Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 09.05.2017 morning, Sofia)

(continues from the previous Friday)

Question of Krishna Priya: My question is: if Jada Bharata is a fully self-realized soul, why he continues to take another birth again and again?

Swami Tirha: Because of the dramaturgy, and also so that we can sit here and now talk. Immediately we can cover yugas and eternities and millions of years – just to come together on some essential spiritual teaching.

But actually your question is a little more profound. Because it is said that even if somebody is totally purified, divine knowledge has burned up his karmic reactions and devotional service has finished with the roots of his karma, nevertheless the path that had been started has to be accomplished. So, it is possible to achieve a liberated state while still living on this Earth. This is called a jivan-mukta state. Mukta means ‘liberated’, jivan – ‘while living’. A perfected being still alive in this body.

And this is very interesting because some of the early Christian saints and teachers also had the same concept: that there might be great saints who are always in the presence of God, although they are still living here on this planet Earth. So they also understood the same.

Nevertheless the life that you had started will continue. So, some action-reaction story is still there. Whatever you had started – this is called prarabdha-karma – it should accomplish. The point is not to create new karma. Therefore we should live as the leaves of the lotus. The water cannot stay on the lotus leaf, it’s always moving down. We should be so much pure that no new karma should stick to us. Realization of spiritual knowledge is like the fire – to burn up the previous karmic reactions. And to follow a proper lifestyle, to follow the rules and suggestions helps us to become like leaves, so that no new karma is created.

In the text it was also mentioned why Jada Bharata took the position of carrying the load – in order to burn up the remaining possible karmic reactions. So, it’s not a contradiction that you are a fully realized person, still you have something to get rid of.

But in the case of others better we see the positive side. If you see the full moon, don’t notice… all right you can notice, but don’t criticize the black spots. Yet concerning ourselves, we have to try to qualify more and more and to be aware what is a karmic reaction, how to avoid new entanglement, what practice will help us to be purified, etc. etc. One thing is for sure – if we offer our life as a sacrifice, if we dedicate our life as a sacrificial offering, then by taking all the trouble that is coming to us, it means to burn up our karma. Less burden remains.