What is Janma Rāhityam (Liberation from Birth)?
Can it be attained?
What is the relationship between birth (janma) and karma?
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Not being born again is itself Janma Rāhityam (liberation from birth).
Those who are born will die, and those who have died will be born again — in this cycle of rotation, what we must strive to prevent is not death, but birth.
Those who have died will inevitably be born again in some form, at some place.
They have no freedom in this matter.
Therefore, just as we wish that those who are born should not die, the effort must be made from this very body itself, while still alive.
Thus, if one wishes to attain Janma Rāhityam (freedom from rebirth), one must first attain Maraṇa Rāhityam (freedom from death).
Figure 1: The Ocean-Wave Analogy — Brahman and the Jīva
Abandoning this effort, many people blindly pray to God as “Father, grant me freedom from rebirth!”
When such people are asked, “Who needs Janma Rāhityam?”, they reply, “I do.”
Then who are you?
After having attained Janma Rāhityam, where and how will you exist?
When questioned further, they cannot give an answer.
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The Parable of the Wave and the Ocean
Let us suppose that a wave formed in the middle of the ocean, rose up, and as it was about to reach the shore, said:
“Father! I was born from You and have been rising and falling through many births, experiencing suffering. Is there no rest for me?” — let us imagine that it questioned the ocean in this way.
Then the ocean answered thus:
“My child! Just like you, many waves are rising and falling within me.
What suffering is caused to me by them?
Am I dying and being reborn?
Then how did the sufferings and births that do not exist for me come to exist for you?”
While the ocean was saying this, the wave that had asked the question reached the shore and merged into the ocean.
The questioner ceased to exist.
One who existed at one time ceased to exist at another.
But the ocean that gave the answer always exists.
It has neither creation nor destruction.
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This very idea is expressed in the Gītā:
ajo’pi sannvyayātmā bhūtānāmīśvaro’pi san
prakṛtiṃ svāmadhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmyātmamāyayā (Bha.Gī. 4-6)
Though I am unborn and imperishable by nature, though I am the Lord of all beings, I take birth by resorting to My own Prakṛti (Nature) through My own Māyā.
janma karma ca me divyam evaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṃ punarjanma naiti māmeti so’rjuna (Bha.Gī. 4-9)
Whoever truly understands that My births and actions are thus divine, through Māyā alone, they — upon leaving this body (the gross, subtle, and causal bodies) — attain Me and are not born again. This is the meaning.
Figure 2: Ghaṭākāśa — The Pot-Space Analogy
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The Analogy of the Pot and Space
ghaṭo samvṛta mākāśaṃ nīyamāne ghaṭo yathā
ghaṭo nīyeta nākāśaḥ tadvad jīvo nabhopamaḥ (Amṛta Bindūpaniṣat -13)
Just as when the great infinite space (Mahākāśa) becomes enclosed inside a pot (Ghaṭa), the space within the pot becomes Ghaṭākāśa (pot-space).
When the pot is destroyed, the pot-space merges back into the great space and becomes the Mahākāśa itself.
In the same way, just as a wave arises from the ocean and merges back into it, the Jīva (individual soul) that arose from Brahman, upon the destruction of its Upādhi (limiting adjunct), immediately becomes Brahman itself.
Here, birth and death belong only to the Upādhi (the body-mind complex), not to the Consciousness within.
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Chitta — The Root Cause of Saṃsāra
Though this Advaita analogy is perfectly valid, the real question arises: how did the Upādhi (limiting adjunct) come into being in the first place?
It is Chitta (the mind-stuff) that is the cause of that Upādhi.
It is from Chitta alone that the sense of being born arises.
When the Chitta is destroyed, the Jīva becomes Brahman itself — this is the authority of the Śrutis (Vedic scriptures).
Figure 3: The Tree of Saṃsāra with its Two Seeds
cittaṃ sañjāyate janma jarā maraṇa kāraṇam (Muktikopaniṣat 2-6)
From Chitta alone, birth, old age, and death arise.
Such a Chitta, which is like a Saṃsāra tree, has two seeds.
If either one is destroyed, the other is also destroyed immediately.
dvebīje citta vṛkṣasya prāṇaspandana vāsanā
ekasmiṃśca tayoḥ kṣīṇe kṣipraṃ dve’pi naśyataḥ (Muktikopaniṣat 2-7)
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Prāṇa Spandana and Vāsanā — The Two Seeds
Prāṇa Spandana (the vibration of breath) and Vāsanā (latent desires/impressions) — these two are mutually dependent.
Due to the vibration of the Prāṇa (life-breath), the mind becomes agitated and goes outward, and through the sense organs, perceptions like seeing and hearing arise, giving rise to Vāsanās (impressions).
‘darśana śravaṇādi iti vāsanāt’ (Śruti)
Due to the arising of Vāsanās, the mind becomes even more externalized, causing greater Chitta Chāñchalya (mental agitation).
The vibration of Prāṇa increases further.
kriyānāśāccintānāśo cintānāśāt vāsanā
kṣayaḥ vāsanāpi kṣayo mokṣaḥ sajīvanmuktirucyate (Śruti)
When the mind does not go outward and remains turned inward, the tendency toward visible objects diminishes.
When the tendency toward visible objects diminishes, Vāsanās diminish.
The diminishing of Vāsanās itself is called Mokṣa (liberation).
