Ashtaka Questions Yayati on Merit, Rebirth, and Liberation

Ashtaka saw Yayati, a king of the Krita Yuga who had spent a million years in the garden of Nandana, the pleasure-grounds of heaven. He could assume any form at will. Yet here he was, back on earth. Ashtaka asked the obvious question: “You could assume any form at will. You spent a million years in the garden of Nandana. Why did you have to give it up and come to earth?” Yayati’s answer was stark. “Here, friends and relatives forsake a man who has lost his wealth. There, the gods and their lord forsake one whose merit has been diminished.” Ashtaka was curious. How does one’s merit diminish in heaven? And which worlds are attained through which means? He pressed Yayati to explain. Yayati told him that in heaven, those who boast of their own merits are hurled down to a hell known as bhouma. Though they appear lean, they grow in that state and become food for vultures, dogs, and jackals. Therefore, in this world, a man should avoid evil acts that are condemned. Ashtaka had not heard of this hell. He asked: when life is destroyed by age and the body is torn apart by scavengers, where does the person live, and how do they come to life again? Yayati explained the cycle. When they ascend from their bodies, depending on their deeds, they are born again on earth. They descend into bhouma, and it is impossible to count the years spent there. Some fall through the sky for sixty thousand years. Others fall for eighty thousand. Then they fall to bhouma and are attacked by terrible rakshasas with sharp teeth. Ashtaka wanted to know more. Why are they attacked? How do they continue to exist? And crucially, how do the dead enter the womb again? Yayati described the process like raindrops clinging to flowers and fruit. The essence of the being clings to the semen created by a man. It then enters a woman at the time of her season and becomes an embryo in the womb. In visible form, life enters trees, herbs, water, air, the earth, and the sky. Thus the dead become embryos again, in the form of bipeds and quadrupeds. But Ashtaka still had doubts. Does the seed enter the womb with the old form, or does it get a new one? How is the visible form of limbs, eyes, ears, and senses acquired? Yayati replied that when it is the season, the invisible form enters the womb through the sperm, like into a flower with its juices. Depending on the rights that have been acquired, the embryo develops with the passage of time. When the limbs are developed and the six senses established, a man is formed. With his ears, he knows sound. With his eyes, he sees form. With his nose, he knows smell and with his tongue, taste. With touch, he feels and with his mind, he knows feelings. This is how the great atman (the self) develops life in the body. Ashtaka then asked about the moment of death. A man is burnt, buried, or reduced to dust. He is reduced to nothing. Later, how does he get to know himself again? Yayati said a man who dies is like one asleep. However, his good and evil acts are in front of him. When the body is dead, he assumes some other form with a speed swifter than that of the wind. Those who have performed good deeds go to a pure birth. Those who did evil go to an evil birth. The evil become worms and insects. He had now explained how the dead become embryos again—as bipeds, quadrupeds, and those with six legs. Finally, Ashtaka asked the ultimate question. Is there anything that can be done to attain the superior worlds, through austerities and the pursuit of learning, instead of returning to earth? How does one attain the world of supreme bliss? Yayati laid out the path: austerities, gifts, tranquillity, self-control, humility, and compassion towards all beings. The learned say a man is deluded and loses everything through pride. A man of knowledge who thinks himself learned and uses his learning to debase the fame of others never attains the eternal worlds. Nor does brahman (the ultimate reality) yield any fruits to him. He warned of four acts that dispel all fear of danger, but cause fear if performed in the wrong way, with pride: offerings before the fire, vow of silence, studying, and sacrifices. The learned should find no pride in homage. The learned should not grieve if insulted. The good always honour the good in this world. The evil never possess the intelligence of the good. Yayati concluded with his own testimony. “I have paid homage, I have performed sacrifices, I have studied and I have observed vows. But I have done all this while discarding fear.” The learned ones know the ancient one who is the refuge and is worshipped from the mind. He is the one with a supreme and radiant form, for finding supreme peace here and in the world hereafter.