Body (शरीर)
To all of us souls, God gives one or the other body as a means. The body within which we perform our work is the means of pleasure and pain and this human body is the means of attaining salvation. If the souls do not get the body, then they can neither enjoy their karma nor can they do any new karma in future. Therefore the soul needs a body to perform work. Without the body, the soul is helpless, cannot do anything, cannot even move itself.
The body is obtained in three ways-
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Sthool Sharir (Physical body)
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Sukshma Sharir (Subtle body)
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Karan Sharir (Causal body)
The Annamaya Kosh(the sheath of food) means which is made of food, which we can see, we can touch is the Sthool Sharir. The five Tanmatras(subtle elements), five Gyanendriya(sense organs), five Karmendriya (means of action, i.e mouth, hands, feet, excretion and reproduction) and the group of mind, intellect and ego within this physical body are called Sukshma Sharir. And the root of all i.e. Sattva, Rajas, Tamas, from which everyone's bodies are made, is the Karan Sharir. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are called Karan Sharir.
Click here for a brief introduction of the three bodies and the Panchkoshas.
Means of soul (जीवात्मा का साधन)
The souls need a lot of means to work in order to achieve their goal so that they can attain pure knowledge, perform pure actions and perform pure worship. By the way, man works on three levels. Through mind, speech and body, but behind these many means are needed. Which have been mentioned in the above three bodies.
What is birth? (जन्म क्या है?)
"जनि प्रादुर्भावे" The word birth is derived from this Sanskrit root. It means to appear. To take birth means the manifestation of the soul through the body.
What is life? (जीवन क्या है?)
Life is the time between birth and death.
What is death? (मृत्यु क्या है?)
"मृत्+यू"
The word death comes from "यू मिश्रणामिश्रयो". It means to break and join. Disengage from one body to attach to another. It (death) is not the end of the journey, it is only a matter of changing the vehicle, the driver will not change. Changing of body is called death.
Death certain or uncertain? When will one die? (मृत्यु निश्चित या अनिश्चित? किसकी मृत्यु कब होगी?)
The age given by God is fixed, but man is free to increase or decrease the age given by God to a certain extent.
Age can be increased or decreased, but we get a certain age from God on the basis of our Karma. We can extend that age with careful and restrained diet, sleep, diligence, etc. and also we can end it too soon with carelessness and inadvertently. It can happen that we are not able to live a full life either by accident etc. or in natural calamities or due to other reasons. The age that God has given can be extended even further by becoming a God's worshiper, by behaving in a Vedic manner. Hence age is uncertain. Not sure that which person, on which day, at what time, at which place, by whom, at what hour and minute will die? This is not predetermined. It cannot even be predicted because there is uncertainty. Anyone can die anywhere, anytime, in any way. Accidents, poisoning, negligence can lead to death. Everyone is free to act according to the law of God.
Form of death (मृत्यु का स्वरूप)
🌷वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय..
Lord Krishna is saying that just as a man takes off his old clothes and puts on new clothes, in the same way, leaving a dilapidated body, the soul takes on a new body. Until liberation is not attained, birth-death, birth-death happen relentlessly one after the other. Only Moksha can put the brakes on this birth and death.
Way to avoid death (मृत्यु से बचने का उपाय)
There is no way to avoid death. He who is born must also die. There is no way to be born and not die. This whole world is mortal. Nothing is stable here. This entire inanimate world is corrosive. There's always something new here, something old breaks. This process continues. Therefore death cannot be completely avoided. But it is possible that a person can extend his life to an extent beyond his full life which God has given to him or even more. For that one should learn Vedic conduct or Ashtang Yog from a qualified Guru(teacher) and follow it.
Diet, pleasure, sleep, restraint, diligence, Yajna, meditation etc. should be practiced properly. And keeping interest in Dharm, selfishness (for one's own interest) and altruism, service and dedication should be kept. One should live by defending Dharm, because “धर्मो रक्षति रक्षित:” means who protect Dharm, the protected Dharm protects the one who protects it.
