Death is the departure of
the subtle body from the gross body. The gross body gets sentiency only
because of the reflection of Consciousness in the subtle body. When the
subtle body departs the gross body becomes insentient. The subtle body
takes up
another gross body. This process goes on until
the dawn of Self-knowledge. Then, on
the fall of the gross body when the praarabdhakarma
is exhausted, the subtle body
also ceases to exist and videhamukti is attained.
Br.up.4.3.35.S.B---itaH aarabhya
asya samsaaraH varNyate----- ityaaha atra
dr.shTaantam. From here onwards transmigration of the self is being described.
An example is given to show
how the self passes from the present
body to the next,
in the same way as the self goes from
the dream to the waking state. tat tatra yathaa
loke------- ityaaha kaaruNyaat s'rutiH. Just
as a cart, heavily loaded with various articles, moves rumbling under the
load, so does the self that is in the
body, i.e. the self that has
the subtle body as its limiting adjunct, move
between this and the next world, as between the waking and dream
states, through birth and death, consisting respectively
in the association with and dissociation from the (gross) body. It should
be noted here that,
when the subtle body, which has the vital
force as its chief constituent, and which is illumined by the
self-luminous aatman, goes, the self, of which
it is the limiting adjunct, also seems to
go. This happens when breathing becomes difficult, when the person is gasping
for breath. Although this is an occurrence
that is commonly observed, the upanishad mentions it only to stimulate
a spirit of renunciation in us.
Since at the time of death
a man is in a helpless state of mind and cannot
adopt the means for attaining the final
goal of life, he must practise the means earlier, when he is
in a position to do so. This
is what the s'ruti indicates out of compassion. Br.up.4.3.36.S.B--- tasmaat
rasaat ----- ---- karma s'rutaadivas'aat aadravati. Just as a fruit is
detached from its stalk by the wind
or by various other causes, so does this infinite being, the self identified
with the subtle body, i.e. the self with the subtle body as the limiting
adjunct, completely detaches itself
from all the parts of the gross body, such as the eye,etc. The word `completely'
indicates that the vital force does not remain in the body as in the
state of deep sleep. The self withdraws the
subtle body, including the vital force
(praaNa) and departs again. The use of the
word `again' is to indicate that this
subtle body has similarly gone from one gross
body to another many times before,
just as it has moved frequently between the
dream and waking states. It goes to
the particular gross body determined by the
past work, knowledge, etc. Br.up.4.3.37.S.B----- tatra asya idam s'ariiram
parityajya -------- iti lokaprasiddho dr.shTaantaH uchyate.
Now a question may arise----
When the jiiva goes leaving one gross
body, he has no power to take another by himself. Nor are there others
who, like servants, would wait for him with another
body made ready, as a king's retinue
waits for him with a house kept ready. How then can the jiiva get another
body? The answer is: He has adopted the
whole universe as his means for the
realization of the results of his actions. Therefore
the whole universe, impelled by
his work, waits for him with the requisite means
for the realization of the results of
his actions. The S'atapatha Brahmana says-"A man is born
into the body that has
been made for him" (VI.II.ii.27). This process is illustrated by two examples
in 4.3.37 and 4.3.38.
These examples are narrated
below. Br.up.4.3.37.S.B----- tat tatra
yathaa raajaanam--------- tathaa idam aagachchhati ityevameva cha kr.tvaa
pratiikshante ityarthaH. Just as, when a king
visits some place within his kingdom the
leading citizens
of that place, as well as certain others appointed
by the king to perform specific duties,
wait for him with food and drink and a palace
kept ready for his stay, similarly,
for the transmigrating self who is about to take up a new body,
the elements that are necessary
for the creation of that body, as well as
the presiding deities of the organs, such as Indra and others, wait with
the means of enjoyment of the results
of his past actions, saying "Here comes Brahman, our enjoyer and
master". Br.up.4.3.38.S.B---- tameva jigamishum
----- maraNakaale sarve praaNaa vaagaadaya abhisamaayanti. Just as when
the king wishes to go back, the leading citizens
and others who had received him approach him in a body, unbidden by the
king, and simply knowing that he wishes to go,
so do all the organs approach the departing
jiiva at the time of death.
