Using the body, enjoying the sukham or suffering the dukham is a separate matter. In the swarga or naraka, enjoying the sukham or suffering the dukham is another separate matter altogether.
When talking of Swargam, one experiences no death, no sweat, no bad smells, no hunger, no need for sleep, no disease, it has been told. Such an experience of sukham one begets out of Swargam is distinct from the experience one has within the ordinary world. Likewise for Narakam. Both are different sets of experiences. The experience in the world cannot be experienced in the heaven and vice versa.
The worldly experience is via a "stUla" shariram, whereas the experience outside of it in the heavens or hell is experienced with a "yAdanA" shariram or a "manOnmayamAna" shariram.
Is there a Swargam or a Narakam?
You can see that happening in the world itself. So many people in this world are suffering with so many difficulties, they are frequently occurring for some people.
You can see it with your own eyes. In Life, there are people who are there who have lived not knowing what is sukham in their entire life. Some people are living like that - for a one meal at least for one time a day, a good cloth, a place to live, like that there are so many suffering in this world. In certain places, if that country faces famine, the difficulty faced by the people of that place is enormous. There is no rain. During wars, as the bombs fall down from the sky and kill the people below, the dukham is being faced due to so many deaths. The loss of limbs and parts of the body, the shocking sounds of the bombs falling down or the effects of the chemical weapons.
Like this in the world, there are bomb blasts, floods, tsunami, earthquake as we keep seeing so often and frequently. Therefore the dukham is available in this world itself. Likewise for sukham, there is a rich man who has earned well and got a big house and lives as if he has never even seen what is a difficulty his entire life. So in this world, there are people who have sukham also. Right from their birth they will have never faced dukham, not having experienced the effect of being without food, clothes or place. Having born in a rich family with lots of riches, there are people living such a life attributed to sukham within this world itself. So having this contrast in the world itself, why one need to see it within Swarga or Naraka.
Say if we find a hospital in one place, we can believe that there could be a hospital in another place too. If there is a collector office in one place, there could be a similar one in another. So one can extend this to worlds as well and so by yukthi/logic we can say there will be swarga and naraka.
Therefore to answer the question of whether there is a Swargam or Narakam, yes it is very much there as the puranas say and the Srimad Bhagavatham as well. We can see examples in this world. By and Large, look at the sections of people who enjoy sukham and suffer dukham and you will know. So one can infer.
Yama dharmaraja rising up from his seat walks towards the 'murkhazhan' and pays his respects. As they all wonder why, as the ledger is filled with papams committed by the 'murkhazhan', it seems at one point in the entry, the murkhazhan has said "krishna arpanam". Yama now tells the reason for him rising up from his throne.
"yennAma sruthi mAthrEna
puman bhavathi nirmalaHa
kasya theertha padaiHI
kim vAdAsAnAm avasishyathE" - With which nama, "sruthi mathrEna puman bhavathi nirmalaHa" - just that one nama will burn all the papams done.
There is a home, kept locked for 100s of years, very dark and no one has entered it for a long long time. If one came in with a torchlight and flashed it on, will the darkness say that it has been there for 100s of years and will not go away immediately but slowly. No, as soon as the light comes on, the darkness disappears immediately in that very instant. Therefore, when the namakeerthanam is done, immediately the papams will be gone. "yennAma sruthi mAthrEna puman bhavathi nirmalaHa" - "sruthi mathrEna" - even if one hears the nama it is enough. Likewise there is a huge rock of explosive material or there is a big sack of cotton and if one just lit a small matchstick and set fire to it, everything will be burnt instantly. Therefore to burn a huge cotton sack or a mountain of explosives, there is no need to bring in loads and loads of fire to burn them, a small matchstick is sufficient. For an explosive, there is no need for lots of fire to be poured upon it.
Like that, bhagavannama is like a spark of fire falling on the mountain of cotton bags which represents our papam.
