What is said in the bonafide scriptures like Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagvatam about action and its effects, soul, miseries, and devotion?
What happens after death? Is there any life after death? What are the different stages that the soul has to through after death?
How to get out of the cycle of action-inaction-reaction according to Bhagavad Gita said by Lord Krishna?
(Asked by our reader Parag)
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In Bhagavad Geeta in various chapters the following has been explained regrding the action :
What is action and what is inaction? even men of intelligence are puzzled over this question.
The truth about action must be known and the truth of inaction also must be known, even so the truth about prohibited action action must be known. For mysterious are the ways of action.
He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction ,is wise among men, he is a Yogi, who has performed all actions.
Those having taken refuge in GOD , strive for deliverence from old age and death,know Brahma ( The absolute) ,the whole Adhyatma( the totality of Jivas or embodied souls) and the entire field of Karma(action)
What happens after death?
The most famous schloka 22 of Chapter 2 explains this :
As a man shedding worn-out garments takes other new ones, like wise the embodied soul, casting off worn-out bodies enters into others which are new.
How to get out of cycle of action-inaction-reaction?
The one who performs his duties without expecting the fruit of aciton is a Karmyayogi . When all the results are surrendered to GOD . When we have no craving for fruit of actions, actions do not contaminate , and thus one who knows GOD in reality is not bound by actions
Hope above answers the questions raised
We talk about soul is something which shuttle between bodies after one life time. I also have read that soul has specific tendency just like how bodies have certain tendency. We all know that mind is part of body and it is influenced by the balance/imbalance of our physical health condition. How about soul? Is there anything mentioned in Gita about how a soul choses a body? When the soul gets into a physical body, it is supposedly a just born baby without any action in mind or self realisation. Only after there is some growth in brain action, that physical body is given a chance to think about spiritual, godism etc. etc.
interesting question.
here are some clarifications provided in the Bhagavadgeeta (BG)
Chapter 3 Verse 14:
“All beings are evolved from food” so our body is evolved from the food
Chapter 2 Verse 24:
“Soul is incapable of being cut,it is proof against fire,impervious to water and undrieble as well. This soul is eternal,omnipresent, immovable, constant, and everlasting”
Chapter 2 Verse 25:
“Soul is unmaniffest, it is imcomprehensible, and is spoken as immutable”
Chapter 2 Verse 26:
“Arjuna, if you should suppose this soul to be subject to constant birth and death,even then you should not grieve like this. Thus, GOD explains that “soul” is basically not subject to birth and death, but even if you assume it to be so, you should not grieve on a dead body or on those who are killed in the war ”
Chapter 2 Verse 28:
Arjuna, before birth beings are not manifest to our human senses, at death they return to the unmanifest again. They are manifest only in the interim between birth and death.
Chapter 3 Verse 27:
All acions are being performed by the modes of Prakruti(Primordial Matter). The fool, whose mind is deluded by egoism, thinks ” I am the doer”
This shows that neither the formation of the brain while the soul is getting into a bodily form is my action, nor the action which I cosider I am performing after I have a grown up brain is in reality performed by me , Action is simply taking place by itself, just like I breathe when I am sleeping ,
These as well as various other verses demonstrate that soul is not part of any action in this physical world. Even if the body is thinking of any spiritual aspects, it is the nature acting through us using us only as instruments
Thus the existance of spirit must be very clearly understood as separate and independent of body formation.
Hope this has explained the point
This clears some of my doubts. I was more keen to understand how a soul chooses a body. Is this process called “birth”?
Further Chapter 14 Verse 5 says: “Sattva, Rajas, Tamas- Thse three Gunas ( qualities or characteristics) born out of nature (Prakruti) tie down the imperishable soul to the body. Thus, depending on what combination of the Gunas one leaves the previous body, one is attracted to the body in the next human life or for that matter any other kind of life.
This is also explained in Chapter 6 verse 41 where GOD says: “such a person who has strayed from Yoga, obtains the higher worlds, to which men of meritorious deeds alone are entitled, and having resided there for innumberable years takes birth of pious and prosperous parents – ” shuchinam shrimatam gehe yogaabhrushtobhijayate” .