If a devotee commits suicide, will he become a ghost? What can his relatives do for him?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question I am an initiated devotee in ISKCON and my son also became a devotee and he also was following but then he got depressed and because of some things he committed suicide so since then I have been devastated and I want to know, I have heard that those who commit suicide become ghosts so did he become a ghost that thought horrifies me and I feel helpless what can I do now to come out of this situation answer whatever philosophical principles we hear we need to know that underlying them all is the truth that Krishna is a god of love and Krishna loves everyone now I want them to speak of those who are his devotees Krishna is Bhakta Vatsala he is lover of his devotees but then Prahlad Maharaj also says that he is Krupana Vatsala the word Krupana is used in the Bhagavatam to refer to those who are materialistic and they are considered miserly the point is Krishna is a god of love and especially if someone turns towards Krishna then Krishna takes special note of such people and he always makes sure that they attain an auspicious destination so that means Bhagavad Gita 2.40 Krishna says even a little practice of bhakti saves one from the greatest of dangers and as devotees if we understand this point that Krishna is a god of love and focus on that rather than focusing on other philosophical principles all philosophical principles that we know should be subordinated to this knowledge that Krishna is a god of love so now regarding this specific situation it’s a tragic situation and it is very difficult when such a devastating reversal happens in one’s personal life and it requires a lot of strength, inner strength and a lot of faith to persevere not just in one’s course of life but even in the course of one’s spiritual life it’s a great struggle and it’s a testimony to your determination and devotion that you are continuing on even in spite of having faced such a reversal now if we focus on this point that Krishna is a god of love then we understand that whatever choices we may make they may have certain consequences but over and above them all is Krishna’s love and Krishna’s love will guide us towards ultimate auspiciousness so we see in the Bhagavatam there are two different principles which work out in the life of Bharat Maharaj one principle is that if one starts practicing spiritual life especially serious spiritual life, devotional life then as Krishna says and I quoted we are protected from great fear and the Bhagavatam states that this great fear is the fear of death not just of death but fear of after death sliding down to a lower species and from that fear one is protected from but then we see Bharat Maharaj was a very advanced devotee he shared years of love he had come to the stage of just before Bhav and yet he said that in the next life he became a deer because he was attached to a deer so what happened did the promise in the Bhagavad Gita that one is protected from the greatest danger not materialize not come true no it did come true now there is human form and there is human consciousness human consciousness means the consciousness that is capable of perceiving spiritual truth and because of his attachment to a deer and because of his remembrance of a deer at the time of death by the law of nature he got a deer’s body but because he had practiced Bhakti quite seriously although he lost the human form he did not lose the human consciousness and he was in a deer’s body but he was not like other deer just interested in getting grass and just eating, sleeping, mating, defending he was satisfied with whatever grass was available in the vicinity of the hermitage and he would hear spiritual sound vibration from the sages over there and this way he protected himself and he eventually was delivered so moving forwards that principle applies to someone also in this situation if someone commits suicide at that time the point is that suicide is very unfortunate and rather than focusing on a person who has committed suicide is going to get this destination or that destination there are some principles involved that if we destroy our body before the body’s quota is over according to karma then we may not get a next body and that disembodied state is called a ghostly existence but we have to know that if somebody has practiced Bhakti then that spiritual vibration that spiritual attraction although it may be covered temporarily but that always remains and it surfaces at the right time so even if one loses a human body even if one comes to a disembodied existence akin to that of a ghost still one will be having spiritual orientation now there are anecdotes there are stories of devotees there is one devotee Mataji who was going for a yatra and suddenly her whole behavior and her young Mataji her whole behavior and her whole voice and personality changed and after sometime some devotees realized that she had been possessed by a ghost and they started chanting mantras and trying to exorcise the ghost and finally the ghost spoke these devotees were going for a yatra and they wanted to go to Mayapur so this ghost said that through that woman’s body that I want to go to Mayapur and no matter what you do I am not going to leave her till we reach Mayapur and after I reach Mayapur I am myself going to leave so don’t trouble her don’t try to drive me out so now what had happened here was it seemed that there was some kind of a devotee ghost who wanted to go to Mayapur and who has possessed the body of a devotee who was going to Mayapur so here this is quite extraordinary normally ghosts are in tamoguna in the mode of ignorance and they have ignorant desires but somehow if because of the force of certain situations or whatever if a person has committed suicide then that person