Figure 4: The Bird of the Self — Prāṇa and Apāna as Wings
However, to make the mind turn inward, the Prāṇa Vāyu (life-breath) must come under control.
This is possible only through Yogis (practitioners of Yoga).
‘yogenāntarmukhī buddhistato nāśayate tamaḥ’ (Kaṭhopaniṣat, Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara’s Bhāṣya)
Therefore, among the two seeds of the Chitta tree, Prāṇa Spandana (breath vibration) is the primary one.
Hence, when the Prāṇa Vāyu is restrained, the agitation of the mind ceases.
Then the fears of birth, old age, and death come to an end.
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The Wings of the Bird — Prāṇa in Every Being
From the standpoint of the Supreme Self, the Self enters into every living being in the form of a bird (with wings).
puraścakre dvipadaḥ puraścakre catuṣpadaḥ
puraśca pakṣī bhūtvā puraḥ puruṣāviśet (Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣat 4-5-18)
Just as birds have wings, in all beings the Prāṇa and Apāna (inhalation and exhalation) function like wings through the process of breathing.
Just as one must tie the wings to prevent a bird from flying away, similarly, to prevent the Jīva from flying from this body to another body, one must bind the Prāṇa and Apāna (the wings within us) through Prāṇāyāma.
When this is done, this Jīva does not die but merges with the Paramātman (Supreme Self) within, becoming one with It.
That is, through Maraṇa Rāhityam (freedom from death), Janma Rāhityam (freedom from birth) is attained.
Figure 5: The Complete Path to Janma Rāhityam
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Union of Prāṇa and Apāna
‘apāna prāṇayoraikyaṃ cidātmānaṃ samāśraya’ (Annapūrṇopaniṣat 5-4)
Those whose Apāna and Prāṇa have become united are none other than the Cidātma Svarūpa (the form of Pure Consciousness).
natasya prāṇā utkrāmanti atraiva samavalīyante (Subālopaniṣat 3-2)
For the Yogi, the Prāṇas do not depart outward; they unite at the Bhrūmadhya (the center between the eyebrows), and without death, through this, Janma Rāhityam (freedom from birth) is attained.
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The Relationship Between Birth and Karma
What is the relationship between birth and karma?
If one is born, one cannot avoid performing karma (action).
If one performs karma, one cannot avoid experiencing the fruits of that karma.
To experience the fruits of karma, one must inevitably be born again.
Figure 6: The Website Analogy for Karma and Rebirth
Here, let us take an example.
Performing karma is like opening a website.
Just as one must take births to experience the fruits of karma, the website must be operated as long as it exists.
If one feels there is no longer a need, the very person who opened the website must close it.
Otherwise, the website remaining open means its maintenance becomes unavoidable.
In the same way, if one dies without destroying the Upādhi (the causal body / Antaḥkaraṇa), one cannot avoid being born again.
Therefore, the one who performs karma must destroy the Upādhi (the website) here and now, in this very birth, and if one does so, there is no need to be born again.
prasannaṃ jñāyate jñānaṃ jñānānnirvaṇa mṛcchati (Kūrma Purāṇa)
Having completely burnt the web of sins without any residue through the fire of Yoga, one attains Jñāna (Knowledge), and through that Jñāna, one attains Nirvāṇa — freedom from the cycle of birth and death. This is the meaning.
Figure 7: The Dream Analogy of Yogi Vemana
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Śrī Yogi Vemana’s Advaita Teaching
The Advaita of Śrī Yogi Vemana:
puṭṭuvārevarū puṭṭakunderevaru?
Who is born? Who is not born?
puṭṭi giṭṭanaṭṭi puruṣulevaru?
Who are those men who have been born and have not perished?
puṭṭi puṭṭanaṭṭu bōdhinchi cūḍarā!
Teach and show that being born is the same as not being born!
Viśvadābhirāma Vinuravēma
(This is a padyam — verse — of Śrī Yogi Vemana)
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puṭṭuvārevarū?
Who is born?
When the Jīva and Brahman are one and the same, then there is nobody who is born.
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācit (Bha.Gī. 2-20)
na kaścit jāyate jīva (Gauḍapāda Kārikā 2-48)
puṭṭakunderevaru?
Who is not born?
As long as Ajñāna (ignorance) prevails, the cycle of birth is inevitable.
puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛtijān guṇān
kāraṇaṃ guṇasaṅgo’sya sadasadyoni janmasu (Bha.Gī. 13-21)
puṭṭi giṭṭanaṭṭi puruṣulevaru?
Who are those men who, though born, have not perished?
Even though one has not been born (in reality), if one believes one has been born, one cannot escape perishing.
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyuḥ dhruvaṃ janma mṛtasya ca (Bha.Gī. 2-27)
puṭṭi puṭṭanaṭṭu bōdhinchi cūḍarā!
Teach and show that being born is the same as not being born!
The dreamer is real. The dream is unreal.
While in the dream, it appears as though one is born.
Upon waking from the dream, one realizes one was never born.
The one who comprehends this truth is a Jñāni (knower of Truth).
This is what the Sadgurus teach.
janma karma ca me divyam evaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṃ punarjanma naiti māmeti so’rjuna (Bha.Gī. 4-9)
The one who has not been born, but appears as though born, and the one who appears to have performed karma — whoever realizes this truth will attain Me without rebirth.