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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Indestructible nature of soul

 

CHENNAI, APRIL 25. One of the reasons for men getting distressed

is due to their excessive attachment to the physical body of

flesh and blood. Grief, infatuation and similar factors affecting

a person are the properties of the body and mind and not of the

soul which God has placed within it. After the period of

existence in this world assigned by the Almighty, everyone has to

quit and the body perishes. But the soul within transmigrates and

continues to exist in some other frame. The soul is hence beyond

the ambit of past or future, it can never be destroyed and has

thus no essential relationship with the body. Just as a man wears

new clothes casting off old and worn-out ones, so too the soul,

leaving aside its temporary shelter (the withered body) enters a

new one.

 

This was one of the explanations given by God when a hero

suddenly turned sad and refused to do his legitimate duty. Lord

Krishna who removes the mistaken notion of this hero, asks him to

do his duty, as a warrior. The Lord urges everyone to develop

devotion to God, have faith in Him, adapt spiritual exercises,

seek guidance of a teacher and reach God's kingdom. This main

message is enshrined in God's hymn, the Bhagavad Gita.

 

In his Mahabharatham lecture, Sri K. P. Arivanandam referred to

the nature and destiny of man and the fundamentals of Hindu

philosophy incorporated in the Gita, in an hour of crisis. The

special feature of this divine song is that it has been commented

upon by all the three eminent spiritual leaders, each drawing the

sources to present the doctrines they propagated. A doubt that is

often raised is about the time taken for the delivery of this

glorious message and whether it was possible for the Lord to do

so amidst the bustle of the war theatre. Commentators say that

the Gita was recited before the battle actually started and to

spare about 100 minutes during the preliminary preparations could

not have been an impossible task. Arjuna opened out his heart and

laid bare before the Lord, all that he felt and thought and why

when he came determined to face aggressors, was suddenly stricken

with remorse as in his opinion he would be responsible for

killing so many in the event of mutual attacks. Nothing can be

farther from truth than to label this scripture as one conducive

to wars urging man to take to arms. The gift of life has been

given to us by nature and God but the art of living is based on

the wisdom the Gita teaches us: ``Pursue your duty. Not only is

there no sin in the discharge of it; if you walk away from it, it

is sin.''

 

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