Sometimes you may wonder what happens if this life comes to an end before realization. The same doubt was cast on Arjuna’s mind and he asked the Lord, “The yoga that you mention is difficult to perfect. What happens if this body is cast off before the yogi has attained the goal? (Becomes yogabrastha)”.
The Lord pacifies his insecurity with the following explanation. There is no downfall here after to a person who has started treading on the path of yoga. Nothing bad will ever happen to him in this world or any other worlds. If his body is cast off, one of these two things will happen.
He will obtain the higher worlds such as the heaven which only the people with accumulated merits are entitled to. People craving such worlds will have had worked hard to gather the required merits during their stay in earth. But the yogi who lives his life selflessly without even thinking about the higher worlds will obtain it easily. He will enjoy there for a long period of time and will then be born again in a rich family with strong values. Though all the pleasures of the senses will be available to him, he will not get immersed in them and will start working beyond expectations of the fruits for his actions. He will be drawn to the spiritual path because of the training of his mind and will continue his Sadhana from the point where he left it previously.
If the person is of much more dispassionate and very meritorious then he will directly be born in a family of intelligent yogis and will lead an exceptionally religious life. But such births are rare are difficult to obtain. Swami Rama, Paramahamsa Yogananda and Swami Satyananda are some such examples of recent times.
This is the promise made by Krishna to all the aspirants who will ever tread the path of yoga. We are offered this protection and there is nothing more to fear. Guruji has also repeated this so many times. If we change towns in our mundane lives, our kids do not restart our education from the beginning. Similarly in spiritual life, aspirants will continue to progress from the previous lives and will never lose anything.
But if the aspirant applies total effort, with the support of the Sanskaras of previous lives, it is possible to experience the results in this very birth. The yogi can become complete and released from all the sins of the past and reach the highest state immediately. Hence Krishna appeals Arjuna to become a yogi in the current life as that is the most superior way.
-AtmaAnanda
The Lord pacifies his insecurity with the following explanation. There is no downfall here after to a person who has started treading on the path of yoga. Nothing bad will ever happen to him in this world or any other worlds. If his body is cast off, one of these two things will happen.
He will obtain the higher worlds such as the heaven which only the people with accumulated merits are entitled to. People craving such worlds will have had worked hard to gather the required merits during their stay in earth. But the yogi who lives his life selflessly without even thinking about the higher worlds will obtain it easily. He will enjoy there for a long period of time and will then be born again in a rich family with strong values. Though all the pleasures of the senses will be available to him, he will not get immersed in them and will start working beyond expectations of the fruits for his actions. He will be drawn to the spiritual path because of the training of his mind and will continue his Sadhana from the point where he left it previously.
If the person is of much more dispassionate and very meritorious then he will directly be born in a family of intelligent yogis and will lead an exceptionally religious life. But such births are rare are difficult to obtain. Swami Rama, Paramahamsa Yogananda and Swami Satyananda are some such examples of recent times.
This is the promise made by Krishna to all the aspirants who will ever tread the path of yoga. We are offered this protection and there is nothing more to fear. Guruji has also repeated this so many times. If we change towns in our mundane lives, our kids do not restart our education from the beginning. Similarly in spiritual life, aspirants will continue to progress from the previous lives and will never lose anything.
But if the aspirant applies total effort, with the support of the Sanskaras of previous lives, it is possible to experience the results in this very birth. The yogi can become complete and released from all the sins of the past and reach the highest state immediately. Hence Krishna appeals Arjuna to become a yogi in the current life as that is the most superior way.
-AtmaAnanda
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