Attachment & the Next Birth

Below is a verse from Bhagwat Gita which states that whatever, a person thinks at the moment of death, one becomes that without fail. So we should always think of Lord Krishna all the times so that one attains to Lord Krishna only at the moment of death.

"yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eight verse 6)

"Sri Krishna said: Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O Arjuna, that state he will attain without fail." 

Whatever one thinks at the moment of death one becomes that without fail. This is being stated with the words yam yam meaning whatever. Whatever one is thinking at the last moment of death will transport one to become the very object or conception one contemplated while dying. The reason Lord Krishna also gives with the words sada tad-bhava- bhavitah meaning due to being completely absorbed in such contemplation the powerful prominence of the final thought and image infuses itself upon the consciousness determining their next birth.

Here below is story of the King Bharat of India as to how he became a Deer in his Next Birth because of his thinking of a deer & his attachment to a deer at the time of his death.

"Once upon a time in India there was a great king called Bharat. In his old age he gave over his throne to his son, and retired into the forest to live into a life of an acetic. He made a hermitage on the banks of the river Gandaki. There he passed his time in the worship of God.

One fine morning, when he was performing libations in the river, a pregnant Doe arrived on the opposite bank to drink water. At that time a lion roared somewhere in the forest behind her. Frightened by the roar, the doe jumped into the river to save her life. But the doe lost her life in the action while her foetus fell in the river.

Feeling pity for the fawn, King Bharat took it and began to foster it. Day by day Bharat's affection grew for the fawn. Slowly he became irregular in his daily routine. But Bharat loved the fawn more than his routine. When the fawn grew into a deer, by its natural instinct it joined its mates. On his return, Bharat did not find the deer and grew so restless that he died out of depression. As his mind was fixed on the deer at death, he was born in his next birth as a deer. Bharat was a prudent man. But affection & attachment did not spare even him."

Nature of our mind is so that it gets attached to some object, place or person badly. In such a state our mind is swayed by the emotions than the intellect. We always think of that object, place or person & without it, our life seems impossible. Too much attachment to anything is also called Infatuation & it is the cause of most sorrows. Infatuation is something that we get attached to some object, place or person very badly. We are always thinking of that & without that thing, our life seems impossible. Due to such Infatuation our mind always wanders about that & forgets other important things in life.

Bhagwat Gita also teaches us to live in this world like that without getting attached to anything or any being. Just like a drop of water on Lotus, where though it is there on it but it is not attached to it.

"brahmany adhaya karmani
sangam tyaktva karoti yah
lipyate na sa papena
padma-patram ivambhasa" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Five verse 10)

"Sri Krishna said: One who performs his duty without any Attachment, surrendering all the results unto the God, is unaffected by sinful action, as the Lotus leaf is untouched by water."

So we should not attach our mind greatly to any material thing, place or human being, as one day we shall have to leave these or these shall go away from us. On that day, if you have great attachment to these, you shall feel great pain, otherwise it shall be a normal life for you. So let us not allow our mind to be INFATUATED by any thing, which can lead us to sorrow.

Jai Sri Krishna