses and thus blundering through, life after life! This also answers the perennial question as to why a human being commits sin when there is a resident God in the body .
Prakrti is infinite with countless dimensions in which different world systems, lokas, coexist without mutual intrusion and the jiva finds embodiment in these different lokas according to his karma. It seems the jiva evolves through countless births before realising his innate divinity! We can reasonably assume that there has to be a Supreme Intellect guiding and directing the soul in its post-mortal journey , deciding what experiences or vasanas to discard and what to acquire in the next birth. A portion of chitta or mindstuff is the only thing to accompany the soul on its journey , carrying impressions gathered in past lives.
To end transmigration of soul, depending on one's aptitude and disposition, one can choose any path like pure devotion or detached and dedicated work or knowledge or even a combination of all, leading up to receiving Divine grace, as only Grace can lead one to the Goal.
First ,sit up and resolve that you will not do any more causative karma which would add to the karma bank and with this your inner character gets embellished, giving space and time for the balance karma to play out and finally move on to the path to salvation.
Creation and dissolution helps the jiva to regain full divine nature overcoming domination of the material nature in the state of ignorance.
The creative period, when all the worlds are in manifestation, is called Kalpa and is followed by dissolution of the manifested world into the elemental condition and this period is called Pralaya. Kalpa and Pralaya are said to be of equal duration, alternating in a cyclic process.
All jivas are involved in this cyclic process, undergoing birth and death continuously according to their karma, enjoying and suffering. This entanglement in the cycle of births and death is samsara. Delinking of jiva from this cyclic process of time is the ultimate aim of evolution. The attainment of delinking is called moksha. Attaining the Lord is the way to moksha.
In the seventh chapter Krishna says, “I have two power of manifestation, Prakrtis, lower and higher. Lower prakrt is material nature, consisting o earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intellect and ego. Higher prakrt is my manifestation as jivas or centres of consciousness.“ The former is my unconscious nature and the latter, conscious nature.Consisting of subtle and gross bodies, the human body evolves out of this material Nature. The subtle body persists through all embodiments until the jiva gains liberation, attaining to his natural state as Purusha.
In chapter 15 Krishna says, “A fraction of myself, immortal in nature, having become the embodied spirit in the world of the living, attracts to himself the mind and five senses born of Prakrti“ that he has chosen to be part of all jivas by subjecting himself to the vagaries of mind and senses and thus blundering through, life after life! This also answers the perennial question as to why a human being commits sin when there is a resident God in the body .
Prakrti is infinite with countless dimensions in which different world systems, lokas, coexist without mutual intrusion and the jiva finds embodiment in these different lokas according to his karma. It seems the jiva evolves through countless births before realising his innate divinity! We can reasonably assume that there has to be a Supreme Intellect guiding and directing the soul in its post-mortal journey , deciding what experiences or vasanas to discard and what to acquire in the next birth. A portion of chitta or mindstuff is the only thing to accompany the soul on its journey , carrying impressions gathered in past lives.
To end transmigration of soul, depending on one's aptitude and disposition, one can choose any path like pure devotion or detached and dedicated work or knowledge or even a combination of all, leading up to receiving Divine grace, as only Grace can lead one to the Goal.
First ,sit up and resolve that you will not do any more causative karma which would add to the karma bank and with this your inner character gets embellished, giving space and time for the balance karma to play out and finally move on to the path to salvation.
