On the Wings of Death

Birth and death Birth and death are the two unavoidable painful events in everyone’s life.

- SWAMI SHUDDHABODHANANDA SARASWATI

Though the birth of a child may be rejoiced by the relatives, it is certainly painful to the newly arriving entity. It is clear from the invariable crying of a newly born child. Everyone enters this world with a confirmed irrevocable return ticket to depart from here. It is irrevocable because it cannot be cancelled unlike other confirmed return tickets. Only the solace is that the return date is not disclosed by Parameshvara. Otherwise the person will be jeevanmrita, dead even while living! Such a departure of the individual entity jiva leaving behind the present physical body is called death. At that time the subtle body of the individual accompanied by a few other necessary factors departs and travels to the next body and enters it. Such an entry is the new birth of that jiva. The Brihadaranyakopanishad, Jyotirbrahmana, and Saareerakabrahmana1 describe in detail this transmigration. The Chhandogyopanishad2 also describes it. This is to inculcate vairagya in the mind of a mumuksu by highlighting the unavoidable pain involved in the birth and death.

While on the verge of death

The Upanishad gives the illustration of a jiva (atma endowed with ignorance) returning from the dream state to the waking to describe paralokagamana, transmigration. Like going from dream to the waking, the jiva goes from this body to another loka (field of experience).3 The jiva leaves behind all that is done and experienced in the dream there itself and enters the waking state. Similarly, leaving behind everything done and gained in this world, the jiva goes to another loka. A lesson can be taken from this. People earn punya to go to heavenly lokas hereafter, but none earns papa, sin, to go to hell. Sinful actions are indulged in to amass quicker gains here in this loka