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Iṣṭopadeśa - The Golden Discourse
दिग्देशेभ्यः खगा एत्य संवसन्ति नगे नगे । स्वस्वकार्यवशाद्यान्ति देशे दिक्षु प्रगे प्रगे ||
At dusk, birds from different directions and regions get themselves perched on trees, but at the break of the day, fly off, in their pursuits, to different directions and destinations.
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EXPLANATORY NOTES
In the present verse, Acārya Pujyapada provides us with an insight into the life of a transmigrating (samsări) soul. Transmigration means metempsychosis - a new birth after death.
A particular state of existence in the transmigrating life of a soul is like a bird spending the night, with fellow birds, on a tree. At the break of the day, they all leave their resting place and proceed to onward destinations.
Due to our wrong beliefs we give undue and misplaced importance to our so-called possessions, animate and inanimate, of the present life. These possessions include our body, relations like husband or wife, sons, daughters, friends and peers, and things that we acquire with great effort, like land, business and wealth.
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A transmigrating soul can be in any of the four states of existence, technically called caturgati. These four states of existence are the infernal state, the subhuman state of animals and plants, the human state, and the celestial state. All transmigrating souls remain embodied according to their individual spiritual
