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Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda
act will appear immediately. But when that result has gone, all evil acts must produce their bad effects also.
The way to Brahmaloka, from where there is no more fall or return, is called the "Devayāna", i.e., the way to God; the way to heaven is known as "pitriyāna", ie, the way to the father. 31
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Now, we come to the point that rebirth and karma are associated closely. One supplements the other. One cannot be imagined even without the other. Birth is determined by man's pleasure or pain, which is passed on man's past deeds. Thus, the Law of Karma i.c., nothing is wasted, is the elementary basis of the rebirth. The famous verse of Bhagavadgītā also supports the rebirth:
Vasa si Jirṇāni yatha vihāya navani grhṇāti naro' parāṇi tatha Śarīrāṇi Vihāya Jirṇāny anyani san.yati navani dehī.22
But the concept of rebirth is not without objection. The main problem with regard to it is the loss of memory. Nobody remembers the events of his past lives. But this objection has been aptly answered by the argument that how many of us can recall even the past incidents of our present life. We know that an event of the past which has entirely slipped out of our normal consciousness is yet present in some dark recess of our memory and can be brought in delirium or under the influence of some drugs or directly by hypnotism. Therefore, nothing is lost or forgotten. On the contrary, everything is preserved very carefully. Now and then we come across children, who have a strong recollection of their immediate past.
One who accepts the doctrine of rebirth, must necessarily believe in the Law of Karma, since one is complementary to the other. If a human soul undergoes series of rebirth, it is natural to suppose that it is intellectual, emotional and carnalSatvika, rajasika and tāmsika, in the language of Bhagavadgītā. Man has been largely made up by the accumulated principles through which he has passed in all his previous lives. And this is the substance of the Law of Karma.
