The manifest and latent desire in man for worldly objects is the cause of his bondage. But it is the most difficult proposition to uproot desire. When engaged in chasing these desires, some get fulfilled and some other new ones are engendered. Even if we consciously try to give up desires, some continue to remain in the consciousness.
Explaining this phenomenon to Arjuna, Lord Krishna states emphatically that if at the hour of death, a soul’s consciousness is steadfastly fixed in the Supreme Brahman, then it gets united with the Lord. “Whatever a man remembers at last, when he is leaving the body, will be realised by him in the hereafter; because that will be what his mind has constantly dwelt on during this life.”
It follows that if we remember the Lord at all times and do our duty, with our mind and heart set upon Him at all times, we could be united with Him.
In a lecture Srimati Sunanda drew attention to the fact that this statement clearly shows that it is in the hands of the individual to make or mar one’s life. Countless Jivatmas pass through various births and if perchance one attains human birth, there is a wonderful chance to get liberated. A carnivore is ferocious and cannot change its nature. But the beauty of human life is that we can alter our future.
The present life is the result of our past actions; we face the consequences of what we felt, acted, thought upon, etc. With determination, we should choose to strive for liberation. The biggest challenge for the Jivatma is to fight the desires that arise from worldly contact. The senses are turned to the external world. But we should fix our consciousness on the permanent and unchanging Brahman. Our fate hinges on what we think, act and feel.
Once liberated, the soul associates with the immutable alone. The manifested universe is characterised by mutability and the individual Jivatma by the ego-sense. All these are governed by the all-knowing Brahman who is ageless and is smaller than the atom and is also the biggest entity ever. In fact, there is none who can even conceive of His infinite form, energy, grandeur, etc.
