Messenger of the Gods Describes Heaven to Moudgalya

The messenger of the gods came for Moudgalya. He had been sent from the celestial worlds to bring the sage to heaven — a reward for the life Moudgalya had lived, the austerities he had performed, the generosity he had shown. But Moudgalya was not the kind of man who accepted an invitation without understanding where he was being taken. He asked the messenger to describe heaven. The messenger began. He spoke of Shakra’s worlds — Indra’s realms — radiant with divine qualities. Beyond those, he said, were the sacred and effulgent worlds of Brahma, where rishis purified through sacred deeds go. And beyond even those were the worlds of the Ribhus — the gods of the gods — who live in realms that yield every object of desire, worlds worshipped even by the celestials themselves. But then the messenger began to describe the Ribhus more carefully. These lords of the worlds, he said, are not tormented on account of women. They are free from envy. They do not offer oblations, nor do they feed on amrita (the nectar of immortality). They possess divine bodies but do not have physical forms. They do not crave for happiness. They are not transformed when the eras change. How can they have old age, death, joy, pleasure, or happiness? How can they have unhappiness, happiness, affection, or hatred? “O Moudgalya,” the messenger said, “that supreme state is craved even by the celestials. But it is difficult to obtain and cannot be got by those who are still subject to desire.” There are thirty-three worlds, he explained. The worlds of the learned are beyond these. Those who follow the best of restraints, or donate according to the norms, attain them. Moudgalya had earned heaven through his deeds — he should enjoy the happiness he had earned, illuminated by the radiance of his austerities. Then the messenger paused. “I have described the qualities of heaven to you,” he said. “Now hear about the taints.” In heaven, he explained, while enjoying the fruits of deeds performed, one must enjoy them right up to the roots. One cannot perform any other deeds. In his view, this was a blemish — because there is a fall at the end of it, and those whose minds have been full of bliss must fall. “O Mudgala,” the messenger continued, “after having witnessed that brilliance and prosperity, the discontentment and regret that follow the relocation to a different region must be extremely difficult to endure. For those who fall, the consciousness is confounded. The passions cause agitation. The garlands fade and fear descends on those who are falling.” These taints, he said, exist all the way up to Brahma’s abode. But this is not true of the higher worlds of the performers of good deeds. For such men, the qualities are innumerable. There was another characteristic of those dislodged from heaven: after their good deeds are over, they are born among men as immensely fortunate, enjoying their share of prosperity. But if one does not attain wisdom there, one obtains an inferior status. “The deeds performed in this world are enjoyed in the next,” the messenger said. “This is a world of deeds. The next is one of fruits. I have explained everything you have asked me. Through your grace, without any delay, let us go to the region of the righteous.”