Do we take birth with physical body in hell and heaven?
By: Dada Bhagwan
Tags: Life Lessons, Death, Religion, Spiritual Growth, Birth

For any living being, there are four states of existence in the cycle of birth and death . Depending on the karmas bound by the being, one may be reborn as a celestial being in heaven, or as a human being on earth, or as a plant or an animal, or as a hell-being in hell.

. Depending on the karmas bound by the being, one may be reborn as a celestial being in heaven, or as a human being on earth, or as a plant or an animal, or as a hell-being in hell. Extraordinary merit karmas (punya) lead to a birth as a celestial being. There are various forms of celestial beings such as Angels, Deities, Gods, Goddesses, etc. and Heaven is the dwelling place where they stay, and reap the fruits of their merit karma during the lifespan of their celestial body.

The Sun-God, the Moon-God, etc.too are celestial beings (Jyotishka Devo) and they reside in the Sun, in the Moon, etc.

Yes, the Sun, the moon, the stars and other planets are the residences, in which each of the respective Godly being, who has attained an elevated state as a luminous celestial being, resides along with his particular queen — the celestial Goddess, in complete peace and harmony.

Yes, the Sun, the moon, the stars and other planets are the residences, in which each of the respective Godly being, who has attained an elevated state as a luminous celestial being, resides along with his particular queen — the celestial Goddess, in complete peace and harmony. The celestial beings do not take birth with the physical body, like we humans do. The physical body is said to be the one which is a gross mass of pus, blood and flesh. These Godly beings have a very different type of body which is subtle, fine and invisible, and is known as the Vaikriya body.

Now, hell is the dwelling place for living beings who have accumulated an extraordinary set of demerit karmas (paap) and are forced to take birth in hell. These beings too do not have a physical body, and are born with the Vaikriya body.

The occupants of the Vaikriya body do not have to take birth through a mother’s womb nor do they have to go through the phases of infancy and childhood. They are born as young adults and they die as young adults. They do not have to go to the bathroom or the toilet.They have a very, very long life and they never die prematurely.They can make themselves invisible and can also morph into various forms.

However, since the birth in heaven is a result of extraordinary merit karmas, the celestial beings have tremendous worldly pleasures and happiness. And in contrast, the birth in hell is the result of extraordinary demerit karmas, and therefore these beings undergo incredible pain and suffering.

Life in hell is so excruciatingly painful that just listening to its exact description, as it is, can create tremors within us. It is thousand times more painful than the pain of being boiled live in water. Those in hell are subject to the pain of ‘near death’ experience over and over again and yet death eludes them. They are doomed to a life of suffering and that is why death does not come to them. Their lifespan stretches over lakhs of years; their body is such that they do not die even after suffering the unimaginable pains of hell for such a long time.They have no choice but to endure pain and suffering. The lower the hell, more is the suffering and longer is the duration that the living being must spend in this state of existence. All-in-all, hell is the most rigorous life-imprisonment!

On the other hand, although the celestial beings enjoy the best of the best comforts and luxuries, they feel their life in the celestial body similar to that of a house-arrest!

Surprised?? Let us understand why so…

The life span of celestial body stretches to lakhs of years and one is blessed with eternal youth there. The atmosphere in celestial life is dazzling and intoxicating. The food there is tasty and delicious, the music they hear is melodious, the air is filled with fragrant incense, and everything that they see is enriched with enormous beauty. Their mind is filled with different thoughts, completely lost and absorbed with their surroundings.

The celestial bodies experience an over-abundance of the worldly happiness, one that never ceases as long as they are in heaven. But, in this happiness, one can never remember the Soul, which is a source of permanent happiness. And since this is all worldly happiness, it results in tiredness, mental restlessness, jealousy and other emotions that torment.There is a lot of competitiveness and jealousy in the celestial world, there is the suffering of attachment and abhorrence too amongst the celestial beings. And although their body is immersed in immense pleasures today, it has to end one day.

When the lifespan of the body exhausts, every soul leaves its current body and instantaneously arrives at its place of rebirth where a new body is formed.When the pre-determined lifespan of the living being in hell gets over, there comes an end to his body in the hell and the being is reborn either as a human being or as an animal. However, when a celestial being’s body is about to come to an end, they come to know in advance the location of their rebirth — so imagine their suffering when they know that they have now to be reborn in the lower form?

Also, there are many celestial beings, who are spiritually advanced souls. The endless happiness in the celestial world seems a burden to them and they want to achieve liberation. Such celestial beings feel their life in heaven as life-imprisonment and have an immense desire to be born as a human being, in a moral and a pious family. Thus, all-in-all, celestial beings too suffer lot of inner and outer turmoil.

So, what kind of a body should we have?

The answer is — the physical body of a human being.

As we just read, there is nothing but suffering in every state of existence we get born. And liberation from the cycle of birth and death can be attained only from the human life form, and no other form.

However, there is a pre-condition to it.

If you encounter a Gnani, liberation is yours!

And in the absence of Gnani, the same human life can become an instrument for increasing one’s endless wandering and suffering. The Gnani Purush has such divine spiritual power that he can convert our body into a vehicle for liberation.