Sree Krishna, the Lord of Love

by Baba Premananda Bharati

The physician, through the action of drugs, causes the attribute of Tama to assert itself and cover the mind's perception with its dark veil, so that the patient may not feel the pain of a serious operation on the body, while we feel no pleasure in eating or drinking if our mind is away from them.

The Yogi who has, by practice, developed unbroken consciousness of the separatness of the mental and physical body not only enjoys, when the consciousness is absolute, immunity from physical diseases and mishaps, but also does not feel the throes of death when he leaves his worn-out or diseased physical tenement. But the generality of mortals who cannot think of themselves as anything else but their physical bodies, owing to ignorance, suffer from all physical diseases. When these physical diseases put the physical counterparts of sense-organs into disorder, it confuses the mind when it finds that its channels of outward communication, the senses, can no longer work through them. In that confusion it loses its balance and is strongly swayed by the desire to again see and hear and feel and taste, etc.

But finding it impossible to do so in the present body any more, it tries to find some vehicle through which it can resume its functions. The pain of the worst stage of the physical disease distracts it more and more so that it thinks it would be more comfortable in any other body than its present one. In confusion, this central force of the astral body enters with that body into the volume of air which fills the physical body, thinking it will gain relief from the unbearable pain. And no sooner the astral body, which is very subtle and finer than the air, enters into it, than it passes out, thus air-encased, through the mouth, causing the death of the physical body. This is the common process of death. Some astral bodies enter the air-body unconsciously if the mind has been benumbed by pain or covered by the influence of excessive Tama. But this is certain of every ordinary soul that it goes out of the body encased in air.

The thought predominant in this supreme moment of human life decides the destination of the human soul encased in the astral body when it leaves its physical home. If we think of nothing but of Krishna at this moment we go to Krishna and live in His Abode, Goloka, the Abode of Absolute Love. If we think of Christ we go to Christ in His Father's Kingdom of Heaven. If we are filled with the conception of Nirvāna—extinction of all individuality—we go to Nirvāna. If we desire for higher life above the earth we go to the higher spheres. But if our earthly attachment having their influence on our thoughts at that moment, fill us with regret for being taken away from them or make us desire for earthly life, we return to earth-life again, but not necessarily to a joyful or comfortable life. A life of worldly joy and comfort is due to good Karma and self-denial in some previous existence. A life of sorrow and hardship is due to bad Karma.

The earth-bound soul, on leaving the physical body, feels overcome by the shock of its final trouble with and severance from that physical body and remains in an inert state for a time. When it recovers from that shock, it finds that it has been transferred to a worse state. Although the air-body in which it encased is not diseased, it has, however, no openings for its senses to perform their respective functions. It finds it cannot see or hear or smell or touch or taste anything and yet the desires for these objects of the senses are as strong as when it was in the physical body. This makes it weep for the loss of its dear physical body and it hovers about in space sad and restless. It has no stomach, yet is filled with mental hunger and thirst which grow intense because it has no means of satisfying them. Indeed, finding this astral life to be of greater torment, the unhappy earth-bound soul longs to have a flesh covering again, to be reborn, and flies hither and thither blindly, because of the want of physical organs, and some day gains this object. It enters, through the vigor (Sanscrit Virga, 'virjya,' force, power) of a man into a woman's womb. This causes conception. No conception can take place without a disembodied spirit entering the womb. Vigor mixed with the mother's blood supplies the physical body which is mere dead matter without the vivifying astral soul. It is only when an astral soul enters it that the womb closes and conception takes place. The incoming soul then feels itself confined within its scope and cannot go out of it by its own effort or will.

The selection of the vigor and the womb for the astral soul is made principally according to the subtle law of individual Karma and, secondarily, according to the law of affinity. The mental characteristics of the parents must be similar to those of the soul to draw it to them. As for its physical body, it may favor in appearance its mother or its father more or less according as their individuality and image are stamped on the vigor and the blood through the state of extreme mental concentration induced at the time. If the incoming soul possesses far stronger individuality than those of the father and the mother, it asserts this upon its body and the child looks like neither the father nor the mother. He looks like himself—a form and appearance born of the imagination of its own strong individuality.

This direct rebirth from hovering in the astral body in the astral plane for some time is not true in the case of every disembodied soul. There are souls which, after death, may go at once to Heaven ('Swarga,' Celestial regions) or to Purgatory, the nether regions. According to the Hindoo Scriptures, Heaven (Swarga) is not the Abode of God, but the abode of the gods, the Swar-sphere where the gods, the governors of the Elements and Attributes of Nature, dwell. It is the Prārabdha Karma of the soul that determines its translation after death to Heaven or Purgatory. The joys of Heaven are reserved as a reward for good Karma. And yet these heavenly joys are but finest forms of material happiness, enjoyed by merit of good actions performed in earth-life for the sake of just such recompense. These heaven-dwellers mentally enjoy all these exquisite pleasures of the senses at their will, as well as the company of celestial beings, as long as the term of their merit lasts. At the expiration of the term they come down to earth to be reborn again. These heavenly blessings are, therefore, but transitory.

Intensely wicked actions, in the same manner, are punished by a term of suffering tortures in Purgatory, at the expiration of which the purged souls may go straight to heaven, if good Prārabdha Karma succeeds their expiatory sufferings, or be reborn again on earth. The tendency of the pleasure-seeking, materialistic, modern mind is to disbelieve the existence of any such place of torture as Purgatory. They think that Heaven and Purgatory exist only on earth within man's mind. This is true and yet it is not. If anybody develops high spirituality he or she can taste higher, finer and more lasting joys than even celestial pleasures. For such there is neither Heaven nor Purgatory, for intense spirituality burns down all seeds of Karma. As to enduring the tortures of Purgatory here on earth through repentance, that is true too. But if the spirit of repentance is not absolute, it fails to fully purge away the sin, so that such sinful souls have to go to the nether regions for complete cleansing. The Hindoo Books do not believe in such a thing as Eternal Hell or Punishment, because it is absurd, unjust and unscientific according to the laws of Nature. The governor of "Naraka" (Purgatory) one of the gods, the presiding deity of (Dharmarāj) and the regions of his rule are situated within the bowels of the earth. Human houses of correction (prisons) tend more to corrupt than to correct, because those in charge of them are not imbued with a perfect spirit of sympathy, justice and mercy. In the Divine houses of correction (Purgatory) perfect justice blends with mercy and sympathy, and the governor thereof is the embodiment of these three attributes. He has to deal with his prisoners according to their own records of their misdeeds, reflected on the aura, a true copy of which is kept in the books of Ether, from which his Recording Angel transcribes items credited to each individual soul.

For the pious, spiritually developed soul, however, there is no Purgatory, as I have said. It lives and breathes in a plane which is outside of the three lower planes of selfish actions and their reactions, outside of the jurisdiction even of the gods. To his ensouled mind the word purgatory or heaven has no meaning whatever. He loves spirituality for its own dear sake and feels itself safe from all evil in the embrace of its protecting arms.

Into the vigor or the blood of such a spiritual soul, no wicked astral spirit can enter. Its pure aura repels such spirits and admits only kindred spirits seeking rebirth, drawn to it by Karma and affinity.