Therefore it is said here, ""namanum murkhazhanum...pEsa"
We often keep talking of swarga and naraka. All the sufferings one does suffer as a result of his pavam in this world itself, be it the papam from this janma or a previous one and yet there is another who is wealthy and has all the comforts as a result of his punyam. So based out of his punyam and papam does one go through the experience of pleasure and pain and once being finished in this world itself, why then there is a swarga and a naraka, once a person asked this question.
Using the body, enjoying the sukham or suffering the dukham is a separate matter. In the swarga or naraka, enjoying the sukham or suffering the dukham is another separate matter altogether. When talking of Swargam, one experiences no death, no sweat, no bad smells, no hunger, no need for sleep, no disease, it has been told.
Such an experience of sukham one begets out of Swargam is separate from the experience within the world. Likewise for Narakam. Both are different sets of experiences.
The experience in the world cannot be experienced in the heaven and vice versa. The worldly experience is via a "stUla" shariram, whereas the experience outside of it in the heavens or hell is experienced with a "yAdanA" shariram or a "manOnmayamAna" shariram.
Is there a Swargam or a Narakam?
You can see that happening in the world itself. So many people in this world are suffering with so many difficulties, they are frequently occurring for some people. You can see it with your own eyes. In life, there are people who are there not knowing what is sukham in their entire life. Some people are living like that - for a one meal atleast for one time a day, a good cloth, a place to live, like that there are so many suffering in this world. In certain places, if that country faces famine, the difficulty faced by the people of that place is enormous. There is no rain. During wars, as the bombs fall down from the sky and kill the people below, the dukham faced due to so many deaths. The loss of limbs and parts of the body, the shocking sounds of the bombs falling down or the effects of the chemical weapons. Like this in the world, there is bomb blasts, floods, tsunami, earthquake as we keep seeing so often. Therefore the dukham is available in this world itself. Likewise for sukham, wherein there is a rich man who has earned well and got a big house and lives as if he has never even seen what is a difficulty in his entire life. So in this world, there are people who have sukham. Right from their birth they will have never faced dukham, not having experienced the effect of being without food, clothes or place.
Having born in a rich family with lots of riches, there are people living such a life attributed to sukham within this world itself. So having this contrast in the world itself, why one need to see it within Swarga or Naraka. Say if we find a hospital in one place, we can believe that there could be a hospital in another place too. If there is a collector office in one place, there could be a similar one in another. So one can extend this to worlds as well and so by yukthi/logic we can say there will be swarga and naraka.
Therefore to answer the question of whether there is a Swargam or Narakam, yes it is very much there as the puranas say and the Srimad Bhagavatham as well. We can see examples in this world. By and large, look at the sections of people who enjoy sukham and suffer dukham and you will know. So one can infer.
Yama dharmaraja rising up from his seat walks towards the 'murkhazhan' and pays his respects. As they all wonder why and see that the ledger is full of papams committed by the murkhazhan, it seems at one point in the entry, the murkhazhan has said "krishna arpanam". Yama now tells the reason for him rising up from his throne.
"yennAma sruthi mAthrEna puman bhavathi nirmalaHa kasya theertha padaiHI kim vAdAsAnAm avasishyathE" - With which nama, "sruthi mathrEna puman bhavathi nirmalaHa" -
just one nama will burn all the papams done.
There is a home, kept locked for 100s of years, very dark and no one has entered it for a long long time. If one came in with a torchlight and flashed it on, will the darkness say that it has been there for 100s of years and will not go away immediately but slowly. No, as soon as the light comes on, the darkness disappears immediately in that instant. Therefore when the namakeerthanam is done, immediately the papams will be gone. "yennAma sruthi mAthrEna puman bhavathi nirmalaHa" -
"sruthi mathrEna" - even if one hears the nama it is enough. Likewise there is a huge rock of explosive material or there is a big sack of cotton and if one just lit a small matchstick and set fire to it, everything will be burnt instantly. Therefore to burn a huge cotton sack or a mountain of explosives, there is no need to bring in loads and loads of fire to burn them, a small matchstick is sufficient. For an explosive, there is no need for lots of fire to be poured upon it.
