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PHRASES IN THE GITA - 28
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन ... (अध्याय ४ - श्लोक ५).
பஹூநி மே வ்யதீதாநி ஜன்மாநி தவ சார்ஜுன .. (அத்யாயம் 4 - ஶ்லோகம் 5).
Bahooni Me Vyateetaani Janmaani Tava Chaarjuna .. (Chapter 4 - Shloka 5).
Meaning : I have gone through many Lives and You too. I am aware of all those and You are not.
This is a grand statement on PunarJanma or Rebirth. There are two ways of looking at Human life on this planet. One : This is the only life. It starts with Birth and ends with Death. (What about the period spent in Mother's womb?) That is a Linear view, like a line, with a starting point and an ending one. Two: The other is a Cyclic View. Everything in the world, rather the whole creation is Cyclic, repetitive. Creation is Anaadi and Ananta. (अनादि | अनन्त |) The various 'Ends' and 'Beginnings' seen and experienced by us are but temporary and mere starts and ends of a new cycle.
Hindus view at everything with the Cyclic View. Haps and Mis-haps come and go. Seasons and Climates come and go. Grief and Joy come and go. Days and Nights come and go. Lives too come and go. Birth is not the beginning and death is not the end. (Which moment will you call as birth? The moment when Life comes out of Mother's womb? The moment when heart beat starts for the life? Or the moment of Union of male and female cells.? Or the moment when desire to beget a child springs in minds of parents??) Living demands energy, energy to work, energy to acquire, energy to assimilate, energy to dispose off wastes, energy for heart beat, energy for Lungs expansion, energy for Glandular function, energy to experience and enjoy, energy even to think, rationalize and decide. This is named 'Prana' (प्राण) in our thought system. There are supposed to be five types of Praana (पञ्च-प्राण) which cause various operations in our body.
Energy can not be created out of nothing. Energy will not vanish into nothing. It has to continue to exist, may be in different form. Source of Energy has to be Poorna, (Full). Gita mentions the Ocean in this regard. "Like the Ocean, which does not overflow with the inflow of so many rivers, which does not dry up with evaporation and creation of huge clouds... He too is full. Every Jeeva is created out of Him and enters and merges with Him. Yet, He is unperturbed and ever-Full. (Ch 2 - Shloka 70.)
Some children are born with disabilities, and diseases. Mere physical cause and effect theory are insufficient in explaining these phenomenon. One may argue that these are acquired from parents, which may be true in some cases. But, many children are born with strange disabilities and dreaded diseases, not found in parents. Science finds it difficult to explain these.
There was a strange case in Nagpur during my college days. There was a married woman living in shacks in norther Nagpur. She had never been to school or college and had never travelled beyond frontiers of Vidarbha. One day, she went into a trance - like state and started talking Bengali. She went through this experience once in a fortnight and it lasted for a few hours every time. She referred to village surroundings not found in Nagpur or Vidarbha. A group of elders in the family went to Bengal to find out the locations being mentioned by her, but gave up for want of funds.
Shri Ravi Kiran is an exponent of Gootu Vaadyam, a Sarod like musical instrument. Shri Varun is a bright and an up-coming singer of classical music. (He is son of my cousin Shri Shekhar Ganeshan - https://www.facebook.com/sekar.ganesan.60?ref=br_rs) Both these artistes performed on stage when they were barely three years old and not initiated into Musical training. The performances were of a different kind. Audience comprised of musicians, who sang bits of various Ragas, one after another. The child on the stage identified those Ragas, most of those within a few seconds. This seems a miracle, but easily understood with Punar-Janma concept. They have brought this talent from their previous births.
Shri Shridhar Bhaskar Warnekar started learning music at a ripe age of seventy. When asked about discontinuance in learning due to a possible death, he smiled and replied, "I'll continue it in my next birth". The concept of Punar-Janma is a great Motivator.
