Transmigration in the Mahabharatha and the Siva Purana, Part 2

The Mahabharatha – Aswamedha Parva (Samkshipta M. Dvitiya 761)

Dharma Raja: Kesava (Krishna), You are omniscient. So can you tell me how far is Yama Loka (Naraka) from us? (Hindu theology designates Naraka as the place where the Jeevi, i.e. a dead person's soul + the essences of the good and bad things done by that living being when previously alive. (While the English word 'hell' has many Judeo-Christian implications that do not apply here, it is a rough approximation of Naraka, when one uses Hindu canon to define what such a 'hell' is like.) How vast is it? How does it look like? Where is it? How may human beings escape the miseries of Naraka? When the Jeevi is cast out of this body made of skin, bones and flesh, what will the experience of happiness or sadness feel like? How will the good  who serve the Sattvic reach Svarga? How will those who have caused injury to others travel to Naraka? How will they look like when they travelling to Naraka?

Krishna: O King! Since you are a devotee of mine, I will reveal these facts to you. Between Earth and Naraka ( Yama Loka) is a distance of 86,000 Yojanas (1 Yojana  ~ 8 miles) . On the way there, there will be neither the shade of trees, nor rivers nor lakes nor wells. There are neither buildings nor squares. There are neither houses nor mountains, nor caves, nor villages, nor monasteries, nor gardens nor pleasant paths through a park. There is nowhere to pause and rest.

Upon orders from Yama, at the appointed time of death, Yama’s messengers will appear to the Jeevi and draw the life-force out of the Jeevi against their will. When the time arrives for one to die, one’s life force ascends to the throat. It will become separated from the action-oriented material and become susceptible to the movement of wind. It will then, with the exhalation be expelled against its will from the body. Thus leaving this six-layered body, this wind-like Jeevi will then enter an invisible body.

This Invisible Body (called the Preta Sarira) looks like, is colored like and is sized like the old body, except that no one can see the Jeevi in this body. Not only that, the Invisible Body will not be destroyed even if it is hacked, cut to pieces or burnt. It will cause tremendous pain but it will all slowly heal together again. No matter how badly injured. Thus equipped to suffer, the Jeevi is ready to begin the extremely painful journey to Yama Loka.

At the time, the Jeevi becomes overcome by attachment to the friends and the family members of the just concluded life and falls to the depths of sorrow and humiliation. The Jeevi watches as the near and dear gather and mourn in sorrow.

[Karma Kanda: The Preta Sarira is under Shiva's control.  The body is cremated in a timely manner also called  Agni Samskara - Cleans and purifying by way of Agni i.e. Fire. Shiva is also called Jwala Swarupa – Shaped like Fire. On the 2nd or 3rd day the pyre is cleaned. The few remaining bones and ashes are kept for release in a river of choice of the person who has passed away.

A stone is used by the priest (experienced in the Karma Kanda), to offer through the mantras, a home to the preta sarira for the 10 days of the funeral period.  The stone is kept clean, and dried herbs will be tied to it and water is offered to it daily until the 9^th day. Pindam (balls of rice with white lentils) is offered on the the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th days. This food is accepted by the Jeevi in the Sukshma Rupa – the microscopic or unreachably deep/subtle form or process. This food offered during the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th days, and the Dana (Giving or Sacrifice) practiced by the person are the only aids for the year long journey ahead. (Pindam may also be offered every month for the first year.) ]

By the end of the 10^th day, whether gently through the mantras of a good, well-qualified priest or through the more direct means of Yama’s messengers, the bonds to the people and things of the life just gone by are finally broken. Those who have committed grave injuries to others will perceive the arriving messengers as beings made of strange and terrible looking bodies, with a nasty and terrible temper and with the ability to give the Jeevi a clear picture of the suffering ahead. They will use their many perplexing and powerful weapons to roughly overcome the panic-stricken and futile resistance of the Jeevi and forcibly capture it and take it on its way. Those who have done good throughout their life will perceive the arriving messengers are beautiful and gentle hosts who lead them to the beginning of a year long journey in comfort.

The Jeevi then recognizes that wherever it goes, following behind it, like a shadow, are the essences of the good and bad of its past life. The Jeevi then loses all interest in the mourning family and friends. In a state of complete indifference, the Jeevi leaves it all behind and starts moving away. The family and friends are still in mourning and yet the Jeevi feels no more attachment to anything.  Their faces are streaked with the tears of sorrow as they cry. Yet neither can they see the Invisible Body nor does the Jeevi care. The Jeevi then turns and moves away, in the form of wind, away into the surrounding, all-enveloping darkness, which has no end in sight.