Br.up.4.4.1.S.B--- It has
been said in 4.3.36 - "This infinite
being, completely
detaching himself from the parts of the body"-
In order to explain when and how that detachment
takes place, the process of transmigration is described in detail in this
section--- Sa ayam aatmaa sammuuDha ayamiti--- When the self becomes weak---
really
it is the body that becomes weak,
but its weakness is figuratively spoken of as
that of
the self. The state of helplessness
at the time of death, which is caused by the
withdrawal of the organs, is attributed
by the ordinary man to the self. At this time
the organs, such as that of speech, come
to the self. Then this self that is in the body
is detached from the parts of the body.
How does this detachment take place and how
do the organs come to the self? This
is being explained: Completely withdrawing these
particles of light, i.e. the organs, such
as the eye, so called because they reveal
colour etc. The word `completely `shows the
distinction of this state from sleep, in which they are just drawn in,
but not absolutely, as in this case.
The self then comes to the heart, i.e. the ether in the
lotus of the heart; in other words, the consciousness is manifested in
the heart.
The self cannot, by itself,
move or withdraw the activities of the organs. It is
through the limiting adjuncts, such as the
intellect, that all changes and activities
are attributed to the self. When does it withdraw
the particles of light? The answer is:
the presiding deity of the eye, who is an
aspect of the sun, being directed by the
individual's past actions, goes on helping
the functioning of the eye, but withdraws
this help and becomes merged in the sun when
the person is about to die. Br.up.3.2.13
says that the vocal organ merges in fire,
the vital force in air, the eye in the sun, and
so on, at the time of death. These organs
again take up their respective places when
the individual takes another body. Br.up.4.4.2.S.B---
ekiibhavati karaNajaatam
svena lingaatmanaa. Every organ becomes united
with the subtle body of the
dying man. Br.up.4.4.2.S.B-tadaa upalakshyate
devataanivr.ttiH karaNaanaam cha --- nishkraamati. This means that at the
time of death the presiding deities cease to
help the organs and the organs become united
with the subtle body with its seat in
the heart. The top of the heart, i.e. the
nerve-end, which is the exit for the self,
brightens. Through that top, brightened by
the light of the self, the jiiva, with the
subtle body as its limiting adjunct, departs.
(This departure of the subtle body is
what is known as death).
Br.up.4.4.2.S.B-tatra cha
aatmachaitanyajyotiH----------- gamanam
iha vivakshitam. In the subtle body the self-effulgent consciousness of
the self is always particularly manifest. It is
because of this limiting adjunct that the
self appears to have birth, death and all activities. As the self (with
the subtle body as limiting adjunct)
departs, by which way
does it leave the body? Through
the eye, if the individual has a store of work
or
knowledge that would take it to the
sun, or through the head, if the individual is
entitled
to go to the world of hiraNyagarbha,
or through any other part of the body, according
to his past work and
knowledge. When the individual self is about to depart to the next world,
the vital force follows; and when the
vital force departs, all the organs, such as that
of speech, follow.
