Do all those who become deviated from yoga go to heavens?
So, does anyone who not complete their spiritual perfection, do they all go to heavens? Not necessarily. See, ultimately, we have to see that the arrangement of material nature is under Krishna's supervision. And Krishna's purpose is to ultimately elevate us.
So, Krishna is basically talking about a person who, because of worldly desires for enjoyment, gives up the path of yoga. So, for such a person, the reason is that there is a lot of desire for worldly enjoyment. And normally, the desire for worldly enjoyment keeps growing, and it just entraps a person.
But for a person who is spiritually inclined, who is spiritually practicing also, then, if that person gets worldly enjoyment, because the higher taste of bhakti has already been had, or a higher taste of transcendence has already been had, so, the experience of pleasure, worldly pleasure soon turns out to be disappointing, and one becomes more ready to focus on spirituality thereafter, undistracted. So, we can see that the going to heavens of a person who is not able to complete the process of yoga, that is basically to help the person work out the distracting desires. Okay, this is what is distracting you.
Okay, enjoy it. And then see for yourself that this is not all that great. Nothing to be excited about.
And then, once that desire, one is no longer so excited about that desire, then one can come back to the earth, you are born in a family where there is not where there is not so much struggle for material existence, and then one can focus on growing spiritually. So, going to the heavens is neither a reward nor a punishment. We can see it simply as a means to help a person work out the desires that are distracting them from the path of bhakti.
If somebody has not been indulging in those desires, that means the desires are there, they have not been purified completely, but the desires come one doesn't indulge in them so much. One is not really craving for them, one is fighting diligently against them. Then, Krishna sees that this person wants to come to me, then let him continue the journey.
So, for such a person, Krishna says, there is no need for that person to go to heaven and come back. There is just some more practice required for the person to attain perfection. So, then that person Krishna gives birth to directly in a devotee's family.
That's what is described in the next verse. That's 6.42. Now, there is one more possibility that is not mentioned here because that is not relevant to Arjuna. And that is, see, basically, Arjuna is a virtuous person, but his virtue, as was typical of Kshatriyas at that time, that was karma kanda.
That means fight like a Kshatriya, live with the dharmic life, and thereafter go to heaven. So, now, so when it is said that a yogi falls away, yogo bhrishtho bhi jayati, so Krishna is talking about somebody falling from the path of yoga back to the path of karma kanda. Krishna is not talking about somebody falling from the path of yoga to the path of vikarma.
See, vikarma means sinful activity. So, for Arjuna, sinful activity is not really an option because he was already a virtuous Kshatriya. So, if somebody falls back to vikarma, then that vikarma will also have some consequences.
So, we see that Bharat Maharaj, he was very advanced, but he got attached to a deer. Then he did not go to heavens. Nor was he born in a devotee's family.
He was actually born in a deer's body. And that was simply because that was the attachment he had developed. So, that means that in Kali Yuga, if we fall away from the path of bhakti, it depends on what kind of upbringing we have been brought up with.
If we have been born up in a pious family, then that's good. Then we will probably fall back to some kind of karma kanda level of practice. Otherwise, if we have not been born in a pious family, for samskaras, if they are quite materialistic and filled with some kind of wrongdoings, then we may fall to vikarma.
And those who do vikarma, there will be some reactions for that. So, the reactions… In the Bhagavatam, there is a verse that aho batashvapachotogariyan yajjivhagre vartate naama tubhyam te pustapas te jihusasnurarya brahmaanuchu naama granandiyete that those who… How amazing is it that those who are actually born in a shvapacha family, they are chanting the holy names. So, and it is said that such people who are chanting the holy names, they have already performed all the austerities, the vows, the bathing in the holy places.
That's how they are able to chant the holy names. Now, the question may come up if they are… The Acharya actually gives this analysis that if somebody has already done brahminical vows, tapasyas, bathing in holy places, then why are they born at all in a shvapacha family? You know, if they are always a punyavani, that is because, you know, they led a life of virtue, but then they fell to some sin. So that means… Prabhupada also talked about how those who do sinful activities in Vrindavan, they may be born as hogs in Vrindavan or animals in Vrindavan.
So that means, the Prabhupada is saying, even in Vrindavan, if somebody does sinful activities, there will be consequences. So, that means, there is a material law and there is a spiritual principle. The material law is that if I do bad, I will get bad reactions.
The spiritual principle is that if I cultivate attraction for Krishna, that attraction will always stay with me. So, for Bharat Maharaj, because he got attached to a deer, he got a deer's body. But, that was the material law applying.
But the spiritual principle is that he had cultivated attraction to Krishna, that attraction remained. And therefore, he got a deer's body, but he did not get deer's consciousness. He actually had more than human consciousness.
Where in a deer's body also, he was actually interested in spirituality. He was staying near the sages, eating whatever grass was available nearby and hearing their Vedic chants. that is also a third possibility that may happen.
That means, if somebody uses the path of Bhakti today, if they are very serious, then they may not go to heaven. They may just be born into a Buddhist family and continue. But if they are, they fall to sinful activities, then the sinful activities may also produce some reactions.
And they may get a low birth. But that low birth will be a material reaction to the material wrongdoing. But that will not impede or stop their spiritual progress.
Their spiritual attraction will still be there and that will propel them onwards in the future. Like, पुर्वाभ्यासेन तेनाईवा रियतेय अवशोपिसः Krishna says, helplessly they are attracted towards transcendence. Because of purvabhyas.
Because they are helplessly attracted towards transcendence. Towards transcendence because of their earlier practices of spirituality. So, that means broadly there are three possibilities.
Going to heaven, being born in a devotee's family and being born in a love family. But still, reviving one's transcendental attraction and moving onwards towards Krishna.