Sathya Sai Vahini - Chapter 8

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Sathya Sai Vahini

 

Chapter 8

Bondage

 

A person can discard as many gross bodies in which he takes temporary

residence, as the number of times he pares his nails. But, the subtle

body cannot be changed; it lasts and persists. This is the most secret

doctrine of Bharathiya spiritual thought. Going further along this

line of discovery, it can be revealed that man means: a complex of

the gross body, the subtle body and the Jivi (the Individual). The

Vedantic philosophy would declare that the Jivi shares the quality of

Eternal unchanging Everlastingness (Nithya). Prakrithi or the

objective World is also eternal, but, with a difference, It undergoes

perpetual change; it is never the same; but, it persists for ever.

The basis for the objective world, namely, Prana (the life force) and

Akasa (Space or ether) are eternal, but, they act and interact

without rest and manifest variously and manifoldly.

 

The Individual Atma (the Jivatma) did not have its origin in either

Akasha or Prana; it is not material in nature. So, it is eternal,

without any change. It did not happen through the impact of Prana on

Akasa, or Akasa on Prana. Things brought together will disintegrate.

But things that are 'themselves' ab initio cannot so come apart. For,

disintegration means 'resuming the original nature', 'becoming what it

originally was', 'reducing itself to its native substance'. The gross

body is the result of the combination of Prana and Akasa and so, it

dissolves itself into its components. The subtle body too dissolves

but, only after a long long time. The Jivi is not brought together,

so, it cannot fall apart. It has no birth. It cannot be born. A

unitive part-less being can have no moment of origin.

 

The objective world or Prakrthi, consisting of billions and billions

of varied things, forces and events is governed by the Will of God.

God is All knowing, All-penetrating, All-pervading; He is activating

Prakrthi and acting through Prakrthi, all the time. Prakrthi is ever

in His care. His sovereignty is beginningless and endless. This is

the doctrine of the Dualists, the Dwaithins.

 

This gives room for one question. When the world is ruled by God, how

does He permit it to be so wicked and vile? The answer given is that

God is not responsible for the grief and the pain. The sins we commit

are the progenitors of the grief we suffer. Joy and sorrow are the

consequences of the good and the evil that man perpetrates. God is the

Witness. He does not punish, nor does He cause grief. The Jivi is

beginningless, that is to say, he has no birth but, he involves

himself in incessant activity and so he has to go through the

inevitable consequences of that activity. This is the experience of

every one, the characteristic of every one's mind. This is the

unbreakable law of the objective world or Prakrthi. Grief or joy is

the image of the activity one engages in. It is the resound, the

reflection, the reaction. The Jivi can be the witness without

concerning himself with the good and the bad of the activity. When

involvement happens, good will have to be experienced when good is

done, and evil will have to be experienced when evil is done.

 

The Vedanta asserts that the Jivi is by its very nature, pure and

unblemished. This is the accepted doctrine according to Bharathiya

thought. But, this truth has been befogged by ignorance and neglect.

So, maya pollutes the experience and the shade of ignorance breeds

evil. But, when sathkarma or beneficial activity is engaged in, the

clouds of maya are scattered and the Reality of the Self is realised.

All beings, all jivis are by their very nature pure. Good acts can

remove the taints of evil deeds and preserve its essential purity.

Then, the jivi is led into the Godward path, the Devayana. The

Godward urge will transform the words, the thoughts and the deeds of

the individual.

 

We cannot think without words; words are the essential material for

thought. When the individual drops the body, the words enter the mind;

the mind enters the prana or life-force and the prana merges in the

Atma. The Atma (Individualised in the body) when it liberates itself

rushes to the Suryaloka, the Region of the Solar Principle, the Surya.

From thence, it reaches the region of Brahma, the Brahma-loka. Having

reached that region, the individualised Atma or Jivatma has no more

concern with Prakrthi. It will exist there till the end of Time. It

will experience boundless Delight. It will have all powers except the

powers of Creation.

 

The authority to rule over the Cosmos is exclusive to God. God is free

from desires of all varieties. Man's duty is but to offer Him Love and

worship Him through Love. This raises man to be highest status among

beings. Those who are unaware of this status or incapable of

discharging its responsibilities belong to other categories. They too

offer and worship, they too engage themselves in beneficial activity.

But they crave for the fruits they hope to gain; they perform acts

motivated by a desire to benefit from the results that emerge

therefrom. " We have helped the helpless; so, our path will be smooth

and safe. We have uplifted the downtrodden; so, we can avoid troubles

on our road. We have busied ourselves in singing the Lord's Glory in

chorus (Bhajan); so, we are sure of Heaven " - these are the

calculations of people of this nature who engage themselves in 'good

acts'. When such people give up their bodies, that is to say, when

such people die, their words will merge in their minds, their minds

will merge in their Prana, and the Prana, thereafter will merge in

the Jivi, and the Jivatma will travel to the Region of the Moon

Principle (the Chandra-loka), that is to say, the Loka of the

Presiding Deity of the Mind... suggesting that they have to

enter again the realm of the mind with all its agitations and turmoils

of wants and wishes. In the Chandra-loka, such Jivis will experience

some satisfaction and delight, until the consequence of the good acts

lasts. That is why it is said in the scriptures: Ksheene Punye,

marthyalokam visanthi. (When the acquired merit is spent, they enter

again the world of mortal men). The Jivatma encases itself in a body

equipped with sense organs etc, appropriate to the earned consequences

of the deeds of the previous body, and starts another life-career. The

residence of the soul in the Chandraloka is what the Hindus refer to

as the time spent as a Deva in Heaven or as an Angel according to

Christian and Islamic religions. The name Devendra given to the Lord

of these Devas is an indication of a position of authority. Thousands

have risen to that position.

 

According to the Vedas, when the highest good is observed, that person

is elevated to the position of Devendrahood. The soul raised

previously to that position will descend to the earth and resume its

career in human form. Just as on earth monarchs change, in heaven too

rulers cannot escape rise and fall. The residents of Heaven too are

subject to the law of ups and downs. It is only the Brahmaloka that

is free from birth and death, rise and fall, ups and downs. This is

the basic doctrine of Bharathiya thought, its eternal nectar,

administered to humanity.

 

When the Jivatma is as a Deva in the Chandraloka, it cannot manifest

any Karma. Only man can express himself through Karma which binds him

by its consequence. Karma means activity undertaken with desire, with

an eye on the result. When the soul is in Chandraloka as a Deva, it

is content and satisfied and so, it will not crave for activity for

earning pleasure or achieving some success. The residence in that

Loka is the reward it has secured for the good deeds done by it in

the past, or it may be the prize won for such goodness. When the

delight emanating from the good deeds is experienced and spent away,

the balance of the consequence accumulated has to be suffered and so,

the soul has to come as man on earth. Then, attaining the highest

good and engaging himself in acts of highest potency for merit, he

can cleanse his heart and reach Brahmaloka from whence there is no

coming back.

 

The word Naraka can nowhere be found in the Vedas. The conception of

Hell is foreign to the spiritual thought of the Bharathiyas. The idea

of Hell and the various descriptions of Hell are all later additions

in the Sastras and Puranas. The authors of these texts believed that

religion will be incomplete if it does not posit Hell. They laid down

diverse tortures as part of Hell, but, they laid down one limit to

the pain Hell inflicts. They declared that there can be no death in

Hell. The purpose for which Hell was created was only to incite fear

among the people in order to make them desist from sin.

 

But, Adwaitha does not posit Heaven or Hell. It is concerned only with

Bondage and Liberation, Ignorance and Illumination. It is known as

Vedanta. There is no faith higher than what Vedanta stands for.