MIND IN DEATH, REBIRTH AND LIBERATION 

 What happens to the mind at the time of the death of the individual? Does it survive or perish along with the body as such? Indian sages have discovered that it is only the gross body composed of the seven ingredients namely marrow, bones, fat, nerves, flesh, blood, skin and consisting of parts such as legs, arms, head, chest and back which are the products of the five fundamental elements namely space (ākāṡa), air (vāyu), energy (Tejas), water (Apah) and earth (pṛthvi) that perishes at the time of death. The subtle body composed of the five great elements which have not undergone grossification, and consisting of the five sense organs, the five organs of action, the five prāṇas, the mind and the intellect, survives death and destruction to be carried to the next life. Incessant cogitation of the mind regarding the objects of desire prompts generation of intense desire for them and results in the execution of various activities to fulfil such desires. These actions, reactions and impressions of the unfulfilled desires create impressions (vāsanas) in the subtlest recesses of the body called causal body and this is the cause of transmigration of the soul to other bodies, in other words the cause of rebirth. The     Bṛhadāranyaka Upanishad vividly describes the               process of detachment of the subtle body from the gross body at the time of death (4..5-6). The Upanishad brings out the essential difference between death and deep sleep very clearly. In deep sleep although the mind and senses are withdrawn from the gross body to the subtler realms, the prāṇas remain     in the        gross body so that it is   kept alive whereas in death, along with the mind and senses,       the prāṇas are  also withdrawn from the gross body. The gross body is completely separated from the subtler body and there is no connection whatsoever between the subtle and the physical bodies at the time of death. In sleep this connection is maintained and the individual returns to the waking life once again through this body. The sensation one feels in the body is the sensation conveyed through the agency of the physical body to the subtle body whose ‘presiding deity’ is the mind. In death the mind is withdrawn along         with the prāṇa    from the gross body.

        The subtlest realms of the body which constitute the impressions of the unfulfilled desires (vāsanas) and impressions of the reactions of the activities of the waking world (samskāras) depart from the gross body along with the soul or individual spirit to manufacture an abode or a physical body commensurate with the requirement of fulfilment of the unfulfilled desires of one’s life. According to Vedānta             there     is a continuity of activity of the mind during the transmigration from one body to another. Thus the entire cycle of birth and rebirth is a consequence of desires, fulfilled or unfulfilled.          Vedānta emphasizes       that       the desires get enhanced in their intensity the more they are fulfilled and the fulfilment of desires is not the way to freedom from desires, the liberation or moksha. Desires can be overcome by proper mind control through              incessant yogic  practices as described in             the Yogasūtras  of Patanjali. Swami Vivekānanda says,        “Yoga    is to       help      us put off              our body when we please and see it as our servant, our instrument, not our ruler. Controlling the mental powers is the first great aim in Yoga practices. The second is concentrating them in full force upon any subject” (Complete Works, vol. 8. p.41.). The Upanishads say, “It is indeed the mind that is the cause of men’s bondage and liberation. The mind that is attached to sense objects leads to bondage, while dissociated from  sense objects it tends to liberation, so they think” ( Amritabindu Upanishad ).

Bhagavad gita defines yoga as equanimity or     mind     in perfect balance (samatvam yoga uchyate; 2.48). When mind is detached from sense objects and when one is unconcerned as regards success or failure in life, his mind is said to be in perfect balance. When individuals with this mental attitude perform their duties they do not accumulate karma phala and can achieve liberation or can be free from the transmigratory life of birth and death.