may get a disembodied existence but still the spiritual inclination will remain and that spiritual inclination will help that person to attain auspiciousness in the Bhagavat Mahatmya also there is a story of how when a person had committed suicide and become disembodied and that disembodied being was troubling others and even the relatives were troubled because they understood that our deceased relative has become disembodied now so then they did a Bhagavat Kathal Yagya and when they recited the Bhagavatam then there is a nearby tree on which the ghost used to live, that tree fell and then the priest and also the ghost has left and the ghost has actually become free not only from ghostly existence but by hearing the Bhagavatam but from material existence itself so therefore the redeeming power of devotional service to help remains even when somebody is not in a human form and especially if somebody may not be in a human form but still has human consciousness means has the capacity to pursue spirit then there is still that auspiciousness even more auspiciousness so devotional service is always auspicious even if a dog who has no comprehension of spirituality hears the sound of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra that dog is benefited but if somebody has been in human form earlier and then has gone down to some other form then that person is still going to be benefited because is going to be all the more benefited because that person now has some spiritual background to trigger one’s spiritual awareness so as devotees rather than obsessing on the philosophical point that that a person who commits suicide becomes disembodied we can focus on the point that a person who has done even a little service to Krishna that Krishna never forgets such a person when one of Prabhupada’s disciples had fallen away, at that time Prabhupada wrote a letter and said that because you chanted the name of Krishna in Vrindavan Krishna will never forget you he had come with Prabhupada for a Vrindavan Yatra so then Krishna will get you back so rather than focusing on the fact that somebody may have got a particular destiny particular kind of disembodied existence we can focus on the fact that Krishna is a God of love, that Krishna accompanies all living beings wherever condition they are in so even if somebody is in a disembodied condition Krishna is there with them also and especially if somebody has practiced bhakti that practice of bhakti is never lost, rather that practice will enable the person to attain Krishna’s lotus feet soon so by understanding these principles we can avoid getting unnecessary depression or complication of the mind, yes normally when such a somebody close to us does something like this we ourselves can get haunted by feelings of guilt and self recrimination where we think maybe I could have done this, maybe I could have done that and the path of maybe is the path of path of self disempowerment there are so many maybes which could have come in the past and the fact is they didn’t happen now whether we are responsible or not that is not the important thing because right now we can’t change those choices and by meditating on those things too much we disempower ourselves in the present because we are unable to function positively or function properly so what can we do? first thing is knowing that whatever has happened whatever choices a person makes nobody can ever do anything that can make Krishna stop loving that person no matter how terrible a person may act that does not make Krishna leave that person’s heart and go away Krishna never rejects anyone so Krishna is a god of love and Krishna loves everyone no matter whatever they do so Krishna is there with your son also even now and he will take care of him what you can do is offer your prayers to him offer your prayers to Krishna for him so you are here Krishna is there in your heart and then your son is somewhere else and Krishna is there with him so if you pray sincerely to Krishna then Krishna will ensure that the benefits of those prayers will also reach the soul of your son wherever he is so you can plan some devotional resolution that you feel inspired which gives you shelter of Krishna Bhagwat Mahatma does talk about reciting the Bhagavatam so if there is some section of the Bhagavatam you feel inspired to read it the point is not just reading that section but the point is taking shelter of Krishna because only when we experience the shelter of Krishna then our prayers become more and more heartfelt otherwise our prayers remain superficial and Krishna says that he rewards as he reciprocates according to how we approach him so if we find a form of devotional service of which we can take wholehearted shelter and by taking shelter of such a form of devotional service we absorb ourselves in Krishna connect internally with Krishna and then pray wholeheartedly to him by that connection that not only will we experience shelter of Krishna ourselves but along with that we will also be able to by our heartfelt prayer and by Krishna’s reciprocal mercy help the soul of our relative wherever that soul may be so by taking shelter of Krishna the Bhagavatam assures us the Bhagavatam assures us of the same thing if you become conscious of me Sarva Durgaani one will become free from all obstacles, Krishna says you will cross all obstacles so don’t focus too much on where your son has gone, don’t focus on whether you did something wrong or who did something wrong because of which this happened, focus on what you can do right right now and what you can do right is that you can take shelter of Krishna and if you take shelter of Krishna and experience the shelter of Krishna and pray that Krishna that your son also get a similar shelter of Krishna and surely Krishna will reciprocate with your sincere devotion and help him also thank you, Hare Krishna