Heaven ?? Or Hell ?? - Part 1

Heaven ?? Or Hell ??  - Part 1

           In India, elders used to say that you will be going to Hell for your bad deeds , Be Virtuous and go to Heaven. Now, as mentioned in many holy books of several religions, Heaven means a cosmic place above the universe with many angels, Gods, Apasaras (beautiful celestial dancer) , Virtuous immortals and those who have done good deeds during their life time as human, will be going to Heaven. In Sanskrit it is referred as 'Swarga Loka'. 

            According to Hindu mythologies, Swarga Loka / Heaven is the place where you will live happily ever and all your wishes will be granted. It is mentioned in the Hindu holy books that the capital of Swarga loka is Amaravati guarded by a white elephant called 'Airavata'. Swarga is ruled by Lord Indra, the leader of Devas.  It is a transitory place for righteous souls who have performed good deeds in their life time but not yet ready to attain Moksha. 

           Hell is an afterlife place for evil spirits where they will be given eternal punishments for their bad deeds. Different types of punishments for the type of bad actions performed like Robbery, Murder, Unethical behavior, Cheating, Abusing, Ingratitude, exploitation etc. So, the people who did criminal activities in their life time will be punished in hell / Naraka, which is metaphorically located beneath the earth. 

         One such punishment for sinners mentioned in Garuda Purana is 'Tamisra' - Darkness - It's a dark realm, where the sinner will be tied with ropes and starved without food and water. This punishment is intended for the ones who grabs another person's wealth and asserts. Deserved punishment for the offender, but wondering how will it be executed, as only souls can be sent to Heaven / Hell ? Physical body will be left at the Earth and the Souls neither have a feeling of starvation or pain of the punishment. 

        Actually, In Sanatana Dharma, there is no permanent Heaven and Hell concept. What ?? No Heaven or Hell ? Yes, you heard it right, there is no such concept of Heaven Or Hell in Sanatana Dharma. God is not Judge to punish you for your bad deeds and pat you for the good acts. When you leave your physical body, your soul will emerge. Soul is an Energy, Atman/ Soul is immoral and divine. 

           If Heaven and Hell are not true, then how come Heaven and Hell were so popular? Initially, it was told as fiction story to the younger kids to prevent them from wrong doings by creating fear in them. It was told that if you do bad, God will punish you. So in that fear, people were restrained from involving in criminal activities and followed Sanatana Dharma and gained Good Karma in their life time. 

      In Sanatan Dharma Heaven means Brahman, a soul which attained Moksha and merged with God. Hell means, the soul will reincarnate on Earth again as Human which carries their previous birth Bad Karma, so they will be subjected to sufferings. Even though God will give you an opportunity to realize your self and will show you the Dharmic Path, It's upto human's Conscience to take the decision of following Sanatan Dharma and gain good Karma.

What is Karma ?

Karma


              Karma is outcome of one's actions or deeds. In Sanskrit, Karma means Action. One has to face the merits and demerits of the consequences of one's act in this birth and future births. Doing good deeds will give you good karma, also Good dharma creates good karma. 

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

            Karma is very powerful, it comes in your way every time and triggers memories of your past deeds. If your bad karma is very high, besides this life time, you may have to suffer in your next birth as well. That is why, it is stated loud and clear in Sanatana Dharma that Do Good and Act Virtuously.  In this universe, nothing happens by chance.

          Karma is also debt of your bad actions. Do not take revenges, When you take revenge on others, it will build more negative thoughts in your mind and also adds bad karma. Forgive them and clean your mind, Karma will do its part. Before you do anything / ridicule others, think that it will come back to you in future. Have a fear of Karma and follow Dharma in your life.  Bad Intentions, Revenge, Hurting others, Anger, Ingratitude, Selfishness, Jealousy, Rage these all are negative energies which will spoil your mind, soul and these bad thoughts affects the Universe as well.

        Your Actions are your Karma. What determines whether it is a good karma or bad karma is YOUR INTENTION.