Like that, bhagavannama is like a spark of fire falling on the mountain of cotton bags which represents our papam.
Therefore it is said here, "namanamum...pesa"
The Yama dhootars say, "We have written several ledgers of his papam and just to read all his papams alone will take so much time. We are not able to bring those enormous ledgers of his papam. Not only that, after he has come, my Lord, you are bowing down to him with folded hands and it does not look right. How can we change our dharma and act like this", they ask of Yama. Why so much respect and upacharam for one who has committed enormous sins. This does not suit the way of our world at all.
Then Lord Yama tells the reason for it.
He says, 'You are talking of all his papams, but you never mentioned a punyam he has done. He has done such a big dharmam. What is that big dharmam?. At one time in his life, knowingly or unknowingly for some reason he has uttered "KrishnArpanam". That krishnarpanam, the nama of the bhagavan uttered with knowing or without knowing, with or without awareness, either as sankEtyam or pArihAsam in whatever way, that nama will show and tell the fruit of its utterance. It seems that the fruit has to bear at any cost. In olden days, there will be a vehicle carrying only Kerosene. Whilst they are pulling the Kerosene vehicle, they will utter "Krishnaoil, Krishnaoil" for kerosene. The part of the word bearing the name of Krishna itself in that mention will bring the fruit.
Likewise in the streets if one if in a procession and they are chanting "Govinda, Govinda" and if someone for the sake of making fun at them or abuse them, say the same name "Govinda, Govinda", even for just telling the name of Govinda, let alone for the sake of making fun will in fact do good in return for him. Even listening to the word "Govinda" will do good for him.
BHAGAVANNAMA MAHIMAI!!!
Why because, if the greatness of something i.e. the nama is high enough, it will not matter for your behavior, be it middle or low and that greatness will obscure or mask yours. Since the power of nama is so great, your power is durlabham no effect. It is durbalam. Bhagavannama does not expect your power or whatever you possess to work, it protects you by virtue of its own power which is far greater. Its mahimai is great.
Say for example, someone fell into a pit and he needs help to get out. One says that he cannot lift him bodily up and with some help from either of them, he can be dragged out. Bhagavannama is not like that, there is a person who is so totally strong and he just grabs by the hand and whisks him out in a jiffy. Such is the power of the bhagavannama. The greatness of nama is much bigger and far greater.
The bhagavannama does not expect anything at all from you, it does not prescribe that you should be like this or that. It is just above all that. You can be like anything, yet it will save you always. How, it is because the greatness of the nama is such that it will save irrespective of how you are in the world.
Therefore, here we see that the murkhazhan has once said "KRISHNAARPANAM" in his life!
The yama dhootars now ask, if this person has said krishnaarpanam, then why has he been brought here and what do we need to enquire about his papams ? Since he once said krishnaarpanam, all his papams have been burnt at that instant and he is a "parama bhagavattotaman".
Even once in his lifetime, if one chants the bhagavannama, he is a bhagavathar, the one who chants quite often is also a bhagavathar, one who chants at a regular time without fail is also a bhagavathar, now who is the illustrious then.
The moment one sees another and in his mouth, the bhagavannama comes, he is the illustrious one!!!!
One should not look at the other and request him to tell the nama, not required. The moment one sees, automatically the nama should come from his mouth and this being the most illustrious of them all, the one for whom nama dances in his tongue the moment one sees the other.
Here Yamadharamaraja says that as the murkhazhan has said krishnaarpanam, all his sins are gone. what happened,
"ninrArghazh kEtka naragamE swargamAghum......", there is just a small partition between narakam and swargam it seems. It seems they have just made the partition temporary. So the discussions between yama and the yama dhootar in the darbhar were heard by the people suffering in the narakam. In the narakham there is always shouting, confusion, distress and pain, suffering and everyone is crying as a result of that. We cannot sometimes know when others are suffering the pain, we wont have the strength of mind to even see or hear that. Such being the state of affairs there. Then suddenly they hear Yama talking about the one punyam that the murkhazhan did, saying "KRISHNAARPANAM" just once in his lifetime. This word "KRISHNAARPANAM" was heard by the narakavadhis and what happened then,
"naragamE swargamAghum"
What happened now, all the dukham suddenly vanished for the people of the naraka.
