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Recorded on: 21 Apr 2006
Language: English
Length: 0h 02m

What if I die without getting enlightment?

Yoga is the divine power of manifestation and the light of illuminating consciousness. Śrī Kṛṣṇa reveals that even His own incarnation is made possible through yoga śakti, the unifying power that harmonizes elements to form a body. This same yoga was given to the sun, meaning its radiant light is the light of wisdom, not physical postures. When Arjuna feared dying before completing his practice, he was assured the accrued spiritual benefit travels within the astral body. This ensures rebirth in a human form with spiritually inclined parents, allowing the awakening to continue naturally from childhood.

"It is that very yoga which I give to you, Arjuna, and which I gave to the sun long ago."

"The benefit of this enlightenment... will accompany you in your astral body. You will undoubtedly obtain another human life, with spiritually inclined parents."

Filming location: Melbourne, Australia

In the Bhagavad Gītā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa instructs Arjuna to practice yoga. He reveals that whenever He manifests in this world, He does so through His yoga māyā, His yoga śakti. This means that even an incarnation like Kṛṣṇa cannot appear or be born in this world without that yoga śakti—the power of yoga. This power unites, balances, and harmonizes the universal elements, and from that harmony, a physical body is created. Kṛṣṇa then tells Arjuna, "It is that very yoga which I give to you, Arjuna, and which I gave to the sun long ago." One may ask: what does it mean that Kṛṣṇa gave yoga to the sun? Does the sun practice yoga? We never see the sun performing postures or sitting in meditation. It means the light of the sun, the illumination that surrounds it, is the light of wisdom—that is the yoga. Yoga is not merely postures; it is that illuminating consciousness. Arjuna himself practiced this yoga. Arjuna asked a question similar to the one posed here: "If I were to die without attaining enlightenment, what would be the use of my many years of practicing yoga?" Kṛṣṇa answered, "The benefit of this enlightenment, which you have begun but not yet completed, will accompany you in your astral body. You will undoubtedly obtain another human life, with spiritually inclined parents. From your childhood, this spirituality will awaken within you and you will continue."

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

Yoga in Daily Life - The System
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2000. ISBN 978-3-85052-000-3
The Hidden Power in Humans - Chakras and Kundalini
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2004. ISBN 978-3-85052-197-0
Lila Amrit - The Divine Life of Sri Mahaprabhuji
Paramhans Swami Madhavananda. Int. Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship, Vienna, 1998. ISBN 3-85052-104-4

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