         By doing good Dharma, you can reduce the intensity of your past bad karmas (If you realized it), but can't escape from it. Be careful with your karma, because you are creating your own future. Gods are no exception when it comes to Karma. Including Gods (Who took avatars) have to adhere to Karma. 

          In Treta Yuga, Lord Vishnu took Rama Avatar where he killed Vali, the Vanara king of Kishkinda. Sugriva, Vali's Younger brother formed an alliance with Rama to bring down Vali's unethical and Adharmic rule in Kishkinda. So, Lord Rama assured to help him and asked Sugriva to challenge Vali for a battle. During their fight between Vali and Sugriva, Lord Rama was watching the battle from distance, hoping that Sugriva will win, but when Vali thrashed his brother on the rock and about to smash his head, Sugriva called Rama to help. Lord Rama appeared from the tree behind and created an loud alarm sound with his bow and arrow, which alerted everyone in the forest and with his powerful arrow Lord Rama wounded Vali. 

            Why Rama has to kill Vali, can't he be killed by any other person. The Answer is No, Only Lord Rama has the power to fight with Vali as Vali was blessed with a boon that with whomever he fights,  half of the opponent's power will come to Vali. Thus Vali was very powerful and could not be killed by anyone in a single combat, he even defeated Ravana in a fight. Wounded Vali was perplexed with Lord Rama's attack and questioned him about the reason for his action. Tara, wife of Vali cursed Rama that her husband Vali will kill him in his next birth. When Tara cursed, Lord Rama knew it, as this is what exactly the way things are going to be revealed. 

       Lord Rama showed his Vishwaroopam to Vali, he realized the reasons instantly and also about the purpose of his birth in this world. He decided to liberate his soul from the body in the presence of Lord Vishnu, he removed his boon necklace and gave it to Sugriva to rule Kishkinda, he did not give it to his own Son. 

         In the next Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, Lord Krishna (Lord Vishnu's eighth avatar) was shot by a Hunter named Jara with an arrow under his foot. Lord krishna was sitting on a tree awaiting for an arrow of his destiny, which will end Lord Vishnu's eight avatar on Earth. The hunter Jara was King Vali in his previous birth, who was killed by Lord Rama. 

         Even for the ruler of the Universe, the law of Karma remains same. 

         If karma is deciding everything, then why we have to offer prayers to God. If you regret in front of God, God will not punish you, instead he will give you the power to survive during your bad times. God gives you the positive energy and Hope, he gives opportunities to realize your conscience, to lessen your bad karmas and he gives you the strength to stand for Dharma, he shows you the path and life's sole purpose. Ultimate aim of the soul is to merge with Brahman, the Universe. 

        Karma is not Religion or spiritual, it is connected with Universe. Universe is vibrating with people's thoughts and karma, it is responding to the vibrational attitude that we are emitting. Energy can neither be created or destroyed, it will be transferred from one form to another form, like wise Karma.

Dharma

            Dharma means Righteousness. One needs to follow Dharma, moral laws and righteousness, by doing the right things, without any bias, without any ego, without any expectation and a decision which benefits large number of the people.

          Invaded Westerners created a fake meaning for this term 'Dharma'. "Dharma - Spiritual duties of each caste". This is absolutely a fake fabricated story, Dharma and Caste is not linked with each other. In ancient India, there was no Caste System. Caste system was created by the Invaders of India to do Divide and Rule politics. There were only Varna System, Brahmins, Kshtriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.

         Again, there are many fake Hindu text books saying that "Brahmins caste was originated from mouth of the God, Kshtriyas from the arms, Vashiyas from the thighs and Shudras from the feet of the God". Interestingly Ugly story about Hinduism, wanted to create more castes ?? Go ahead ! many body parts of the God are not claimed yet. On a serious note, God is not biased and not a fool to create a caste system like the quoted text. Some Paid and Adharmic agents of India, edited Hindu religious books with many fake stories. Hinduism was ridiculed and tried to defame it by Muslim Invaders, British people, but still people of India didn't lose faith in Hinduism, that's the Power and Truth of Hinduism. 

       For a Strong, Wealthy and Secured nation, four things are very important, Knowledge, Power, Wealth and Energy. Varna system of India states the same and classified people according to their qualities.

