Some thoughts on Death and Immortality-18

March 2, 2007

SAI RAM Dear Brothers and Sisters,

A personal mail has been received by this humble self from a young mother, who is a member of this group. The contents of the mail has brought tears in my eyes. Poor Sai sister has lost her only child under tragic circumstances. She wants an answer from me as to " why God has been cruel to me in as much as He has snatched away my young child " .

It is human tendency to grieve over the death of blood relations, the intensity of grief being directly related to the closeness of the bereaved or mourner with the deceased. Death of a child affects the mother more than anybody else.

I can do no better than quoting Swamy`s words in this regard. Swamy has said, " Young or old relate to the body. It is the body that ages. It is the body that is young. It is the body that is old. So, young and old are the terms applicable to the body. But the soul is eternal. " In the earlier life, or in the previous lifes, that soul might have been pining and praying fro merger into the Divine. Even though the child is young from our point of view, the soul is ,so to say, pretty aged. It is immortal and eternal. It does not want to remain outside. It wants to be one with the Divine. It is like the drop of water wanting to merge back with the ocean. The drop and ocean are one and the same.

Moreover, a jiva has to exhaust all accumulated Karmas either in one or several succesive births. Everytime a jiva dies, the soul looks for a suitable body in which it can take birth for exhausting its PRARABDA Karmas. The body dies once the the purpose of incarnation in that body is fulfilled. Such a death can take place at any age. THE LONGEVITY OF THE AVATAR IN any BIRTH IS VERY MUCH DEPENDENT ON THE quantum and type of PRARABDA KARMAS TO BE EXHAUSTED AND IT VARIES FROM INDIVIDUAL TO INDIVIDUAL.

With Loving SAI RAMs,

G.Balasubramanian