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The world is a strange place, full of suffering and the cycle of rebirth. The fourth chapter of the Yoga Shastra, verses 66 and 67, tell us that even Prajapati, the creator, was born as an insect. This is a testament to the strange nature of the world. But from the perspective of the soul, this is not its true form. ||65||
392. The soul, bound by karma, wanders through all the realms of existence, like a tenant in a rented house. It enters and leaves each realm, never staying in one place for long. ||66||
Meaning: The soul is born and dies in all realms of existence. From the one-sense beings to the five-sense beings, there is no realm in the 84 lakh yonis of this world that the soul has not experienced. Just as a householder rents a hut and leaves it when he no longer needs it, so too does the soul, bound by karma, take on a body for a time, but then leaves it after experiencing its karma and takes on another. In time, it leaves that realm as well, never staying in one place for long. ||66||
392. There is not a single speck of space in the entire universe that has not been touched by the soul, in its various forms, as it is born and dies, driven by its karma. ||67||
Explanation: There are two types of space: loka-akasha and a-loka-akasha. Loka-akasha is the space where the six substances of dharma-stikaya, adharma-stikaya, akasha, kala, pudgala, and jiva are present. A-loka-akasha is the space where these substances are not present. It is said that the realm where the substances of dharma-stikaya, etc., are present is called loka, and the realm where they are not present is called a-loka. The soul, in its various forms, from the one-sense beings to the five-sense beings, is born and dies according to its karma. There is no intervention from God or any other force. Other philosophers have said that the ignorant soul is unable to experience the fruits of its karma, which are happiness and suffering, and therefore it is guided by God to heaven or hell. But if we accept the intervention of God and the independence of karma, then the diverse forms of the universe would not exist. And if we accept that these forms are dependent on karma, then God would be powerless and ineffective. Therefore, karma is the driving force behind the soul's journey to heaven, hell, and other realms. There is no need to bring God into the equation. As we have said in the Vitaragastotra, if we accept God as the one who makes us experience the fruits of our karma, then he would not be independent, like us. And if we accept that the diversity of the world is due to karma, then what is the purpose of bringing in a powerless (impotent) God?
Here are some of the inner meanings of these verses:
The suffering of hell: The soul, bound by karma, suffers in the realms of hell, animal life, human life, and the gods. Of these, the realm of hell is where the soul experiences the most suffering. There are four types of hell: the first three are characterized by heat, the fourth by both heat and cold, and the last three by cold. The suffering of hell is determined by the location of the hell. In the hells where there is both heat and cold, if a mountain of iron were to fall, it would melt before it reached the ground, or it would freeze or shatter. The beings in hell constantly torment each other, remembering their past hatreds, or they are tormented by the righteous gods. The beings in hell experience all three types of suffering, and they dwell on the earth of hell. The beings in hell are born in the womb of a pot, and then the righteous asuras pull them out through a small hole, like a needle through a hole. Just as a washerman twists clothes on a stone, so too do the righteous asuras twist the limbs of the beings in hell on a stone with sharp thorns. Just as a piece of wood is split with an axe, so too are the beings in hell split with a terrible axe. Just as sesame seeds are ground in a mill, so too are the beings in hell ground in a mill.
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