Venkat: Namaskar Swamiji, 1)Why did Souls (atma) have taken material Bodies?
2)Why Souls cannot be in pure soul state in this material world? (why do souls mix with material qualities and material things)?
3)Why do souls forget truth in the material universe?
4)What was the Reason for the existence of Souls in this Material Universe?
5)What was the Reason for creation or existence of this material universe?
Pranam Swamiji, Thank you
Swami Ram Swarup: Namaskarji.
(i) Soul takes living body based on his good and bad deeds.
(ii) Soul is mixed with material qualities because soul is attracted by Prakriti made materialistic articles.
(iii) As quoted above, souls forget truth and their own form, duly attracted towards materialistic articles of the world, made of non-alive Prakriti.
(iv) Reasons are as quoted above.
Purpose of soul acquiring body
Automatically srishti is created and automatically souls come in body of living beings according to good or bad deeds. Suppose, soul does not acquire body then it is a law that soul will remain in Sushupt avastha (like in coma). So what will be the use of man or woman who remains in coma for years together?
At the time of non-sexual creation, Vedas emanate direct from God and are originated in the heart of four Rishis. This all is for the benefit of human beings. So Vedas are also eternal as Vedas have not been written by anybody.
So wrong being in coma like stage is that soul will be considered lazy and will be of no use for himself and for others. People when see a person in coma, they feel sad and shower mercy for him. But I may tell here strictly that these lines are based on assumption only which is dangerous klesh as per Yog shastra Sutra 1/6 and 1/9 being Vikalp Vriti, I have explained this Vritti in comments (detailed description) of Yog shastra which may be read there. In short, Vikalp Vritti is that vritti in which one being a lazy person will be thinking and creating own stories, the fact of which is never seen on the earth. For example –Kapil Muni in his Sankhya Shastra sutra 5/52 states that such false knowledge is like a thought that man has horn on his head which is totally false. Secondly if someone says that the man is carrying bow made of horns of hare/rabbit. Whereas rabbit has no horns.
In Vedas God has advised only that if human being wants happiness and to be away from diseases, sorrows, tensions, problems, death etc, then he should follow the Vedas and must do worship of God, otherwise he may avoid Vedas and worship. So there is no compulsion in Vedas to worship God. On the contrary, it is mentioned “Swantrata hi karta” i.e., man or woman are free to follow or not to follow the Vedas but result will be awarded by God. So the knowledge of Vedas is given by the God for the benefit of human beings and not for the benefit of God. Secondly, We all use sun, moon, air, water, earth and every matter of the universe made by God for our benefit and the use thereof is already mentioned in Vedas. Then we become happy to utilize the same but still remain in diseases, problems, sorrows etc. Therefore if we obey spiritualism of the Vedas, we will really be happy. This is preached by God in Vedas. So it is upto the people. They may or may not follow the Vedas.
Yes, the God is not affected whether we praise Him or not but people are affected. Why? If we worship, we remain the happiest and if we do not worship we always remain in trouble, sorrows etc. God is our commander and even like our father. Father nurses and so does God while providing us with food etc. So there is only Almighty and omnipresent power in the shape of God who only selflessly nurses us and makes all materials available to us for our benefit. So if in return we do not thank Him then we are indulged in thanklessness which is further a great sin. A gentleman always try to thank the others for the deeds which have been done for him for his benefit. But if we do not remember God who is really more than an ocean/source of all benefits to us then what why will we not be called the most thankless.
Souls are uncountable but God is one who is omnipresent. The soul who has got moksha will remain liberated in the next creation also and he even experiences the time of final destruction and the time of next creation
However, soul gets moksha and not body. A yogi who has got moksha touches electric wire knowingly or unknowingly he will die. But soul residing within his body will not be affected. Or somebody gives poison to a liberated person, the effect of poison will be in his body and he will die, then too soul always remains unaffected. Question of not following the Vedic path after moksha never arises.
(v) In this connection, I paste my article below:-
Why God has created the universe?
It is usually asked as to why God should create all this at all. Why indicates “mark of interrogation” i.e., question, that is, what is the reason behind? So, actually the above question will be what is the reason behind creation of the universe? Its answer will be that creation is eternal. A deep study of four Vedas reveals that God, prakriti and souls are called “Swayambhu”. Swayambhu means which has not been made by anyone. The universe is created from prakriti but prakriti is non-alive and God is alive. At a stipulated time (which is eternal) power of God (not God) acts in prakriti and universe is created. This creation is eternal then the power of God nurses the creation and automatically at a stipulated time, the final destruction takes place. So creation, nursing and destruction take place automatically at a fixed time. It means creation, nursing and destruction is eternal and God has not to decide or even think for the same. So question does not arise to put question that why God should create all this at all.