Brahmins are associated with Knowledge of Vedas and Sanskrit Hymns.
Kshtriyas are associated with Power , Ruler, Governance and Warrior skill
Vaishyas are associated with Wealth, Smart Trading , Business tactics and Money lenders
Shudra are associated  with Energy, Workmanship, Efficiency and Hard working.
( Will put a separate post about Varna System of India)

             During Mahabarata War, Pandava Prince Arjuna who was an exemplary archer was in moral dilemma about the violence and the death the war will cause.  He was resistant to kill his own people such as Teachers, Uncles, Sons, Brothers, Grand fathers and  reluctant to lift his bow for the fight. Then Lord Krishna has given spiritual and material advice to Arjuna, Krishna explains about Karma, Self, the Supreme, Dharma and Moksha. One such conversation was " Arjuna !  If you do not fight in this Dharma Yuddha (War), then you will certainly incur sin of neglecting your duties as a Kshtriya Warrior and thus lose your reputation as a fighter. You have fight to establish Dharma in this World",  "Full fill Kshtriya duty to uphold Dharma through selfless action !!" 

         The conversation between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer Lord Krishna was texted in a detail in a dialogue frame work in Bhagavad Gita, the holy book of Hindus. It is one of the greatest spiritual books in the World. Lord Krishna also revealed his Vishwaroopam to Arjuna and taught him about the science of self realisation, enlightened his the Conscience and guided him to win the battle. Bhagavad Gita not only refers to the Mahabharata War, it is timeless message to mankind. Each person has to fight his own battle between good and evil, Soul and Body, Knowledge and Ignorance, Self control and Temptation, Dharma and Adharma.

Also Lord Krishna says 

" Yada Yada hi Dharmasya  Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha |

Abhyuthanam adharmaysya Tadatmanan srijami Aham ||

Paritranaya Sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam |

Dharma sansthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge ||

    Meaning, "When ever there is a decimation of righteousness and surge in wickedness, O Descendant of Bharat ! , I manifest myself periodically in every age to protect the righteousness , to destroy the wicked and to re establish the Dharma "

         Ancient India was extremely powerful nation in the World, many scholars from other countries came to India and amazed by the principles of Sanatana Dharma, Governance, Statecraft, Warcraft training, Ayurveda, Intelligence in trading, energetic and skilled  people. How to weaken a strong nation ? Created chaos among people, divided them by Caste, Class, Money, played Inequality card, destroyed the prestigious Nalanda and Takshashila universities, fired the ancient libraries, stolen the wealth from kings, temples and precious god's idols, damaged olden temples, if it's hard to damage then masked them with different name (Taj Mahal), spreaded foul lies by editing religious text books, added many superstitions in religion to degrade the faith in God and Dharma, created Green revolution and destroyed the purity of Agriculture, created White revolution and spoiled the quality of diary products, introduced adultery in foods, stolen the rare medicinal manuscripts and text books, the basic needs, wealth and health of the people were ruined. Bitter truth is, it's still in practice in today's world, achieved in many countries in the same way. 

         But, our traditions, customs and foods are now realized and coming back with pride. Many people in India, now know the value of A2 milk, started practising Yoga, becoming health conscious by ditching white sugar and taking up Palm sugar, Jaggery, consuming brown rice and red rice, instead of refined oil started using coconut and sesame seeds oil, going towards traditional medicines instead of Allopathy medicines, festivals and family customs are being followed with a real reason behind it, Sindoor, Silk Sarees has gained world wide recognition and much more. Now many foreigners are coming to India to learn about our culture, traditions and rituals, they are following our customs and visiting holy places to get spiritual purification.
    

         Now,  Coming back to Dharma, Dharma means doing moral rights, duties of each individual and right conduct. Hinduism is not the real word, the original name of Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma, Sanatana means - Eternal moral / knowledge, which allows us to "Seek the truth" and following Dharma leads to eternal bliss. More than a religion, it talks about Principles of Life. 

     

             Following Dharma in today's World and its necessity ....

-- To be continued in Part 2

-- Aarthi Thiyagarjan