Miracles by the Departed Souls
Ramayana and Mahabharata are two great Hindu epics. They are treasure houses of Hindu Wisdom. The more you read them, the more meanings you get. The deeper you go, you come up with new interpretations. If you want to compare those incidents and anecdotes with Big bang theory or Theory of Evolution, Quasars or Quantum Physics, Theory of Relativity or highest philosophy it gives scope for all those things.
What happens to us after death? Where do we go from here if you believe in rebirth? Is there any place where you spend your time before rebirth?-- are few of the questions that come to our minds. Some people claim that they see the departed souls in their dreams and some others say that they saw great people who have died long ago. Can the departed souls come back to earth in the same form after some time?
Picture of Ramayana painting in Thailand.
(It is true that great saints visit earth now and then. I myself had one such experience. When Swamiji Krishna of Ayakkudi, Tenkasi was doing Ganapathy Homa in one of the houses in Madurai, he suddenly asked everyone to prostrate in one particular direction showing a vacant space up above, near the roof. Later he told that one of the great souls who lived in the house came to bless everyone. Later the owners of the house took Swamiji upstairs and showed the picture of their great grandfather. He was a saint who died at least 50 or 60 years ago).
Two incidents in the Ramayana and Mahabharata give some interesting information about these things. Dasaratha came back in flesh and blood to earth and embraced Rama and Lakshmana long back after his death. In the Mahabharata Duryodhana, Bheeshma, Abimanyu and others came back to earth 15 years after their death in the battle and took some of the living people with them to the heaven! Read about these interesting things in more details below:
Dasaratha appears to Rama (chapter 121,Yudda Kanda, Valmiki Ramayana)
Dasaratha stood in his chariot. He came back from Indraloka. Rama and Lakshmana bowed before him who was standing in his aerial car in the sky. Dasaratha took Rama and Lakshmana and embraced them. They mutually praised each other. Dasaratha even told Sita not to mistake him for sending her to Agni pareeksha (Fire Test). After addressing all the three he ascended to Indraloka in his chariot. Mounted on his aerial car, full of majesty, his body blazing with effulgence, Dasaratha returned to the abode of the Sovereign of the Gods.
Before Dasaratha left, Rama requested him to forgive Kaikeyi and Bharatha and accept them as his wife and son. Dasaratha told Kaikeyi before dying that she was not his wife anymore and Bharatha was not his son.
Mahabharata Miracle
When Mahabharata was recited in the assembly of King Janamejaya he also did not believe that the dead came back to earth. He asked whether he could see his dad Pariksheet, immediately Vyasa brought him to earth.
Mahabharata gives more information about different levels of living places for the departed. In the Sthree Parva of the epic, there is a discussion about the people who died in the war. When Dhritarashtra asked about them, Yudhishtra told him those who fought valiantly and whole heartedly, they all went to Indraloka. Those who fought unwillingly, went to Gandarvaloka and those who fought and backed out or killed when begged for life, they all went to the place of Yakshas.
Bhagavad Gita and Tamil Sangam Anthology ‘Purananuru’ say in clear cut terms that those who are killed in war go to heaven.
Please read my Tamil articles on ‘Gita in Pura Nanuru’ Part 1 (புறனானுற்றில் பகவத் கீதை-பகுதி 1, பகுதி-2, வீரத்தாயும் வீர மாதாவும்)
Reappearance of those who died in the great Bharata war is narrated in chapter3 of Asramavasika Parva in Mahabharata. I summarise only the important points:
1. At the request of Gandhari, Dhritarashtra and Kunthi, the great Rishi of miraculous powers Vyasa did this. He asked everyone to assemble on the banks of Ganges.
2. When Vyasa called the names of the dead people, they all came out of Ganges water and appeared just above the water. The Pandava and Kaurava armies rose up with big uproar. Bheeshma and Drona came out first. Thousands of dead people appeared with them. Dhritarashtra’s sons, Pandava’s sons, army commanders from both the sides, all appeared in front of the assembled Rishis, general public and the royal families on the banks of River Ganga.
3. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari got divine vision by the grace of Vyasa. All of them spoke with the dead throughout night. Everyone was happy. There was no enmity.
4. Women who have lost their husbands and sons were happy to see them back alive. Vyasa told the Kshatriya ladies, they can accompany their husbands if they wanted to. Several women came forward and went to heaven with their husbands. They entered the Ganges water along with their husbands.
5. All of them disappeared in the water. Then Vyasa told Dhritarashtra that his sons are ever happy like he saw them today.
6. Three years after this incident Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunthi – all died in a forest fire. In fact, they refused to move away from forest fire and sacrificed their lives voluntarily.
This narration proves that people live after their death in various planes till the time of their rebirth comes. They are happy and there is only love in the heaven and no hatred even between born enemies. Only great Rishis (seers) like Vyasa can bring the dead back to earth for a short period. In the Ramayana we heard about physical touch and embrace. Here no such embracing was reported. There was always a distance between the dead and the alive. Mahabharata has more on this topic of the departed souls in different places. Anyone interested can do a deeper study.
Departed Souls in Tamil Epic Silappadikaram
Tamil epic Silappadikaram also has one such story. Kovalan, the hero of the epic was sentenced to death by the Pandya king under the false accusation of stealing the queen’s anklet. Fourteen days after this execution, his wife Kannaki was standing under a tree and Kovalan came back to earth in an aerial car and took Kannaki to heaven. The tribal women in the hill watched this in awe. They praised her as goddess and reported the incident to the Chera King Senguttuvan. The story of what women had seen under the Venkai tree at the top of the hill Tiruchenkunru astonished all who heard it. The wonder struck king decided to erect a s temple for Kannaki and marched all the way to Himalayas with an army and brought back a holy stone from the Himalayas. He bathed the stone in the Ganges and made it holier. This episode shows that 2000 years ago the values and beliefs were same throughout India.
