“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)

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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

“How would you respond to the following criticism? This is from someone who has heard. They have taken the time for shravanam, which is one of the nine processes of devotional service enumerated by Prahlada Maharaja. Shravanam is first in the list, in fact. Shravanam is perhaps the easiest of the processes to implement. You have to hear. That’s it. Just take some time. Sacrifice a portion of your day to hearing about transcendental topics, about the most important subject matter, and you can reach perfection in life, in the process.

“The criticism from the person who has spent significant time in shravanam is that there are too many analogies. It has almost become a stereotype, to fit an image of a person referred to as the ‘Indian guru’, in the generic sense. You will even see this as one of the options in a dropdown for selecting an AI model to apply to text. Basically, take what I have written and translate it such that an Indian guru was speaking, teaching their students.

“I have never even considered the matter before. I never noticed that there were so many analogies. What is the reason? Why are so many used? Are the analogies necessary? Is the use too frequent? Is there too great a reliance on the comparisons? Why not explain everything in a straightforward manner?”

The truth is that the entire life experience is building upon truths that we learn, in modular units. We take what we do know to understand what we don’t know. There is no other way. We simply do not have enough time to experience everything for ourselves. Some experiences are impossible; such as the male giving birth or the female accidentally getting someone else pregnant.

There are two Sanskrit words significant in this regard: yatha and tatha. Yatha takes something that we know. It is the starting point for the teaching. It is the anchor of the analogy, so to speak. Tatha then brings the principle home. In the manner that one thing takes place that we already know, yatha, in that same manner, tatha, something else takes place.

We see the combination of yatha and tatha sprinkled throughout Bhagavad-gita. How are we to ever grasp the concept of a constant identity? We are actually the same individual. This applies to the entire spectrum of time. We never change, in fact. This is one of the properties used for identification.

To assist in our understanding of our own identity, Shri Krishna, who is the teacher to Arjuna, takes hold of the anchor truth of the changing body within the current lifetime. This is the yatha. A sober and rational person can understand the truth that we have maintained the same identity within this lifetime.

The changes have otherwise been striking. We were once small enough to fit inside the stomach of an adult human being. We were so helpless that we could not walk or take food on our own. We once had to sit in classrooms, day after day, for many years. We see that in the future we will likely become old and diminished in physical abilities. Throughout these changes, we are the same person. Identity does not diminish, increase, or shift in value.

We take the anchor concept, yatha, and apply it to something we will have a more difficult time understanding. The corresponding concept, tatha, in this case is the continuation of life across a complete change in body. This is commonly referred to as reincarnation or transmigration of the soul. We require the yatha concept in order to grasp the more complicated subject of multiple lifetimes.

The yatha is still there to be referenced. We can go back to it at any time. For instance, I might ask myself if reincarnation is real. Is it possible that we will continue to live after death? Do people really change bodies completely? How is it possible? What is the mechanism?

For assurance, we revisit the yatha concept. The mechanism is not as complicated as it seems. We already understand the changing body. The yatha concept is that we are the same person from boyhood, to youth, to old age. The tatha is tied to the yatha. In the same way that we retain identity through bodily changes within this lifetime, we will retain identity into future lifetimes.

This is but one principle explained through a single analogy. We can now apply the principle in reverse time-order, to understand previous lifetimes. We can expand further to understand the population of creatures, and how life spreads across the entire universe. We can use a single analogy to understand how God is everywhere and how the universe is like His entire body.

एक-देश-स्थितस्याग्नेर्
ज्योत्स्ना विस्तारिणी यथा
परस्य ब्रह्मणः शक्तिस्
तथेदम् अखिलं जगत्

eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner
jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā
parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis
tathedam akhilaṁ jagat

“Everything that is manifested within this cosmic world is but the energy of the Supreme Lord. As fire emanating from one place diffuses its illumination and heat all around, so the Lord, although situated in one place in the spiritual world, manifests His different energies everywhere. Indeed, the whole cosmic creation is composed of different manifestations of His energy.” (Vishnu Purana, 1.22.52)

Vishnu Purana offers further assistance with the analogy of a potent fire that diffuses its heat and light across the vastest of expanses. But since we already accepted the truth of the constant individual across multiple lifetimes from Bhagavad-gita, we are sufficiently equipped to understand this more complicated truth of the impersonal feature of the Almighty.

Without utilizing such analogies, it is practically impossible to gain an understanding of that which is beyond the comprehension of the flawed and limited human mind. There is simply no other way towards completing the highest educational discipline, which is the king of education, in fact.

राज-विद्या राज-गुह्यं
पवित्रम् इदम् उत्तमम्
प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं
सु-सुखं कर्तुम् अव्ययम्

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ
su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2)

In Closing:

For higher understanding to make,
First the anchor concept take.

Like through changing body steady,
The same for next lifetime ready.

Reincarnation demystified so,
From basic analogy to know.

Entire bhagavata presentation extending,
From modular units descending.

Categories: questions

Tags: analogy, dailyprompt, literature, poem, poems, poetry