Constitutional position

 

Great sage Mārkandeya arrived & Lord Krsna, Pāndavās & all brāhmanās got up from their seats to receive him. The illustrious sage even though was 1000’s of years old, appeared like a young man. As the sage was seated, Krsna requested him to narrate him some ancient histories to instill moral sense in listeners

 

Yudhisthira said: I’m perplexed about how wicked sons of Dhritrāshtra are prospering & we’re suffering even though we act righteously. Pls explain what part God plays in man’s happiness & distress, for it seems to me that they are simply fruits of one’s endeavors. I would like to understand the concept of Karma. Are reactions to our work enjoyed in this life or life thereafter? If reactions are meted out in future life, how could there ever be cessation to the cycle of action & reaction and its resultant birth & death?

 

The sage replied: Your questions are most praiseworthy & I’ll answer them to the best of my ability. In beginning of creation, Lord Brahmā made bodies of human beings pure & sinless & thus they were on par with demigods. These humans had all their desired automatically fulfilled, were able to fly in sky & were free from demoniac qualities of lust & envy. They lived for thousands of years & had powers to die at their own will. As there was little suffering, fear was practically unknown & all lived peacefully and happily

 

Gradually, in course of time, humans became overcome by lust & greed & so began to depend upon cheating for livelihood. Men lost ability to traverse the airways & so had to walk on surface of earth. Because of their sinful acts, they were forced to go to hell & suffer. In this way they came to reap the results of their actions

 

At the time of death, only gross body of the living entity is destroyed. The actions one performs are recorded in the subtle mind. After death when subtle body carries one to next body, his fruitive acts follow him just like shadow & then fructify in the next life. However, by practice of Yoga & devotion to the Supreme Lord, results of one’s fruitive activities can be destroyed

 

In this way one can become peaceful in mind & freed from all diseases, fear & other material miseries. Indeed, those who’re spiritually advanced by mature practice of Bhakti-Yoga can always envision the relationship between the individual soul & the Supreme Soul in any condition of life, even while encased in the mother’s womb

 

We all need to understand the science of soul & thereby of self-realization. If we don’t know who we really are & what are its real attributes, then we will be always illusioned and would suffer in this material world. The eternal attributes of Soul is Sat (eternity), Cit (knowledge) & Ananda (Bliss) being part & parcel of Super Soul

 

We should understand what is our material & spiritual life. Spiritual life means sac-cid-ānanda Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and bliss means full of jubilation, ānanda, pleasure. This is our constitution. This is God's constitution

 

Alas in not knowing this we suffer in this material world

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife