According to scriptures body of a dead person must be cremated. If someone donates his body for study of medical science or donates his organs, What is the fate of such Soul in next life?
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Hare Krsna,
My obeisances to all devotees, guru and gauranga.
Attempting to respond to your question with my limited understanding prabhuji..
A soul is covered by two types of bodies. a gross body and a subtle body. The gross body is composed of the 5 material elements and the subtle body consists of mind, intelligence and ego. The subtle body controls the gross physical body. The subtle body is the vehicle of consciousness with which we migrate from one body to another.
Now coming to the gross body, whether it is cremedated or not, the body will eventually get decomposed and the elements will merge into their sources. A body once given up is not connected to the individual soul. He/she has let go of that body (conditions apply here hehe). Whether the body is given for medical experimentation or other reasons, the soul has nothing to do with that particular body anymore. The soul acted in a particular body in a life based on its previous karmic reactions and will move onto the next one through the subtle body.
The fate of the soul is determined by what consciousness the soul carries at the time of death and what type of body the soul will get for its next birth. Long story short, hence krsna says always think of me and you will come to me when you leave this body.
Hope the info helped you prabhu.
Chant and be happy.
Srila prabhupada ki jai..
Hare krsna
Hare Krishna Prabhu Ji, PAMHO
Thanks for the wonderful reply, I still have one more question. If a person donated his organs and his organs are used by some other person. For example: eyes, kidney or some other body part. Now the person who is using the organs may use his body in service of Krishna or can be involved in some non-spiritual activities. Under such a circumstance will the person (SOUL) donating his organs be bound by the Karmic reactions?
I got another answer that Body is property of Krishna so how could it be donated? If that being the case then why the body is getting cremated?
Please excuse my ignorance on the subject and enlighten me with your kind thoughts.
Hare Krsna,
My obeisances to all devotees, guru and gauranga.
Nice followup questions prabhu.
I still have one more question. If a person donated his organs and his organs are used by some other person. For example: eyes, kidney or some other body part. Now the person who is using the organs may use his body in service of Krishna or can be involved in some non-spiritual activities. Under such a circumstance will the person (SOUL) donating his organs be bound by the Karmic reactions?
If I am a chef and use a knife to cut some veggies and then i give the same knife to a second person and that person harms/kills someone, should I be held responsible or the other person? The other person, isnt it? Similarly, we are responsible for the actions that we carry out day by day using this body as a vehicle. So, the soul that "donated" the organs doesnt incur any karmic reactions due to his/her organs used by another person to do either good or bad deeds. The soul that donated the organs has already packed up all the karmic account in its subtle body and left for the next station to catch the next train prabhu, he/she is not opening the account to add any more... hehe
Lord krsna gave us similar bodies but look what Srila Prabhupada and other exalted devotees used it for and look at what I am using the body for, sense gratification.
I got another answer that Body is property of Krishna so how could it be donated? If that being the case then why the body is getting cremated?
In the previous lines I " " the word donated because we dont really own anything (other than our actions and consciousness) to actually donate to others. We were born with the necessary organs and we had no part to play in its creation then how can we rightfully claim that these eyes are mine and I donate it. This is ignorance due to identifying oneself with the body. When the body is given up, the soul isnt crying that I left my eyes or kidney back as the soul has nothing to do with that particular body.
As you rightly said, everything belongs to krsna. The body is constructed using the material elements controlled by krsna and by cremation the elements go back to their sources. So, we are in effect neither "donating" nor "destroying the body".
Hope the above info helps prabhu.
Chant and be happy.
Srila prabhupada ki jai..
Hare krsna
Hare Krishna Prabhu Ji
Dandavats!
Thanks for clearing the doubts, however, the person who donated the body to the medical college must have the intention that the body will be used for a good cause. Will the person taking such a decision not get afflicted by the Karmic reaction, because this decision is part of persons living will and is conveyed to the rest of the family members while he was still living?
Your servant
Hare Krsna,
My obeisances to all devotees, guru and gauranga.
The thought of donating one's body and organs for medical research is very well intentioned. The scriptures doesnt directly tackle the organ donation subject but talks about general term "daan" which can be related to anything, including the organs.
Infact there are references in the scriptures of Sage Dhadici donating his bones to create a powerful weapon to fight and kill a demon. Now because the intention here was to save the world from demon's atrocities, Sage Dhadici sacrificed his life for the good of the whole human race. A person donating his body or organs doesnt necessarily stand on the same level as sage dhadici although it might save a life or two and in scriptures saving a life is considered pious activity.
The action to do pious deeds will carry a karmic reaction. The soul has to enjoy the fruits of such deeds. And since you are talking about taking a decision on organ donation while one is still alive, that is an action and will have a resulting reaction which in this case would be the soul's pious account gets boosted and the soul will enjoy the fruits in future births. So, yes, he/she gets a karmic reaction.
From what I know and understand, its not a straight forward reaction process of "I do this, I get this". Charity or "daan" is also sub-classified under different modes. So the reactions are dependent on many factors and not just on the intention to do the right thing. Charity in goodness, passion or ignorance are classified and reactions fructify in different ways. Scriptures hence highlight the need to give charity depending on the time, place and circumstance.
Sorry if its long worded. Hope the info helps prabhu.
Chant and be happy.
Srila prabhupada ki jai..
Hare krsna
Hare Krishna Prabhu Ji, PAMHO
All glories to Srila Prabhupad! Thankyou for the very nice and insightful explanation. By your mercy now my doubts are clear and I have a clear perspective on the subject.
Your Servant - Rohit