Then, yes, they all got transferred to Swarga now. Why, this immediate transfer?
ALL PAPAMS VANISHED. There was no further papams for them to suffer in narakalOka anymore.
ok, did they say any nama or say "krishna"?
No! Just
"yennAma sruthi mAthrEna"
"puman bhavathi nirmalaHa"
Just heard it! Enough.
ALL PAPAMS VANISHED.
But, where did they hear this. Yama is enquiring about someone else, a sinner (murkhazhan) and his papams, but when the discussions happened and when his punyam was being looked at, it was found that he had just said "KRISHNAARPANAM" once only and when this was discussed, Yama dharma raja arose from his seat and started paying respects. Yaman, then establishing that this murkhazhan has once and only once said "KRISHNAARPANAM" in his lifetime,
Then the utterance of this "KRISHNAARPANAM" was heard by the people in the narakam.
So, just on hearing "KRISHNAARPANAM", ok now all the papams have been removed and then it was wondered if there is a time, say 10 days or so they need to wait now for the punyam to take effect and then the transfer will be effected or immediately, NO!
INSTANTANEOUSLY, the narakam itself became a swargam now, it transformed the narakam itself as swargam now!!! Not a transfer, the place itself changed instantly.
All the happiness, the bhogyam and bhOgam of swargam now came there and it was bountiful with happiness afloat in the same place where narakam existed before.
"naragamE swargamAghum" - Why? Such a prabhu is there,
"nAmanghazhudaiya nambi" - there is ONE, and he has a NAME, and that NAME, just the name itself, on saying, "shravanam", even just hearing it "sruthi mAthrEna".
"shravana mangala nama deya" - Will anyone have such a NAME? This beautiful NAME, you don't even have to open your mouth and with difficulty say "Govinda, Gopala,
Krishna, Vasudeva, Rama, no need for all that.
Bhagavan has given a eyelid for closing it, the mouth also can be closed, but has kept the ears open for all time, there is no lid for the ears. In that ear, even without you being aware in any situation, if "GOVINDA", "GOPALA", "NARAYANA", "KRISHNA", "VASUDEVA" is heard, what happens!!!
All the goodness, mangalams will automatically happen, why because "shravana mangala nama deya".
Whose name one should utter upon which one will be bestowed upon him every happiness possible, is this ONE who has been possessed with such a name.. as said in the Srimad Bhagavatham. Likewise, azhwar says here,
"nAmanghazhudaiya nambi", will narakam itself become transformed as swargam?
YES IT WILL as there is ONE with such a NAME, what can we do.
What is there in that NAME and what fruit will this give? Like for example, one will say that if his name is quoted for admission into a particular college as a recommendation, it will be fruitful. Likewise for a recommendation for a job the same thing applies isnt it.
When for simple and basic worldly things, if one can use the name of ordinary mortals and get them, what will not one get by HIS NAME?
If there is something of a wordly greatness with the name of a normal person and one gets to respect it, it is hardly surprising, when the people of the Yama loka and narakam hear it, respect it and expect a great thing from it. That is why, azhwar tells here,
"naragamE swargamAghum nAmanghazhudaiya nambi", the people of narakam did not move or transfer themselves to swargam, it is narakam itself that got transformed "in place" into swarga!
So where is HE from? asks azhwar..
"avanathuoor arangamEnAthu" and whose name it is, it is
Lord "Ranganathar" himself.
"ayarthuvizhazhiyamAndhar kavazhaiuzh padugirArendru athanukkEkavazhgindrEnE"
Radhe Radhe
Subham!
