A thread on this shloka on the occasion of Maagha Shukla Dashami - Jayaa Dashami.
cc: @pranasutra Thank you for your inspiration.
Every Brahma Kalpa, an infinite number of souls are decided in their fate - an infinite number of souls are stuck in samsara, another set of infinite souls achieve salvation and another infinite set of souls are damned. It's inevitable.
How are these fates determined?
One who realizes the tattva : the understanding that God alone is swatantra and every other Jeeva is aswatantra, God is source and culmination of uncountably infinite good virtues and others are of partially filled countably finite virtues, and recognises one's own : gets mukti
Knowing != Realising. For example: We are told that Dhruva saw Hari within himself as Shimshumara form and offered his prayers to Him. If we attain such a state ourselves, it can be said that we too have realised it. Until then, we just know that it's a possibility.
Mukti itself is defined as ultimate happiness. Will that make us happiness zombies with no goal or destination once we attain Mukti? No.
Not every mukti is the same. Hari will still be the Supreme. As said in Vishnu Sahasranama : he's 'Muktaanam Paramaagatih'. Heirarchy Exists.
One might ask, what is left "to do" after attaining Mukti? Isn't it end all be all solution to everything?
Nope. It is not. Mukti means you aren't bound by Samsara. You have realised your own state of contentment. You aren't bound by Karma. You aren't bound by time or action.
This Mukti is given to souls who have realised that God is the ultimate benefactor through Saadhana or practice-experience.
What about souls who have mixed feelings? I mean, God does help and punish right? Can absolute power be absolutely good?
These feelings are Mishra-buddhi.
Souls who can't seem to decide even after given sufficient proofs and experiences, they are bound in samsara. They switch between heaven, hell and planets with similar minded people. They are given in hands of another Brahma at the end of his Kalpa and they start afresh.
Souls with extreme hatred for God or have embraced the notion of falsehood across multiple births in a Kalpa fall into Andhas or Tamisras respectively. What an ideal soul considers nitya naraka is their abode. They are left with distastefulness, eternal frustration and Sadness.
Funny thing is, they choose to suffer in nitya naraka than to be rational. Infinite souls exist even now in Andhas and Tamisras getting exactly what they wanted. No benefactor, no help. Mutual disgust, mutual hatred and mutual downfall. Is that end all, be all?
Again... Nope.
Andhas and Tamisras are two pits which are literally an infinite downward spiral. Do they become jada? No, they do not. Their curse is their existence. Not every damnation is the same. Again, they choose it willingly across many many births.
Hari gives what you deserve. He (actually God is above pronouns and Sanskrit uses Saha : He/him as a noun in case of God and Saa : She/her for Prakriti) created a very real very truthful universe, not a simulation.
Satyam Jagat Tattvato.
Mukhyaprana Vayu (also widely known as Lord Hanuman's soul Vayu, not Wind Devta, the son of Mukhyaprana who is confusingly also named Vayu) is indeed a roopa of Brahma.
Brahma is the one who assigns souls to different categories per God's order at the end of his Kalpa.
Muktins can't come to samsara, Andhins or Tamishrans can't come back to samsara. Samsara is a means to experience and realise the potential of yourself and should be used very wisely.
Now, one may ask. That's all great but what's the proof?
Here's a tough call. Well, not exactly.
We need to accept that Vedas are self evident and axiomatic through knowledge action and experience. That's Gynana Karma and Bhakti yogas. That's a different discussion for another day.
Once we are there, we can check hundreds to Shrutis, and gather historical evidence.
If no one from Mukti ever came back, how can we have historical evidence? Remember, we discussed that some souls are transferred from Brahma to Brahma? We do get a hand-me-down on knowledge too. Brahma is the bridge between sansarins and Muktins.
I have illustrated the Shloka per my scope of knowledge and experience. Any mistakes in the script, thought or belief are due to my limited capacity influenced by Kaliyuga's mentor, the evil Kali. Any greatness belongs to my Gurus and God himself.
Last year this time around, I couldn't stop myself from putting this song on repeat. It led me to create a playlist of songs from all Indian languages.
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Which I now use for falling asleep. Especially marathi ones are awesome lullabies. #buttabomma tinyurl.com/52bbzjte
This was really a cheesy film with a plotline as old as mankind but this song... It is profound and respectful while also somehow naughty and charming. #AlaVaikunthapurramuloo #Samajavaragamana