T Ram Sewak

MAYAVASH JEEV

In Shri Ramcharitmanas 7.44, Shri Ram further explains the soul's transmigratory existence and the rarity of obtaining the human form.

aakar chaurasi, joni abinasi.

phirat . prera, kaal ghera.

"This immortal soul (jeev)goes through eighty-four lakh species of life (yonis) under four broad divisions. Driven by Maya (illusion) and encompassed by time (kaal), past actions (karma), qualities (guna) and temperament (svabhav), it ever drifts along".

Shri Ram says that under the influence of Maya the paradoxical unreal reality, a jeev passes through 84 lakh life forms that are broadly classified as Udvija (that sprout from the earth - plants), Andaja (that hatch from eggs birds, reptiles etc.), Svedaja (that arise from moisture, water fungi etc.) and Jarayuja (born out of a mother's womb humans, other mammals).

Further, the type of life a soul inhabits is determined by its previous karma. However, there is no certainty as to what specific life form a soul takes upon shedding one body. Under the spell of Maya, driven by the ignorance of 'I' and 'Mine', 'You' and 'Yours' with deep-seated desires (vasanas) ruling its existence, the soul undergoes the cycle of numerous forms, births and deaths. Influenced by time, past actions (karma), the three gunas, and its inherent disposition, it thus continues through the cycle of suffering and sorrow. This illusionary Maya continuously fuels our ahankar (ego). It keeps us deluded to the extent that we waste the opportunity that this human form presents, i.e. attaining moksh and breaking from this sorrowful cycle of birth and death.

Shri Krishna also refers to the same difficulty of a jeev in transcending His Maya and gives the key to surmounting it in Gita 7.14 and 8.6-7. By referring to the concept of 84 lakh lives, Shri Ram profoundly reminds us of the diversity of life, the importance of the human form and the soul's journey through various stages

of existence. / DAILY WORLD /

Namami Ramam Musings-71

The author is a former electrical Engineer and resides in the Himalayas. He can be occasionally reached at ramam.namami@gmail.com