In our previous post we saw that Krishna gives Arjuna the assurance that if a yogi dies before reaching God, he will not lose his spiritual efforts at all. On the other hand, he will be born again to continue in his path, based on the extent of his unsatisfied desires. We shall see what happens to such yogis in the next slokas.
praapya puNyakR^itaa.n lokaanushhitvaa shaashvatiiH samaaH .
shuchiinaaM shriimataaM gehe yogabhrashhTo.abhijaayate .. 6.41..
He who has fallen from yoga, obtains the higher worlds such as heaven, to which only men of meritorious deeds are entitled and having resided there for countless years, takes birth in the house of pious and wealthy men.
yogabhrashhThaH – he who has fallen from yoga : puNyakR^itaaM – inhabited by those who perform meritorious deeds : lokaan.h - the worlds : praapya – reaching : shaashvatiiH samaaH – for countless years : ushhitvaa - having resided (there) : shuchiinaaM shriimataaM – of pious and wealthy men : gehe – (in their) houses : abhijaayate – takes birth.
During Summer time, all of us undergo a special itching process. That city which treats us so nicely till then suddenly becomes unbearable for us. All of a sudden it seems to be very hot, even though one might not even step out of the air conditioned comfort of our homes or offices. This itch is called the “vacation” itch and almost every person I know unerringly goes through this. This itch and desire will be satisfied only if we actually take the vacation.
Talking of vacations, last year when we were going on vacation, we were standing in the queue for checking in our baggage. The woman in front of us who was also travelling to Chennai said, “Can you please send all my baggage to Delhi? The man at the counter said, “I am sorry Madam, we cannot send your baggage to Delhi, while you travel to Madras.”. The lady asked, “Why not? Last time I traveled with you, I was coming to Bahrain, but your airlines messed up and sent all my baggage to Hongkong!!”
While Airlines try their best to mess up our baggages and travel, once we are ready for the vacation, we pack up bag and baggage and go there with a certain amount of puNya – “money” in our purses. All our enjoyment can last only as long as the “puNya” is there in the pocket. Within a few days, the “puNya” gets exhausted and so does the desire and once again we come back to the city we work in, with absolutely no change!!
The yogi who strives all his life to reach God and does noble deeds, will not be able to reach God, if his mind got deviated from God at the time of his death. The deviation was only due to residual desires in his mind. Due to the stock of puNya that the yogi has, the yogi first moves into the heavenly worlds to exhaust these desires and stays there as long as his puNya is not exhausted
Once his puNya is exhausted, but he still has some desires left, he is born in a pious and prosperous family, where he would be able to exhaust the residual desires. Supposing, in the time that the yogi spends in heaven, he exhausts all his desires for sense enjoyments, what happens to such a yogi? This is explained in the next verse.
