Rebirth

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पुनरपि जननं पुनरपि मरणं पुनरपि जननी जठरे शयनम् ।

इह संसारे बहुदुस्तारे कृपया पारे पाहि मुरारे ।।

(Moha Mudgara - Shankaracharya) This unbearable mundane Life (Samsara) wrought with repeated birth-death, disease and suffering and sleeping in mother's womb, is impossible to overcome. O! Murari (Krishna, the destroyer of ignorance) take mercy and help me to cross this ocean of Samsara.

Of all the life on earth, human birth is very difficult to get. Having obtained this most difficult, rare and highest human birth, men fritter away precious one hundred years in perishable material pursuits and at the end walk to death like sheep walking to a slaughter house.

Everyone knows the imminence of death and is also afraid of it. But because he thinks "This is the only life, the first and the last, and since there is no return after death, so let me enjoy while I can," he forgets all about death. And when faced with death, he helplessly offers himself to the jaws of death.

न साम्परायः प्रति भाति बालं प्रमाद्यन्तं वित्तमोहेन मूढम् ।

अयं लोको नास्ति पर इति मानी पुनः पुनर्वशमापद्यते मे ।

(Katha Upanishad 1.2.6)

Without knowing the value of human life, and even refusing to listen when told by wise men, man is engaged in earning money by immoral means and thereby earning sin. He never thinks of another world after death and that he will have to suffer for the sins committed (karma) Whatever is visible to the eye, that is all the world there is. There is nothing beyond. According to him, life after death, heaven, hell, etc., are imaginations of the weak. People of this kind of mentality repeatedly offer themselves to the noose of death (Yama) and keep suffering again and again, being born in the lowest species.

Death being imminent, inevitable and frightful, man's only objective in life must be, "How to overcome death?" But nobody is interested in it except a few medical researchers who, with their limited interest are only engaged in prolonging the suffering of the dying, decrepit old body. The reason why man is not concerned about death is that he does not know that there is going to be another death and yet another without end; and that there is a way out of this endless suffering and it is within everybody's competency to become free from death. He will certainly do something if he is convinced of the inevitability of another life and if he knows that his effort to free himself is going to be fruitful.

This book is targeted towards serious sadhakas, who, having been convinced of the evanescent nature of material happiness and the hollowness of seeking happiness in the external world, have embarked on the inward journey to seek permanent happiness within them, with the goal of self- realisation. The book starts off with a brief preamble, which sketches the primary agenda of the book, viz., to show you a way to permanent peace and happiness. This is followed by the Introduction, which takes the reader through the broad chapter-wise content of the book. The book is best read from beginning to end, spending time to cogitate on the Truths embedded in them. It is organized into fourteen chapters, gradually building on the central theme that human beings reap what they sow. The intricate theory of karma, which is so central to Hinduism and to Vedantic philosophy, is explained in a crystal clear manner.

The first chapter, appropriately titled, 'Unraveling the Mystery of Death, is meant to set the context for the rest of the book. In this chapter, the mystery of death is revealed. While every living creature is afraid of death and encounters death every day, ironically, no one imagines that the same fate awaits each of us. Much less, most of us are ill-prepared when this final moment of reckoning arrives at our doorstep! This chapter suggests that death is nothing to be afraid of, but is a natural transition of the Atma (soul) from one body to another. Once the mystery of death is deeply understood and internalised, the reader immediately has in his possession, the secret keys to peace and happiness.