Hare Krishna, dear devotees!!
It has always been an interesting speculation about why do we fear death when it is inevitable?
Modern psychologists have dug out the prime reason for this:
Our primal instinct is to survive and live. A wish to live can’t be checked unless we verge at a point of consumption when the turmoil of material life drains out that wish. This instinctive wish to live is present in both animals and humans. Even a deer runs to save his life from the attack of cheetah. But where from this wish originates-psychologists have failed to reach a convincing and tangible conclusion regarding the origin of the desire to live.
Srimad Bhagavatam has got a nice answer for this. In Bhagavatam, we find when Parikshit Maharaj asks Sukhdev Goswami that why the Vrajavasis including animals love Krishna more than their own lives, the latter answers that every living being loves his own soul. For every being, the soul is very dear and Krishna is the Lord of the individual soul as well as of the localized Paramatman. Since Krishna was attracting their souls which they hold very dear, therefore loving their own souls became subordinate to loving Krishna.
From here, we get the very necessary information that the desire to live has its origin from the spiritual spark. The spirit is immortal and the spirit is our real identity and nature. Being originally immortal spirits, its natural for us to desire for an immortal life. Immortality is the very basis of our existence. We fear death because we are faced with a situation that is not compatible to our essential nature. A fish survives in water but when it is brought to the surface it dies because the conditions are not favourable for its existence. We also, being spirit souls, have got our real home in the ever-blissful spiritual world of Vaikuntha. But when we are put to the stringent condition of material nature, when we become helpless creatures trapped in the ceaseless tussle between the dualities of the material world, we are engulfed by fear. Therefore, material world is called ‘kuntha’ where fear reigns and the spiritual world is ‘Vaikuntha’, where the devotees of Krishna are fearless, having taken shelter under His lotus feet and being constantly engaged in His service. Therefore, if we are in quest for an eternal life, we should light the lamp of Self-realization. The first rung of realization should be ‘aham-bramhasami’(I’m not this body, I’m soul) and the summit of this realization is ‘dasoham’(I’m the eternal servant of Krishna). Only through this realization can we cut asunder the fetters that bind us to the laws of material nature.
The purpose of writing the above subject is to make it serve as a backdrop to my own experience that is undergoing a constant process of evolution as I gradually make my move through the sublime process of Krishna Consciouness. I myself used to fear death until I got the privilege to be a part of this movement that is flooding the globe. The very thought that all signs of me will be effaced after death and I will be merged with void intimidated me. Life appeared meaningless, death was fear. It was like you are at the middle of river, and you are at a fix to which shore should you swim. Neither I wanted to live, nor I wished to die. However, after receiving the matchless gift of Krishna Consciouness, the demarcation of these dual aspects has gradually faded . I court both life and death and I’m faithful to both of them since I have started loving them equally. For a fallen soul like me, its hard to attain a transcendental feeling like Vrajavais, with a heart, filled with anarthas. But the very little, yet a significant change that I have experienced is that I’m gradually crossing the barrier that the fear of death put on my way. This is due to a firm faith that my I’m not going to be naught after death but that I’ll be eternally happy with my DEARMOST FRIEND whose beauty is beyond intellectual comprehension. The very thought that after death, KRISHNA, THE LORD OF FALLEN SOULS, will take me to Him and associating with whom I’ll derive the greatest happiness fills me with joy. Death is no more a devil, it’s a sweet angel who leads to the kingdom of bliss. Being most fallen, I’m devoid of all good qualities to enter Krishna’s kingdom. But our acharyas have instructed to have firm faith in Supreme. Since Krishna loves us more than we can love Him, He is more eager to take us back to Him. We only have to desire His association, and He will take charge of us!!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!! Jai Shri Krishna!!
Replies
Very nice reply,prabhu!!! Indeed the sacred maxim of Upanishads is 'Abhih'--be fearless, you are not this body but the soul.
The necessities of the material world are four — āhāra, nidrā, bhaya and maithuna (eating, sleeping, defending and mating). In this material world, everyone is in fearful consciousness (sadā samudvigna-dhiyām), and the only means to make everyone fearless is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.Fear is due to worrying about the future. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has no fear because by his activities he is sure to go back to the spiritual sky, back home, back to Godhead. Therefore his future is very bright. Others, however, do not know what their future holds; they have no knowledge of what the next life holds. So they are therefore in constant anxiety. If we want to get free from anxiety, then the best course is to understand Kṛṣṇa and be situated always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In that way we will be free from all fear. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.37) it is stated, bhayaḿdvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt: fear is caused by our absorption in the illusory energy. But those who are free from the illusory energy, those who are confident that they are not the material body, that they are spiritual parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and who are therefore engaged in the transcendental service of the Supreme Godhead, have nothing to fear. Their future is very bright. This fear is a condition of persons who are not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Abhayam, fearlessness, is possible only for one in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.-Srila Prabhupada.