Man, with his limited vision and limited ability of perception and understanding, finds it hard to accept death of close and dear ones. "He / she was so full of energy and life. Where did he/she disappear? Let me narrate two experiences, one in South Afrika. This was shared by Shri Satish Komal in SA. "There lived a white man with his four children. His youngest child, then five years old, died a ghastly death under the wheels of his own car. He could not bear this sudden loss. He could not understand death. He went through phases of hysterical attacks, days in depression. He refused to return to normal living. He was taken to an old white lady for counselling. She asked him if he would want to speak to the child. He was surprised at the query. After a brief period of silence, he could hear the voice of his 'child'. He was excited. "Do you recognize me? I am your father", he said. "Yes. You were father to me in this trip. So many have been my Fathers in my various trips.. I am on my own path to my own destination. Please do not disturb, the voice replied. He could not grasp the idea expressed, but returned to normal life. He wanted to know from me about the idea of Rebirth.
The second one was a similar experience heard from a mother in Hrishikesh. She is a Sannyaasee now, but was a mother of twin brothers fifty years ago. Both her sons were swept away by Ganga. She was in deep grief and went into phases of fits and hysteria. She was taken to Shri JayadayalGoyenka of Gita Dham (Gita Press - Gorakhpur). The incident narrated by her was similar to the one in South Afrika. She calmed down, returned to normalcy and continued to stay in Hrisheekesh as a Sanyaasee. There is a similar incident mentioned in Shreemad Bhagawatham too. The idea of Punar-Janma is source of a great solace to a grieving mind. "Yes. She / He is dead, but will come back to our family". That is a soothing thought to grieving minds in the family. (That may or may not be true, but is definitely helpful for the moment, because the world has to go on.)
"We have come here in this earth so many times. I remember those trips and you do not".. says Shri Krishna. In Vishnu temples in southern Bharat, there is a practice of blessing the devotees by placing a crown like (or cap like) object made of brass. It is called Shataari...(षटारि / षट - अरि ) that which destroys Shata. Shata is an invisible covering around our heads which stops us from remembering our previous births. The Vaishnava Sadhu Shri Ramanuja, who lived around 1,500 years ago, has a name ShataKopa (षट कोप ). (Unfortunately, due to absence of proper letters to represent various sounds, this name is written and pronounced as Sadagopan in Tamil ) ShataKopa means 'One who was annoyed at Shata and asked it to go away'. Shri Ramanuja realized Self in an instant and also realized Knowledge and meaning of Life. It has now turned into a mundane ritual in temples. Neither the priest who places Shataari on our heads, nor we the devotees truly want Shata to be 'killed' and Knowledge of our true Self gained. May be Shata is a Natural arrangement to keep vast humanity in worldly life so that the world with all its fancies goes on.....
This is a grand statement on PunarJanma or Rebirth. There are two ways of looking at Human life on this planet. One : This is the only life. It starts with Birth and ends with Death. (What about the period spent in Mother's womb?) That is a Linear view, like a line, with a starting point and an ending one. Two: The other is a Cyclic View. Everything in the world, rather the whole creation is Cyclic, repetitive. Creation is Anaadi and Ananta. (अनादि | अनन्त |) The various 'Ends' and 'Beginnings' seen and experienced by us are but temporary and mere starts and ends of a new cycle.
Hindus view at everything with the Cyclic View. Haps and Mis-haps come and go. Seasons and Climates come and go. Grief and Joy come and go. Days and Nights come and go. Lives too come and go. Birth is not the beginning and death is not the end. (Which moment will you call as birth? The moment when Life comes out of Mother's womb? The moment when heart beat starts for the life? Or the moment of Union of male and female cells.? Or the moment when desire to beget a child springs in minds of parents??) Living demands energy, energy to work, energy to acquire, energy to assimilate, energy to dispose off wastes, energy for heart beat, energy for Lungs expansion, energy for Glandular function, energy to experience and enjoy, energy even to think, rationalize and decide. This is named 'Prana' (प्राण) in our thought system. There are supposed to be five types of Praana (पञ्च-प्राण) which cause various operations in our body.
Energy can not be created out of nothing. Energy will not vanish into nothing. It has to continue to exist, may be in different form. Source of Energy has to be Poorna, (Full). Gita mentions the Ocean in this regard. "Like the Ocean, which does not overflow with the inflow of so many rivers, which does not dry up with evaporation and creation of huge clouds... He too is full. Every Jeeva is created out of Him and enters and merges with Him. Yet, He is unperturbed and ever-Full. (Ch 2 - Shloka 70.)
