Let me start this time with explaining more around "Upaayam". I had stated that Upaayam indicates "means to achieve a goal". I also stated that the goal is "Moksham". Several questions might arise in the reader's mind - What is Moksham? Whose Goal is Moksham? Why Moksham? etc. So let us examine "Moksham" a little more.
Reaching the abode of the Lord - Sri Vaikuntham as it is called, is Moksham. How do we know such an abode exists? From Upanishad vaakyams we can establish that there is a world called "parama-padam" where Nityasooris, the Lord's divine servants are looking at him "constantly". Don't they get tired of looking at Him constantly? Don't they ever sleep? No, because this abode is uncontaminated by the three gunas of Sattva, Rajas, Tamas - the three qualities that pervade all the worlds that we can see, feel, touch, smell, and sense. In short, Krishna states in Bhagwad Gita, "Sattvam triggers Knowledge, Rajas, Karma, and Tamas, Forgetfulness." The Sattvam that we are used to in this world is called "mishra Sattvam" - ie, sattvam contaminated by Rajas and Tamas. The trigunas of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas pervade everything within the realm of modern accomplishments of science - from astronomy to particle physics to robotics to military.
The abode of the Lord on the otherhand, is also known as "Nitya Vibooti" - the permanent world - which is devoid of any "vikaaram" or "change" - because it is made of "shudda-sattvam or uncontaminated sattva guna. Because Sattva triggers knowledge, in the Lord's permanent world, everything and everybody is full of (limitless) knowledge. Contrast this to the present world that we all live, the only thing that can be claimed to be constant is change, and forgetfulness! Alas, since we are so limited in our capabilities, despite the great strides in science and knowledge, because of being bound by Rajas and Tamas gunas pervading in each of us, we have no way of knowing about the existence of the permanent worlds than taking the words of India's great seers and ancient scientists that worked on transcending these limitations through divine will to get a vision of the permanent world.
Some reader's with "paguttarrivu" or the "right to question" might question the wisdom of the ancient seers and ask for scientific proof for the existence of the Lord's Permanent World. Rightly so, but as I said, without transcending the rajas and tamas gunas that everything made by Prakirti or "Mother Nature" contain, they are not going to get the so called "Scientific Proof" - in fact it is an absurdity to ask for scientific proof - because the realm of science is also entirely composed of things that are pervaded by the three gunas (contaminated sattva, rajas, and tamas).
So, having understood merely theoretically, that there is a world called the Permanent World that is the abode of the Lord and His Divine Servants that is devoid of changes as it is made of the quality of "shudda sattva", the next question is Who can go there? The answer is "All jeevatmas can go there". So who is Jeevatma? Jeevatma is the "Indweller" in each of the human beings, animals, plants etc. (the so called "living things"). There is a Jeevatma or "Indweller" in non-living things as well - in fact, one in each non-living that can be called by a name. The primary difference between the living (Chit) and non-living thing(Achit) being "knowledge". Looking at these two tattvams (Objects of matter) from the perspective of knowledge, one may say that the non-living things live in a state of complete knowledge diminishment while the living things live in a state of partial knowledge diminishment. Why call it "knowledge diminishment" as opposed to "quantum of knowledge"? That is because, all these Jeevatmas are full of "knowledge" when they are uncontaminated by "force of nature". Rajas and Tamas gunas that pervade all things created by nature, chiefly are responsible for diminishment of the Jeevatma's knowledge.
So why should the Jeevatma, the Indweller, the thing that is full of knowledge, is knowledge itself, come in contact with nature and lose it knowledge? It does so in order to take up a body. Why does it need a body? Without a body, the Jeevatma cannot "Do anything". It may be all knowledge, but it cannot reach the Lord's abode without taking on a body. While it is "all knowledge" in its pristine form, the Jeevatma realizes that it has to go to Moksham. Setting Moksham as its "goal", it therefore strives to get a human body because it is the most valuable form in which it can realize its knowledge at least partially. The Jeevatma has to struggle through in other bodies before it can get a human body. Which body it will take is also partly dependent on its "karma baggage". The more good karma it has in the baggage, the better its chances of getting a human body. The Indweller with a bad karma baggage probably goes through series of "hells" and non-human births in which it is incapable of doing "bad karma", before it regains a human body. However, the Indweller that had set is goal as "Moksham" in its pristine form because is was all-knowledge, quickly suffers from "knowledge diminishment" the moment it comes in contact with "nature (by acquiring a human body) that is pervaded by mishra sattva, rajas, and tamas". Please note: Indweller acquiring a human body = Indweller coming in contact with Nature....because the human body is made of things from nature -- viz 5 things - water, air, fire, matter, and space. The human body by itself is a non-living thing. The presence of an Indweller with lower knowledge diminishment makes it a living thing. LIFE, therefore, is a matter of "knowledge" and not "life-force". The Indweller's knowledge works through the human-body's sense organs and the sense faculties (as long as the Indweller remains in the body with it partial knowledge diminishment). When the Indweller leaves the body (a the time of death), another Indweller with complete knowledge dimishment takes on the body - and is therefore unable to operate its knowledge through the sense organs.
Now that it has acquired a human body the Indweller now has to go through learning (acquiring knowledge or dusting off ignorace or forgetfullness caused by rajas and tamas gunas) from scratch - From ABC - all the way to realizing that Moksham is its goal. So how many Jeevatmas that are living in the bodies of the 6 billion+ people on earth has realized that its goal is Moksha? Isnt it a truly sorry state? Note that everytime, at the time of death, when the Indweller casts off a human body and reverts back to it all-knowledge pristine mode it starts to regret the "missed opportunity" - not knowing how long it would take for it to get another human body to start realizing that Moksha its goal! It is said, sometimes it could take hundreds of thousands of earth years for the Indweller to get back to a human body on earth. That is precisely the reason the Indweller tries to hold on to this valuable human body at all costs and all times trying to keep death away.
To be continued ...
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