Rebirth: A poem on Rebirth

By Sri Swami Sivananda

Rebirth is due to mind

And to the tendencies of the mind.

You think: and an impression is left in the mind,

This impression is the seed of thought,

The impressions coalesce together

And make tendency or tendencies.

As you think,

So you become. You take birth

According to your thoughts.

Sattva rises upwards

Rajas is in the middle,

Tamas goes downwards

Enveloped in evil qualities.

Mind is the cause

Of man’s bondage and liberation;

An impure mind binds,

A pure mind liberates.

When you realise the Truth,

When you know your own Self,

The cause for future births is removed,

The thoughts are killed, the Samskaras are burnt.

You are free from rebirth,

You attain Perfection,

You enjoy Supreme Peace,

You become Immortal—this is the Truth.

If there is only one birth,

If the evil-doer is thrown into eternal fire,

There is no scope for his betterment;—

This cannot be accepted.

This is not reasonable too,

The Vedanta embraces even the worst sinner:

How sublime is this philosophy!

It proclaims to him:

Friend! Thou art pure Soul,

Sin cannot touch thee,

Regain your lost divinity,

Sin is nothing.

Sin is a mistake only;

You can destroy sins in the twinkling of an eye,

Be bold, be cheerful,

Stand up, wake up, “Uttishthata, Jagrata”.

The Gita says: “Even the worst sinner

Can become righteous, can cross sins

By the raft of wisdom.”

How do you account, friend!

There is the existence of boy geniuses,

A child plays on the piano,

A child delivers lectures,

A boy solves great mathematical problems.

A child narrates his previous life,

One becomes a full-blown Yogi,

This proves that there is rebirth:

Buddha gained experiences in several births.

He became Buddha only in his last birth.

He who has a taste for music,

Gains experiences in several births,

And becomes a master of music in one birth,

He cuts grooves for music in each birth,

Slowly develops tendency and aptitude,

And becomes an expert musician in one birth;

So is the case with every Art.

The baby sucks, the young duck swims,

Who taught this? They are

The Samskaras or the tendencies of previous births.

In one birth all virtues cannot be developed.

By gradual evolution only, one can be cultivated.

Saints possess excellence in all virtues,

The existence of saints and adepts

Indicates that there is rebirth.

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This was an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. We want to now the truth behind near death experiences and become certain that there really is a life after death.

Many books have been written on the subject of death, but most of the works deal mainly with the astral or other spirit world. It has mostly been the study of the conditions in the Pretaloka which is merely one among the numerous supramundane planes or lokas beyond the grave. Spiritualism, seance and the testimony of recognised mediums have for most part featured prominently in all such works.

What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj is a departure from the usual line in that it is based, to a great extent, upon authoritative scriptural texts and upon knowledge derived through reasoning, deep reflection and personal meditation. It throws a flood of light upon all aspects of life after death not adequately dealt with in other works. The book also gives valuable information about the different beliefs on this subject, of the various races and religions.

The book is dealing with rebirth, the soul, reincarnation, moksha, heaven and hell, karma and different lokas. It even includes death poems and death poetry, giving a complete picture and a new face of death. For more material see this link: What Becomes Of The Soul After Death.

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