Heaven

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The conception of heaven of the Hindus is different from that of the Christians or of the Mohammedans. The heaven of the Hindus is a place where the departed souls go to reap the fruits of their virtuous deeds. They remain there for some time till the fruits of their virtuous actions are exhausted. Then they come back to this world. They eat in heaven the divine feasts of the Shining Ones or the Devas. They move in celestial cars. Indra is the Lord of heaven or Svarga. Various kinds of Devas (gods) dwell here. Celestial damsels like Urvasi, Rambha dance here. The Gandharvas sing. There is no disease here. There is no trouble of hunger and thirst. The inhabitants are endowed with a brilliant subtle body. They are adorned with shining garments. Heaven is a thought-world, a realm of intense ideations. Whatever one wishes, he gets it at once, by immediate materialisation. So it is a happier world than the earth-plane.

The Christians, Mohammedans and Zoroastrians believe in heaven of different kinds. In Mohammedanism, the departed souls pass through the bridge Al Sirat. The faithful ones who have done virtuous deeds reach the Paradise which is situated in heaven. The Mohammedan conception of Paradise is that of a beautiful garden, furnished with springs, fountains and rivers flowing with water, milk, honey and balsam. There are trees having trunks of gold and yielding the most delicious fruits. There are seventy effulgent, beautiful girls called Hur-ul-ayun with big black eyes. The Jews and the Zoroastrians also have a similar conception of heaven.

The Paradises of the Zoroastrians are known by the names Bihisht and Minu. The persons who have done good deeds in the earth-plane enjoy the company of Huran-i-bihisht or black-eyed damsels of Paradise, who are under the care of the angel Zamiyad. The name for heaven is Garo-de-mana (Garot-man in the Persian) or house of hymns. The angels sing hymns here, just as Gandharvas sing in the heaven of the Hindus.

The Jews and the Parsis believe in seven Heavens. The heaven of Eden is composed of precious stones. There is a resemblance between the garden of Eden and the Paradise of Zoroastrians. The two trees in Eden, the tree of knowledge and the tree of life, correspond to the painless tree and the Gao Karena bearing the white Roama.

The Parsis, the Christians and Mohammedans believe that heaven is eternal and permanent. All enjoyments come to them incessantly without any pain and difficulty.

Heaven is a place of mental and sensual enjoyment. The enjoyments in heaven are more intense, subtle and refined. But they cannot give everlasting peace and real eternal bliss. They wear out the senses. A wise man with discrimination and dispassion will never crave for the enjoyments of heaven. He will never dream to have an abode in heaven. There is jealousy; there is Raga-Dvesha (likes and dislikes) in heaven. Demons fight with gods. Real, thirsty aspirants should ruthlessly ignore heaven. They should yearn for the final emancipation, or Moksha.

Every man builds up his own heaven according to his own desires and imaginations. Every man has his own idea of pleasures. Pleasures are always changing. A drunkard dreams of a heaven where there are rivers of wine. This would be a very bad heaven for a sober, pious man. A young man dreams of a heaven where he will have celestial damsels, celestial cars, fine music and dance. When that man becomes old, he does not want a woman. It is your necessities and desires that make your heaven. Your heaven is the counterpart of your desires.

You have no idea of real eternal bliss of the Soul. Your mind whirls in sensual pleasures. That is the reason why you are carried away by thoughts of heaven or paradise. Have a clear understanding of the nature of the Soul. You will have no craving for the enjoyments of heaven. The Atman or the Soul is an ocean of bliss. The ocean of bliss or the fountain of joy is within you. Withdraw the senses. Look within. Fix the mind on the Soul. All sensual desires will melt. You will be immersed in the ocean of bliss.

The period for which you live in heaven depends upon the degree of your meritorious deeds. You can become an Indra or Lord of the heaven if you like. Indrahood is a position. The Indra who had lived before is not the Indra of the present day. Countless Indras have come and gone.

When man becomes disgusted with the world around him through miseries, sorrows, disappointments, failures, loss of property, diseases, and death of dearest relatives, he thinks that he would go to some place where there would be all happiness for ever without any misery or pain, where he would live with his forefathers with a perfect body. So he creates heaven or Svarga. How can there be eternal happiness in a finite plane conditioned in time and space? Eternal bliss and immortality can be found in your own Atman, the Self only.

A life in heaven is very much the same sort of life you lead here, only a little happier. You have comfortable living there, but it is not eternal life of everlasting bliss. Further, you will have to come down to earth-plane, when the fruits of good actions are exhausted. Heaven is not a permanent abode. Everything which has name and form must perish. Atman or Soul only is immortal and eternal. That is the reason why sages and thirsty aspirants after Truth do not long for the enjoyments of heaven.

The Vedanta does not attach any special value to heaven. It teaches that these heavens are phenomenal and transitory. Even if one dwells in heaven for millions of years, these millions of years are nothing before eternity.