Freedom to the human beings to do good or bad deeds is also eternal and thus everlasting but God awards the result of deeds. So naturally, here also the question of grading etc., does not arise because such process is eternal and everlasting. It is only for the person to decide whether he follows true path of Vedas for long, happy life and to attain salvation or he wants to be indulged in illusion to do sins etc. God has nothing to do for the same, being eternal law. Keeping the above views in mind, to give or not to give freedom is now not a question please.
God has not only given the freedom to do good or bad deeds but he has blessed us with the knowledge of Vedas wherein other pious rules and regulations to live a long, happy life have been mentioned. For e.g.: In Yajurveda, God states that the best pious deed is Yajyen, to be performed by all. Then moral duties have been mentioned to be discharged. In Vedas, God has warned that if anybody will not obey the preach of God mentioned in Vedas then only the God will punish the defaulter.
So naturally, the sins are done when people do not listen to Vedas or do not make contact with learned Acharya. Yes, if God could not have preached us in Vedas to follow pious path. Then it would have been the fault of God only. But really, God is merciful and has showered all blessings upon us in Vedas to follow.
S Roy: Namaste Swami ji, I am writing to you to clarify a few doubts regarding reincarnation and Kali Yuga; but, before that I would like to tell you that I have not read the Vedas or the Bhagwat Gita in detail and hence my knowledge could be at fault. From what I understand, once a person attains Moksha, he is freed from the cycle of life and death and his soul remains with the omnipotent Ishwar for a specified time till it continues into the same cycle of life and death.
Now from what I have read and understood about Kali Yuga, I wish to know when Lord Kalki decends on this planet, does He destroy everything in it – matter and energy, or, does He destroy only the evil persons and spare the good ones, or, does he destroy the entire universe with its innumerable galaxies or does He do something else?
Based on your answer, I would like to know what happens after He destroys everything, or, after He destroys the evil prevailing in this planet, or , after He destroys the cosmos, or, after He decends?
I would also like to know if the ending of Kali Yuga or the beginning of Satya Yuga would affect Moksha?
My ignorant mind has projected these questions based on the possibilities.
May your response based on the Vedas enlighten me.
Swami Ram Swarup: Namasteji. Regarding Reincarnation, I paste my article:-
Avtar
God is only one who creates the universe and no other can create the universe except God. Please think deeply is any one except God empowered for creation, etc.? The pious qualities of God are unlimited whereas qualities of soul, which resides in human body, are limited. That is why He is God. This fact is also mentioned by Rishi Patanjali in his Yog shastra sutra 1/24, “KALEASHKARAMVIPAKASHYAIHI APRAMRISHTAHA PURUSHVISHESHAHA ISHWARAHA” i.e., He who is not indulged in any sorrows/sufferings (kalesh), in any kind of deed (karma) and result thereof (vipakya), He is supreme in souls and is called Ishwar (God), whereas, soul is indulged in all the said matters according to deeds done in previous, and in the present life. So this is also a difference between God and souls and therefore soul can never be God based on the different qualities.
Amongst unlimited qualities of God, few may be enumerated-that God creates, nurses and destroys the universe. God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent and Almighty, beyond description, beyond imagination, and beyond calculation. Nobody on the earth can deny such qualities, but these qualities are to be discussed and considered deeply and he who does the same is called MUNI as per Vedas and shastras.
Let us think over one quality of God – Being Almighty. Almighty means God has all powers and thus God, to control the universe and to do any kind of deed for the same, can not be dependent on another, at any cost, being Almighty. Again shastras say, which is a true saying too, that there must be reason behind for any creation, matter etc. God is a reason to create the universe. Parents are the reason to give birth to a child. Ravana took Sita forcefully which became a reason for war between Shri Ram and Ravana etc. So as per Vedas there must be a reason of avtar and after studying eternal knowledge of Vedas and thinking deeply, there seems no reason to take avtar by Almighty God. As in Yajurveda mantra 2/26, so is in Shwetashwataropnishad shlok 6/8 wherein it is mentioned that there is no reason to form a God and thus God is also formless i.e., nobody can make God but God creates universe from non-alive prakriti. Secondly the said Upnishad says that the deeds of God of creation, nursing, and destruction of universe are eternal, natural, and automatic. So naturally God needs no avtar to destroy Kalyug, earth, or devils etc., being Almighty i.e., God has all powers and is independent. Not God but only His powers are enough to control, create, nurse, destroy the universe. That is why Upnishad says that God has no desire to create etc., but it is eternal and natural and this sort of desire is named “IKSHAN” and not desire to create etc.
Suppose God has to kill a devil and He takes avtar and God kills the devils by arrow etc. It means God is not Almighty and independent because God has taken help of Avtar (Human body) and arrow, gun, etc., which is impossible.
