Sanjay: Kya swargwasi mata aur pita ka shradh ek sath kisi ek thithi per ho sakta hai?
Swami Ram Swarup: Sanjay beta, upar kahin swarg aur narak nahi hotey. Jub jigyasu ved marg par chalkar nitya Agnihotra, Yogabhyaas karke aur ved sunkar shubh karma karta hai, Brahmacharya ya grihasthashram aadi mein sukhpoorvak rehta hai toh us sthiti ko hee swarg kehte hain aur iske virudh jub paap karma aadi karta hai, toh dukhi rehta hai, toh prithvi par rehte hue is sthiti ko narak kehte hain. Doosra vedanusaar mare huon ka shradh nahi hota.

Shradh

The alive parents are to be served faithfully. Everybody knows that a person who is alive takes food, water, puts on clothes etc. After death body is burnt. Now how the parents will be able to take food. They according to the karmas get next birth too. So shradh is against the Vedas’ philosophy.

Attachment (about Soul & Body)

Relationship is always made at least between two matters which are always separate from each other. One says that this is his house. So house is separate and person is separate. Another says that this is my house, my son, my wife etc. So person is separate, his house, son and wife are also separate from each other. That is why the relation was made.

Similarly when someone says that this is his head and leg, ear and eyes etc., so here also it is clear that the person who is making relation with head, eyes etc., is separate and the said organs and the whole body are separate. Otherwise relation cannot be made. No one on the earth says that he is eye, he is head, he is leg, he is body etc., but always says that all the organs of body belong to him. So naturally question arises that who, “HE” is to say that this is his head.

Here “HE” means “SOUL” who resides in the body. Rigveda mantra 1/164/20 says that this body is like a tree. Tree is destroyed one day. So body made by prakriti’s five matters (earth, air, water, space, fire) is destructible, prakriti being non-alive. In said tree, God and soul also reside and both are alive matters.

God is omnipresent but soul is not omnipresent and resides at only one place at one time. Suppose we are sitting in a dark room in the night then we are unable to do any task like studying but in the light of electric bulb we are able to do job. Similarly human body only works when the soul resides in it. That is soul works like an electric bulb otherwise we daily see so many deaths of youngsters also whose healthy body is there but does not work, eye can not see, ear can not listen etc., so which matter (tatv) had left the body. Yes, it is only soul.

After death

Yajurved mantra 3/55, says, “DEVAIYAH JANAH NAH PUNAH MANAH DADATU” i.e., by blessings (preach and true education of Vedas) may learned Acharya give us next birth of human being so that we may again be able to learn the truth of Vedas and to get salvation. So one must always adopt true path by which he gets rebirth of human being to continue the real spiritualism to get salvation etc., because Atharvaved mantra 9/10/16 further says that human being who has done pious deeds and adopted true path they get pious human body in the next birth, otherwise soul gets the lowest/contemptible body, like animals, birds etc. Mantra is APAANG PRAANGETI SWDHAYAA GRIBHITAH AMARTYO MARTYENAA SAYONIHI. TA SHASHVANTA VISHUCHINA VIYANTA NYA NYAM CHIKYURN NI CHIKYURNYAM.

Soul according to its good or bad deeds(APANGETI) takes bodies of animals, birds, insects etc., and (PRANG) bodies of Rishis, Munis, i.e., (uuch Yoni) best bodies after leaving the present body. The soul (SWDHAYAA GRIBHITAH) duly attached with its own power of taking birth according to pious deeds and sins, enters other bodies (AMARTAYAH) though the soul is away from death, being immortal but after death of bodies, takes new bodies. These ideas of Vedas has very well been mentioned in Bhagwad Geeta shlok 2/20 wherein Yogeshwar Shri Krishna says (AJO NITYAH SHASHWATOAYAM PURAANNO NA HANYTE HANYAMANNE SHARIRE ) i.e., the soul is (AJAH NITAYAH SHASHWATOH) never takes birth and is eternal (NAHANYATE HANAYMANNE SHARIRE) in fact after death of body too soul is never dead being immortal. (TASHASHVANTA) this process of death and birth of bodies and souls is eternal.

(VISHUCHINA VYANTA) soul and bodies go far away to different directions [soul goes to Savita etc., {given below} according to Yajurved chapter 39 and then takes birth and gets another body and five elements of body go to space and are mixed within air, fire etc., according to Yajurved mantra 40/15] (ANYAM NICHIKYHU) many learned know about this fact (ANYAM NICHIKYHU) another who lack knowledge of Vedas, do not know the fact, i.e., we mostly know our body but not ourselves, i.e., soul. Death is sure i.e., the body will have to be cremated one day.

In Atharvaved mantra 8/8/11 ‘Yamdut’ means = ‘YAM’ means God, and ‘dut’ means storm, cyclone, flood, earthquake, heavy rains, etc., etc., in mantra the air is Yam. So when a soul is to leave the body then by the power of God, sutratma air enters the body and takes the soul out of it then goes to Savita, etc.

In 39th chapter of Yajurved the process of this cremation is mentioned. This process is also called as “NARMEDH YAJYEN”, “PURUSH MEDH YAJYEN” and “DAH KARAM” and “ANTEYESHATI KARAM”. Atharvaved mantra 10/8/26 says “YEH CHAKAR SAH JAJAR” means He (God) who makes the body, He destroys the same one day. Sense of Yajurved mantra 39/5 is that when the soul leaves the body then the soul wanders in so many places, takes another body according to its previous deeds (karmas). Yajurved mantra 39/6 says that the soul after leaving the body, on the first day goes to Savita (sun), second day agnihi (fire), third Vaayu (normal air), fourth Aditya, fifth chandrma (moon), sixth ritu (seasons), seventh marutah, eighth brihaspati (tiniest air), ninth mitrah (breathing), tenth varunah (udan air), eleventh indrah (electricity), twelfth Vishvedevah (in all divine qualities). Then, after wandering in sky, gets body according to previous deeds. So these twelve days are completed, then after 13 days the soul takes another body. Rigved mandal 10 sukta 135 says that normally soul after getting body faces the result of its past lives’ deeds and under influence of illusion (duly attracted towards illusion) does sins and again gets birth to face the sins. The soul is immortal and always separate from body. When an aspirant meets with a learned Acharya and gets spiritual education, then the fourth mantra says that the soul gets salvation.

Han! jo shradh manaana chahe weh apnee marzi se manaa sakta hai par Ishwar ne vedon mein shradh manaane ka niyam nahi banaya hai.