“The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.23)

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नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।
न चैनं क्ल‍ेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥

nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi
nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ
na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo
na śoṣayati mārutaḥ

1. Swords

“Don’t ask me to hold it. I know that I will make a mistake. Trust me. I might drop it by accident. I might pick it up and start to swing it like a baseball bat. In the process, someone will accidentally get cut. This sword could slice through human flesh without issue. No wonder it is considered a weapon, and a powerful one at that.”

2. Flames

“Okay, we have all seen the magicians on their televised specials. They can do amazing things with fire. You see those people walking across burning coals. They walk through the flame, so to speak.

“On a massive scale, however, the flames are impossible to defeat. They can devour an entire neighborhood. The people are helpless. They flee in horror. They hope that nature somehow intervenes to halt the destruction.”

3. Rain

“One of those forces of nature is rain. It can stop the forest fire. It can wash away an entire city. It is better to stay off the roads during these storms. It may have only rained for a few minutes, but there can be flooding in different areas. Cars will get stuck. People will be in trouble.”

4. Tornadoes

“I have not witnessed one personally. I have seen them in television shows and movies. They look pretty scary. It is strange to think that wind can gather steam in such a way that it becomes this force of destruction. It is almost like someone is at the helm, operating a machine.”

5. Nuclear weapons

“When I was growing up there was this term called ‘mutually assured destruction.’ The power players in the world had their own stockpiles of nuclear weapons. They tried to negotiate the reduction, to help bring peace to the world, but who is going to be naïve enough to follow that route?

“I reduce my weapons, but my enemy decides to hide theirs. They now have the upper hand. They hold the advantage. My only choice is to match their force, which will hopefully serve as a deterrent to armed conflict.”

…

The asura-like leaders are well ahead of schedule in their dastardly plot. They want to be the sole heirs to the bountiful blessings offered by this world. Let others fight amongst each other for whatever remains. Like the dogs in the alley rummaging through the garbage thrown out by the wealthy household, the common man will have to fend for themselves.

The asura-like leaders are not wedded to a particular name to their scheme. They have instituted different plans throughout history. They present a problem that puts the blame on a collective. Such as overpopulation. Too much burden from a particular race. Inequitable consumption of resources, when in truth there is no shortage.

Their solution is to thin the herd, so to speak. Eliminate others. Best of all, the asura-like leaders will convince the victims that this is in their best interest. They are saving the planet, you see. They are making sure that there will be enough food and water to consume. They are helping to make a more sustainable environment.

In truth, the asura-like leaders want only to kill. They will settle for diminishing. They do not want others to compete with them. They want to maintain their exclusive communities, with fancy parties, and limited guest-lists.

The automobile will become a luxury. The wealthy will fly in planes. Everyone else will have to suffer together in public transportation. But it is okay, since they will suffer equally. They will blend into an anonymous collective. No one will know who anyone is, since everyone will be equally mediocre. You will own nothing and be happy about it.

एतां दृष्टिमवष्टभ्य नष्टात्मानोऽल्पबुद्धय: ।
प्रभवन्त्युग्रकर्माण: क्षयाय जगतोऽहिता: ॥

etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya
naṣṭātmāno ’lpa-buddhayaḥ
prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ
kṣayāya jagato ’hitāḥ

“Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.9)

Bhagavad-gita explains that this attitude is the result of a mistaken assumption. There is this hopelessness tied to refusing to accept the presence of a Supreme Controller. Therefore, the asuras try to enjoy as much as possible. If they reach a position of authority, they try to squash the competition; lest there be a shortage on available enjoyment.

They will build the greatest weapons known to man. They will put out any fires of resistance. They will stash opposition leaders in jail. They will continuously delay a trial-date, so that the public never finds out that there are no real criminal charges to file.

To whatever level of success the asura-like leader reaches, it should be understood that they never actually succeed in their objectives. Their enemies, in whatever way that line is drawn, never perish. The spirit soul cannot be destroyed.

Whether it be one thousand paper cuts or the blast from a nuclear weapon, the soul is still there. It may travel to a different place. It may reach another destination. It may separate from the temporary body, but that separation is inevitable for everyone.

देहिनो ऽस्मिन् यथा देहे
कौमारं यौवनं जरा
तथा देहान्तर-प्राप्तिर्
धीरस् तत्र न मुह्यति

dehino ‘smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.13)

Thus the enemy has not done anything special. They merely wasted time in thinking they could control the world. They had no say in their own temporary situation. Two people, born and raised in the same community, both attending the same university and graduating with distinctions, go to work in the same industry.

One person ends up the richest man in the world, while the other struggles in anonymity. This means that there must be another factor at play. Human effort, paurusham, is not everything. There has to be outside cooperation. There must be prior sanction for any result to manifest.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

From the authority of Shri Krishna, we should be confident that the soul never dies. It never takes birth. No one is able to kill it. The essence of living is aligning the interests of the soul with the source of everything. This is known as dharma, and dharma is the ultimate objective of the human birth. Every other endeavor ultimately will meet with destruction.

In Closing:

Despite most stable construction,
Ultimately to meet with destruction.

Conclusion for every endeavor,
Nothing to stay forever.

The soul impossible to kill,
Moving on to next place still.

The wise interest with dharma aligning,
For permanent settlement finding.

Categories: the five

Tags: god, hare krishna, nature, poem, poems, poetry, reincarnation