Punah Janmas

[Guest guest]

Sumanth writes:

>1. Is one's birth is determined by chance, by law, or by one's free

>will? Provided that a jivam has not taken any of the five-fold

>paths to moksha, does the jivam, at the time of death have the

>"choice," of the next womb that it will enter? If it has no

>choice, is the next womb determined by random chance? or is it

>determined by a set of "rules" for which a jivAtma has no control?

 

It has been sometime since I have thoroughly studied such scriptures as Sri

Bhagavad Geetha which discuss this topic. But, from my understanding, the

whole process of birth and re-birth is not by chance but is based on a

complicated series of laws based on the jiva's experiences and actions.

Through its experiences in various bodies, and its responses to these, the

cetana's subtle body, which shrouds it in ignorance, gains certain gunAs,

which direct its actions and consequently, directs its future birth. A

complicated series of debits and credits, papams and punyams,

quasi-controlled by the choices the soul makes, define where the soul goes

next.

 

Popularistic beliefs hold, though, that while the choice of where the cetana

goes next is based on these defined laws, the Lord out His compassion allows

like minded souls who developed attachments for each other in one birth, to

continue to remain together in another birth. Although this is a somewhat

sentimental theme, it does provide some interesting thoughts into how

friendships sometimes crop up when they are least expected, and how our

arranged marriage system has, in general, worked so well.

 

It is important to note, though, that throughout the countless births the

Lord is always there, guiding and protecting us, and slowly cultivating in

us the devotion that hopefully, will remove the ego and ignorance and allow

us to realize Him. The Srirangam Acharyas liken this to a farmer planting

and harvesting crops. The Lord as the farmer carefully tills the soil by

protecting the cetana through its many experiences, plants the seed of

devotion in the soul's heart, and continues to care for and feed this tiny

seed until devotion blooms in full.

>2. Is one required to be a Sri Vaishnava to attain moksha? I know

>one can quote Bhagavad Gita and say that all paths lead to Sriman

>Narayana. But these passages only establish this in the "asymptotic"

>limit; namely, one will *eventually* find Sriman Narayana regardless

>of the path. However, they say *nothing* about what happens at the

>conclusion of any given birth.

 

This question is a somewhat difficul one, since many of the world's

religions claim to have exclusive rights to the path to salvation. I

personally do not think it is for us to judge which is right. From our

perspective, however, it must be understood that Moksha can only be provided

by the Lord, Sriman Narayana, and is a direct result of only His Grace.

Consequently, it can be argued that one's jAti, one's religion, one's race,

is all irrelevant. What is only required on our part is to transcend our

guNa controlled egos, which delude is into thinking that we are responsibile

for our own survival and salvation, and simply ask for and accept His

Unfathomable Grace.

 

However, for the purpose of not making our religion seem completely

unnecessary, I should point out the view that correct wisdom is required to

achieve such a mood of humility. Such a knowledge can only come about

through a proper understanding of prapatti as it is discussed in our three

rahasyas. As this traditionally is provided only to initiated

SriVaishnavas, it can be stated that the practice of SriVaishnavism as a

religion (i.e., one need not be born into this) is required to lead one to

salvation.

 

Daasanu Daasan,

 

Mohan