Lord Jesus says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." Vedanta also tells the same thing. Real everlasting happiness can be attained by realising one's own Atman or the Immortal Soul. Eternal bliss is within. Perennial joy is in your own innermost Self. The little pleasure that you get from objects is only reflection of the bliss of the Soul. It is a particle of that real, eternal bliss of Soul.

Man sees God face to face. He lives in God. There is no intervening veil or limitation between him and the Lord. He lives in absolute and complete oneness with Him. He is ever blissful. This is Heaven.

From the transcendental viewpoint, there is neither heaven nor hell. They are creations of psycho-physical necessities. If your mind is filled with Sattva, you are in heaven. If Tamas and Rajas preponderate in your mind, you are in hell.

When a man who has done meritorious actions dies, he becomes a Deva or god and dwells in heaven. He enjoys various kinds of pleasures in heaven. During his period of stay in heaven he does not do any fresh Karma or action. Dwelling in heaven is simply a reward for his past good actions. In the Deva form he does not perform any Karma at all.

Abandon the idea of heaven. The idea of obtaining eternal happiness in heaven is a vain dream. It is a puerile idea. Seek the eternal bliss in your own Atman through meditation. You are the Immortal Soul, free, eternal; you are ever pure, ever blessed. Assert your birth-right. Proclaim your freedom and be what you really are, ever free, ever blessed. Everything in time, space and causation is bound. The soul is beyond all time, all space, all causation. 'Tat Tvam Asi', Thou art That, my child. Realise this and be ever happy.

Lord Buddha says: "Many thousand myriads of systems of worlds beyond this is a region of bliss called Sukhavati. This region is encircled within seven rows of railings, seven rows of vast curtains, seven rows of waving trees. This holy abode of the Arhats is governed by the Tathagatas and is occupied by the Bodhisattvas. It has seven precious lakes, in the midst of which flow crystalline waters having seven and yet one distinctive properties and qualities. This, O Sariputra, is the Devachan. Its divine Udambara flower casts a root in the shadow of every earth, and blossoms for all those who reach it. Those born in this blessed region-who have crossed the golden bridge and reached the seven golden mountains-they are truly felicitous; there is no more grief or sorrow in that cycle for them."

Only persons who have earned great merits on earth can go to heaven. The heaven is well provided with excellent paths. It is always frequented by celestial cars. Atheists and untruthful persons, those who have not lived a life of asceticism and those who have not performed great sacrifices, cannot go there.

Only virtuous souls and those of subdued minds, those who have controlled their senses, those who are free from malice, those intent on the practice of charity, and heroes and men bearing marks of battle and who have performed the most meritorious acts, attain to the celestial regions. The celestial regions can be attained only by virtuous acts. The celestial regions are inhabited by pious men. They bestow every object of desire. The Siddhas, the Visvas, the Gandharvas, the Apsaras, the Yamas and the Dharmas dwell there. There is that foremost of mountains, the golden Meru, extending to thirty thousand Yojanas. There are many celestial gardens. The Nandana garden is the most beautiful one. Here sport the persons of meritorious acts. Neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor cold, neither grief nor fatigue, neither labour nor repentance, neither fear nor anything that is disgusting and inauspicious is found here. There is no old age either.

Delightful fragrance is found everywhere. The breeze is gentle and pleasant. The inhabitants have resplendent bodies. Delightful sounds captivate both the ear and the mind. These worlds are obtained by meritorious acts, and not by birth or the merits of fathers and mothers.

There is neither sweat nor stench, nor excretion, nor urine. The dust does not soil one's clothes. There is no uncleanliness of any kind. Garlands do not fade. Excellent garments, full of celestial fragrance, never fade. There are countless celestial cars that move in the air. The dwellers are free from envy, grief, ignorance and malice. They live very happily.

Such is the bliss of heaven. But the disadvantages of heaven are great indeed. In the celestial region, a person, while enjoying the fruits of acts he had already performed, cannot perform any other new act. He must enjoy the fruits of the former life till they are completely exhausted. Further he is liable to fall after he has completely exhausted his merit. These are the disadvantages of heaven. The consciousness of those about to fall is stupefied. It is also agitated by emotions. As the garlands of those about to fall fade away, fear possesses their hearts.

But there is one world where there are no such disadvantages. It is the supreme seat of Vishnu, above the abode of Brahma, which is pure, eternal and effulgent. It is known by the name of Para Brahman. Persons who are addicted to sensual objects or those who are subject to arrogance, covetousness, ignorance, anger and envy cannot go to that place. Those men who are free from conflicting emotions and those who have restrained their senses and those who are given to meditation and Yoga can go there.

Men who enjoy heaven suffer great misery and extreme regret in this world. Therefore do not desire to go to heaven. Try to reach that supreme abode of eternal bliss from where there will be no fall. Seek that unfailing region, going to which people have not to lament, or to be pained, or to be agitated.

Practise Jnana Yoga. Engage yourself in constant meditation on Para Brahman or the Supreme Self. Attain knowledge of the Imperishable and obtain the supreme state of emancipation, which is eternal. Then censure and praise will become equal to you. A brick, a stone and a piece of gold-all will become the same to you.