Shri Saibaba Sansthan,Shirdi                                                                         Shri Saileela Main Page

WHY MAN RE-INCARNATES ON EARTH ?

Today’s science, though advanced, has failed to answer the above question. Though the scientists have revealed many mysteries in this world through various experiments, the riddle of life has baffled them for a pretty long time. Saints and sages in India, however, had a deep thinking over the issue and their views in this regard would help a great deal to aspirants and devotees who seek enlightenment.

Each and every event in man’s life has a bearing to his deeds in earlier birth. In other words, happiness or suffering of a man is the outcome of his deeds in his earlier birth. This  is known as ‘Karmic Law’ and the very law is termed as ‘destiny’ by common man when no explanation can be given for mishaps which we witness in our day-to-day life. According to the said law, to-day’s monarch goes in exile next day and a millionaire is declared insolvent all of a sudden. Saints and sages are fully aware of this ‘Karmic Law’ and as such they face calamities in life with utmost tranquility. It would not be out of place to mention here an event from ‘Mahabharat’ which clearly shows as to how each event in man’s life is viewed in terms of the said law. Bhishma had been lying on a bed of pointed arrows. Seeing his plight, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna as to how a sage like Bhishma, who performed hard penace and austerities, had to lie down on pointed arrows. The Lord replied that Bhishma was a king in earlier birth and while going for hunting he had a chameleon tossed off with his pointed arrow just for fun. The episode of bed of arrows in Bhishma’s life had a bearing to the event, which took place in his earlier birth. It will thus be seen that both good and evil deeds shape future of a man, who re-incarnates to experience happiness or suffering according to the trend of events in his earlier birth. In light of this, man should examine his day-to-day activities and try to eradicate evils. Needless to say, human mind carries forward evil thoughts in earlier birth and drags man towards evil deeds. In other words, man once again incarnates to pay for his deeds and undergo sufferings.

Saints and sages have, therefore, attached great importance to the purification of mind which helps man to lead divine life, for good deeds originate through purified mind alone. For purification of mind, saints urge devotees to carry out day-to-day work sheding out ego with complete surrender to the Almighty. In addition to this a devotee has to practice meditation and regulate his activities through restraint which helps a great deal in bringing desired change in one’s mode of life. Slowly and gradually, you will reach a stage when you will feel like giving up your longings, for longings alone make you to re-incarnate. The Almighty loves good deeds and as the saying goes, when you put one step with intention to reach Him, He hurriedly crosses ten steps to come to you.

Re-incarnation of saints and sages on earth is termed as ‘advent’ since such re-incarnation is always planned by the Almighty in order to carry out certain mission. In case of Sai Baba, His advent was to promote love and lead the masses on the right path. Re-incarnation of saints and sages should, therefore, never be compared with re-incarnation of ordinary man.

To sum up, evils of earlier birth can easily be wiped out through good deeds and austerities such as meditation and restraint. (For ordinary man, in the present circumstances, ‘Namjap’ would be easy to achieve the goal. An aspirant should ascertain  from the elders the Name of their Family Deity and surrender to Him with utmost devotion.) If you lead your life in this manner, you will surely find a change in your attitude. Your mind will always tend to help others. You will dedicate your life for the worthy cause. A  stage will come when you will remain aloof from worldly pleasures, which are the root cause of longing. Havings washed out earlier evils, the final stage would be to become a part and parcel of the Almighty. This stage is termed as ‘mukti’ (salvation) i.e. to merge with the Almighty - reaching the abode of eternal peace. When you reach this stage, you yourself put an end to re-incarnation.

– S. N. Awachat