This all I have told based on fundamental law of eternal knowledge of four Vedas. Yet if anybody says about avtar then it is their own views and they are satisfied with their views and can not be commented because they could have been realizing at their own but so far as eternal knowledge of Vedas is concerned, Avtar is not possible.
There is no Lord Kalki except The Almighty God Who creates, nurses and destroys the universe and again creates it and there is no effect of kalyug on human life. Human-beings only face the result of their own deeds-either in kalyug, satyug, dwapur or treta. I also paste my article –
Kalyug is only a time calculation and it can never effect anyone. Only, we face the result of our previous lives’ deeds good or bad, in the shape of happiness and sorrows. If we follow true path of doing pious deeds and eternal worship of Almighty God Who creates, nurses and destroys the universe then still we can destroy our all sins and get long, happy life.
Moksha is attained by following eternal Vedic path under the guidance of learned acharya. It has no concern with any yug or any time, days etc. When a devotee follows the Vedic path, does daily Yajyen, hawan with ved mantras, does daily name jaap of God and does hard practice of Ashtang Yog, while discharging all duties, one day, he attains Samadhi and gets salvation.
I would like to paste my article below also:-
REVERT BACK TO VEDAS
It is the essence of Vedic spiritualism that whenever an aspirant enters into it then learned acharya preaches him that Vedas are the divine voice of God, which by the power of God, are originated in the heart of four Rishis, at the beginning of each creation. Learneds who indulge in deep study of Vedas know that Vedas are alive knowledge which emanate directly from God and hence they have not been written by anyone on the earth, in the shape of a book. Since, the said knowledge is applicable to all humans right from the beginning of earth hence Vedas are not sects.
Infact, Kapil Muni, after traditionally studying Vedas and realising the truth after hard practice of Ashtang Yog, also states the said truth in his Sankhya shastra sutra 5/51 that Vedas are alive knowledge hence ved mantras wield the power and self-capability to make such faithful aspirants, who are involved in deep and sincere study of Vedas, to understand the meaning and idea of ved mantras. This is the reason that Kapil Muni states that Vedas are self-proof to justify the truth. To elaborate, knowledge given in ved mantra or any fact stated through ved mantras does not require to be validated/authenticated by other shastras or any other book [but like our Rishi-Munis, Rajrishis
and their public used to study Vedas traditionally with faith and sincere efforts, process being the Vedic order of Almighty God, for all human-beings, the said practice is not in vogue at present
times].God knows when inhabitants of India would be able to adopt the said moral duties, entrusted by God, of studying and following the Vedas, which destroys all the effects of sorrows and makes our future bright with long life and also spreads international brotherhood along with other unlimited benefits.
Secondly, universe has been created about one Arab, ninety six crore, eight lakhs, fifty three thousand and one hundred and thirteen years ago.
So, logically, Vedas have also been created at this time-period. Rishi-Munis acquired Vedas’ knowledge by listening to Vedas traditionally from acharya and did agnihotra/yajyen, name jaap of God and Ashtang yog practice as preached in Vedas. In turn, they realised God and got the knowledge by doing pious deeds while leading the family life, making their future happy and bright, according to Vedas. Then they further educated people about the same because it has been
the benevolent nature of every learned person, who gains Vedic knowledge and experiences, divine pleasure, to share it with others. About five-six thousand years ago, Rishis wrote six shastras,
upnishads, Mahabharat (including Bhagwad Geeta) and Valmiki Ramayan much before all these books, based on the knowledge of Vedas. All these great writers – the Rishis, have eulogised Vedas in their literary works and based on their experience have admitted that Vedas are the divine voice of God.
That is why, Kapil Muni in his Sankhya shastra sutra 1/66 and Patanjali Rishi in his Yog shastra sutra 1/7 have shared their experience to educate us that the preach of any Rishi (Mantradrishta
Rishi) is also considered as a proof to reach at truth. And also the holy books written by the Rishis based on Vedic culture are also considered as proof called ‘Partah Pramann’, Vedas being Swatah
Pramann. Is it not our bad luck that the said secrets of Vedas are now mostly unknown to people and at this juncture, so called preach of any modern saint (sant who is against the Vedas) which does not tally with Vedic culture and which is definitely considered by learned of Vedas as totally false/unauthentic, is being accepted happily by the innocent public? If we consider impartially then we would find that the said matter is definitely harmful to the society, being against the Vedas because it does not come within the parameter of Vedic authenticity. Now, question is that who will bell the cat?