Some children are born with disabilities, and diseases. Mere physical cause and effect theory are insufficient in explaining these phenomenon. One may argue that these are acquired from parents, which may be true in some cases. But, many children are born with strange disabilities and dreaded diseases, not found in parents. Science finds it difficult to explain these.
There was a strange case in Nagpur during my college days. There was a married woman living in shacks in norther Nagpur. She had never been to school or college and had never travelled beyond frontiers of Vidarbha. One day, she went into a trance - like state and started talking Bengali. She went through this experience once in a fortnight and it lasted for a few hours every time. She referred to village surroundings not found in Nagpur or Vidarbha. A group of elders in the family went to Bengal to find out the locations being mentioned by her, but gave up for want of funds.
Shri Ravi Kiran is an exponent of Gootu Vaadyam, a Sarod like musical instrument. Shri Varun is a bright and an up-coming singer of classical music. (He is son of my cousin Shri Shekhar Ganeshan - https://www.facebook.com/sekar.ganesan.60?ref=br_rs) Both these artistes performed on stage when they were barely three years old and not initiated into Musical training. The performances were of a different kind. Audience comprised of musicians, who sang bits of various Ragas, one after another. The child on the stage identified those Ragas, most of those within a few seconds. This seems a miracle, but easily understood with Punar-Janma concept. They have brought this talent from their previous births.
Shri Shridhar Bhaskar Warnekar started learning music at a ripe age of seventy. When asked about discontinuance in learning due to a possible death, he smiled and replied, "I'll continue it in my next birth". The concept of Punar-Janma is a great Motivator.
Man, with his limited vision and limited ability of perception and understanding, finds it hard to accept death of close and dear ones. "He / she was so full of energy and life. Where did he/she disappear? Let me narrate two experiences, one in South Afrika. This was shared by Shri Satish Komal in SA. "There lived a white man with his four children. His youngest child, then five years old, died a ghastly death under the wheels of his own car. He could not bear this sudden loss. He could not understand death. He went through phases of hysterical attacks, days in depression. He refused to return to normal living. He was taken to an old white lady for counselling. She asked him if he would want to speak to the child. He was surprised at the query. After a brief period of silence, he could hear the voice of his 'child'. He was excited. "Do you recognize me? I am your father", he said. "Yes. You were father to me in this trip. So many have been my Fathers in my various trips.. I am on my own path to my own destination. Please do not disturb, the voice replied. He could not grasp the idea expressed, but returned to normal life. He wanted to know from me about the idea of Rebirth.
The second one was a similar experience heard from a mother in Hrishikesh. She is a Sannyaasee now, but was a mother of twin brothers fifty years ago. Both her sons were swept away by Ganga. She was in deep grief and went into phases of fits and hysteria. She was taken to Shri JayadayalGoyenka of Gita Dham (Gita Press - Gorakhpur). The incident narrated by her was similar to the one in South Afrika. She calmed down, returned to normalcy and continued to stay in Hrisheekesh as a Sanyaasee. There is a similar incident mentioned in Shreemad Bhagawatham too. The idea of Punar-Janma is source of a great solace to a grieving mind. "Yes. She / He is dead, but will come back to our family". That is a soothing thought to grieving minds in the family. (That may or may not be true, but is definitely helpful for the moment, because the world has to go on.)
"We have come here in this earth so many times. I remember those trips and you do not".. says Shri Krishna. In Vishnu temples in southern Bharat, there is a practice of blessing the devotees by placing a crown like (or cap like) object made of brass. It is called Shataari...(षटारि / षट - अरि ) that which destroys Shata. Shata is an invisible covering around our heads which stops us from remembering our previous births. The Vaishnava Sadhu Shri Ramanuja, who lived around 1,500 years ago, has a name ShataKopa (षट कोप ). (Unfortunately, due to absence of proper letters to represent various sounds, this name is written and pronounced as Sadagopan in Tamil ) ShataKopa means 'One who was annoyed at Shata and asked it to go away'. Shri Ramanuja realized Self in an instant and also realized Knowledge and meaning of Life. It has now turned into a mundane ritual in temples. Neither the priest who places Shataari on our heads, nor we the devotees truly want Shata to be 'killed' and Knowledge of our true Self gained. May be Shata is a Natural arrangement to keep vast humanity in worldly life so that the world with all its fancies goes on.....
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