Br.up.4.4.2.S.B-karmaNaa
tadbhaavyamaanena ------- vijnaanodbhaasitam eva ityarthaH. Everyone gets,
at the moment of death, a consciousness of his next life and
goes to the body revealed by that particular
consciousness. The phenomenon of child prodigies explained Br.up.4.4.2.S.B---
s'akaTavat sambhr.tasambhaara ------ It has been
said that the departing self goes like
a loaded cart, making noises. Now, as it leaves
for the next world, what is
its food on the way and for consumption after reaching that world, and
what are the materials for making the
new body and organs? The answer is:
the self, journeying
to the next world, is accompanied by all the knowledge acquired,
the result
of all actions (karma) and the impressions of past actions. These impressions
are the cause of the initiation of fresh actions
and the bringing to fruition of past
actions. When the organs are prompted to work
by the impressions of past actions,
they can easily attain skill in certain spheres
even without any practice in the
present life. It is observed that some persons
are skillful in certain activities,
such as painting, from their very birth, even
without any training in the present
life (child prodigies). This is due to skill
attained in past lives. Similarly, in the
enjoyment of sense objects also, some are
found to be skillful by nature and
others are not. Hence it is said that these
three-knowledge, work and past
experience-are the food on the way to the
next world (or next life) and after
reaching there (i.e. taking a new body). Therefore
one should cultivate only the
good forms of these three so that one may
get a desirable body and desirable
enjoyments.
How the jiiva takes a new
body Br.up.4.4.3.S.B- evamvidyaadisambhaarasambhr.taH
---- puurvaas'rayam vimunchati
ityetasmin arthe dr.shTaantaH upaadiiyate. Now
the question is, when the self loaded
with knowledge, etc, is about to take up another
body, does it leave the old
body and go to another, like a bird going to another tree?
Or is it carried by another
body serving as a vehicle to the place where, according to its past work,
it is to be born? Or does it stay here, while
its organs become all-pervading
and function
as such? Or do the organs remain contracted within the limits of the body
as long as the jiiva remains in that particular
body, but when the jiiva departs the
organs become all- pervading, like the light
of a lamp when its enclosure is
removed and contract again when a new body
is taken up? (These are the
views, respectively, of the Jains, the Devataavaadins,
the Saankhyas and
Vedanta). The answer is: Though the organs
are by nature all- pervading and
infinite (in their form as the presiding deities),
since the new body is made in
accordance with the person's work, knowledge
and past impressions, the
functions of the organs also contract or expand
accordingly.
Therefore the
impressions called past experience, under the
control of the person's knowledge and
work, stretch out, like a leach, from the body, retaining their seat in
the heart, as in the dream state, and
build another body in accordance with his past work;
they leave their seat, the old body, when
a new body is made ready. An illustration
on this point is given in 4.4.3. Br.up.4.4.3.S.B---
tat tatra dehaantarasanchaare----
- ---- esha dehaantaraarambhavidhiH. The following
example illustrates how the
jiiva passes from one gross body to another.
Just as a leach, which wants to go
from one leaf to another, stretches the front
part of its body and takes hold of
the new leaf and then draws the hind portion
of the body away from the old leaf
and onto the new leaf, so also, the jiiva
takes hold of the new body and only
thereafter leaves the old body. This is similar
to what happens when going from
the waking to the dream state. In the dream
state the person identifies himself
with his dream body and completely dissociates
himself from his waking state
body. The presiding deities of all the organs
also take their places in the new body.
The nature of the new body, whether it is
that of a human being or of a god, or of
an animal or other creature, depends on the
past karma, knowledge and impressions (vaasanas) of the particular individual.
The MuND. Up. says--"He who longs for objects of desire, thinking highly of them, is born along with those desires in a situation in which he will be able to realize those desires"(3.2.2). Desire is therefore the cause of repeated births and deaths. Total elimination of desire is the means to liberation. Regarding how a new body is formed, the example of a goldsmith taking an old ornament and converting it into a new one is given in Br.up.4.4.4. Br.up.3.2.13. S.B--- karma eva aas'rayam -------- Karma is the cause of repeated births. KaTha up. 2.2.7-The jiiva is born according to his karma and knowledge as a human being, animal, bird, tree, etc. Proof of existence of past births h.up.6.11.3.S.B ---jiivaapetam ------ na jiivo mriyate iti. When separated from the jiiva (soul), the (gross) body dies, but the soul does not die. From the fact that as soon as a creature is born, it hankers after breast-feeding and experiences fear, etc, it is clear that it has memory of similar experiences in past lives. Moreover, since rites like agnihotra have some purpose to serve, it follows that the soul does not die.