Duly indulged in illusion and mostly intention being after the materialistic articles etc., hardly anybody spares the time to study the literary works of Rishis like Upnishads, Shastras, Nighantu,
Ashtadhyayee, Shatpath Brahmin Granth and above quoted holy books which contain abundant proofs of ved mantras. Hence, when one will fail to study these great literary works of Rishis, under the guidance of learned acharya of Vedas. Then naturally anyone will cast doubt over the Vedas which implies non-awareness of Vedic knowledge. Nowadays, people study the so-called spiritual books written by ordinary people but not those written by Rishis. It shall not out of place to mention here that Atharvaveda mantra 7/105/1 preaches us to study Vedas or to study the spiritual books written by Rishi-Munis. The mantra strongly stresses not to study such books which are written by ordinary people. This secret has been made unknown to the public by several saints, that Vedas, Yajyen and yogabhyas are difficult and need not to be studied/performed. People do not know that God states to study Vedas and perform daily agnihotra/Yajyen, name jaap of God and practice of Ashtang yog under the expert guidance of learned acharya.
Due to ignorance of the same, people are not able to understand that they are doing sins by not obeying the God’s order of studying Vedas and doing yajyen etc. On the other hand, they are accepting the juicy lecture of saints, who are against the Vedas and who are mostly professional. Moreover, all the present sects along with their pious books have emerged about two thousand to two thousand and five hundred years ago. As compared to this, Vedas have been on this earth since
One Arab, ninety six crore, eight lakhs, fifty three thousand and one hundred and thirteen years ago. As mentioned above, Vedas are not a book. That is why, it has become difficult to repose faith in Vedas, in the absence of deep study under guidance of learned acharya of Vedas and Ashtang Yog.
Yet, it is a well-known fact spread by the tapasvis, Rishis-Munis by their preach and above quoted spiritual books that Vedas are eternal and immortal knowledge which emanate directly from God. This fact is even supported by renowned scientists like Maxmuller and many others who believe in authenticity of Vedas. It is further a well-known fact that Vedas have been preserved in world libraries with respect and honour, accepting Vedas as first and the most ancient literature. I mean to say that Vedas are the first knowledge which came on the earth. It was spread orally through the tradition of acharya and disciple, right from the beginning of the earth, as mentioned above.
So, Vedas were remembered by heart by everyone. About five thousand three hundred years ago, for the first time, Vyas Muniji, who himself remembered the Vedas by heart traditionally, wrote them on Bhojpatra for the benefit of mankind. He completed the said pious task on the day of poornnima, about five thousand three hundred years ago. Since, then the poornnima has been named and remembered as Vyas Poornnima. Further, when printing press came into existence in sixteenth century, the Vedas written on Bhoj patra by Vyas Muniji were printed in the form of book which is called “Samhita” and not ved. Samhita means collection of ved mantras which has been printed. Half of the intellectuals of the world believe Vedas to be the divine voice of God and yet half of the intellectuals believe that Vedas have been written by some great scientist who has no parallel to himself in the entire world. But learned of Vedas know that God is the scientist of all scientists and no one is born even equivalent to such God nor shall be born in future. Then what to talk about being above the God. It is also pertinent to mention here that eighteen chapters of Bheeshma parv of Mahabharat have been secluded, named and printed as Bhagwad Geeta. Infact, Yogeshwar Sri Krishna Maharaj has praised and eulogised Vedas in Bhagwad Geeta. The above stated facts are known only to learned of Vedas. The saints who are ignorant of the knowledge of Vedas are naturally ignorant of the Vedas’ knowledge contained in Bhagwad Geeta and are therefore compelled not to explain the shloka of Bhagwad Geeta, briefly and truly wherein the reference and truth of Ved mantras exists. Why? Because they have not studied Vedas.
However, most of the present literary works and most of the saints are reiterating the fact that Vedas are divine voice of God. In this connection, Almighty, omnipresent, formless God has already stated in Atharvaveda mantra 12/5/40 that those who do not study Vedas but take a piecemeal (portion) of Ved mantras, only which suits them, by means of studying other books etc., or listening from anywhere else [not based on traditional study of Vedas] will be punished by me (God). Isn’t it surprising that yet no one is taking the initiative to study Vedas. On the contrary, those deeds which are against the Vedas and promote blind faith are being done on large scale. To experience the truth, we will have to revert back to Vedas.
My blessings to you.
Nav: Baba ji aapko mera bahut-bahut pranaam. Baba ji aapkay aashirwaad aur shiksha kay kaaran mainay first semester high distinction sey pass kiyaa hai. Aur mujhay ‘dean’s outstanding academic achievement’ award kay liye chuna gaya hai. Mera naam local newspaper aur university ki website per bhi likha jayegaa. Sab aapkay ashirwaad say sambhav hua. Babaji aapko bahut-bahut pranaam. Aapkaa beta, Nav.
Swami Ram Swarup: My heartiest blessings to you, my son.
Mujhe aapki education mein itnee bade tarakki kee baat sunkar bahut khushi hui. Beta tumhein baar-baar mera ashirwad ki tumhara future bright ho.
Again, my blessings to you for a long, happy life.
