Miscellaneous - Religion   

Pursuit of Truth

CHENNAI: Those caught in Samsara are unable to escape the fear of death while those who are spiritually minded derive strength from philosophical discussions that regard death of the body merely as an event in the journey of the Self. In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna urges people to perceive the fall of the human body as a mere transition between births and instead consider the welfare of the soul which is immortal. The never dying Atma sheds the decaying and aging body and seeks a new one to live out its Karma.

Similar thoughts are expressed in the instruction of Sage Sanat Sujata to a troubled Dhritarashtra who was disturbed by the happenings in the kingdom that foreboded a destructive war, said Sri V. Abhiramasundaram in a lecture. After Vidura had tried to offer words of solace to his brother, Dhritarashtra wished to know more about higher truths. So Vidura thought of this sage who had been his preceptor and was a Brahma Jnani. Through his mental strength Vidura was able to entreat this wise sage to instruct Dhritarshtra. Adi Sankara’s commentaries on this text as well the Bhagavad Gita and the Vishnu Sahasranama (all part of the Mahabharata), while interpreting esoteric ideas highlight their value in offering the highest knowledge on the greatness of Atma Tatva (truth of the Self).

Dhritarashtra wanted to know whether death was true or untrue. Sanat Sujata said that in the opinion of some, death can be overcome by particular acts. Others feel there is no death at all. There is truth in both these views. The learned are of opinion that death results from ignorance. This being so, the absence of ignorance (Knowledge) is immortality. It is from ignorance that the Asuras became subject to defeat and death, and it is from the absence of ignorance that the celestials have attained the nature of Brahman. Pursuit of self-knowledge leads to immortality.

Death is hence not the fall of the physical body but ignorance of one’s true nature. From the initial fall from Jnana, the Self travels a long way from its intrinsic nature and begins to believe the physical death as death. It can overcome death through awareness of its immortal nature.

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