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Indra
02 June 2008, 06:14 AM
Can a human be born again as a animal or plant? Or is it only possible that a plant or animal gets born as a human?

reflections
20 October 2008, 10:17 AM
Namaste Indra,
I know this thread is old. But, I thought I can be of some help in answering your query.

Animals and plants are not held responsible for generating new karmas. They generally pay off their Karmic debt in their life time and progresses to advanced species. However, humans have free choice while doing Karma, so his/her Karma generates real consquences.

Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachan (Bhagvad Gita)
You have choice in performing action, not in results of it.

So, if a human lives righteously, performs good karma and tries to awaken spirituality, most likely he/she will be born again as human. He/she might even attain a better Varna. However, if one keeps on disregarding laws of nature, behaves 'adharmic' (submit to lust, anger, arrogance, delusion), commits unholy acts; he/she might get rebirth as a plant or an animal.

In Bhagvatam, there is a story of salvation of 'Yamal Arjuna' trees in Canto 10. Krishna offered them salvation. They were sons of Kuber (god who manages finanace? ), so their birth was even more auspicious than humans. However, they indulged in excessive lust and did not pay respects to Sage Narada. So by curse, they got be-birth as trees.

If we don't belive in the story literally, then also it gives a nice message. That excess indulgence in bad habit may darken our conciousness and led us to not so advanced species.

Regards,
reflections


Can a human be born again as a animal or plant? Or is it only possible that a plant or animal gets born as a human?

paarsurrey
02 November 2008, 10:36 PM
Can a human be born again as a animal or plant? Or is it only possible that a plant or animal gets born as a human?

HiOne cannot be reborm physically in this world, in my opinion. If one dies, one would get a life only in the next world. A plant or animal cannot be born as a human. I don't think it is written in any revealed scriptures of the world supported with the divine wisdom/reason/argument. If somebody believes in; he should bring forth the text from God's mouth supported with the divine wisdom/reason/argument mentioned in the same.Thanks

dhruva023
03 November 2008, 12:26 AM
HiOne cannot be reborm physically in this world, in my opinion. If one dies, one would get a life only in the next world. A plant or animal cannot be born as a human. I don't think it is written in any revealed scriptures of the world supported with the divine wisdom/reason/argument. If somebody believes in; he should bring forth the text from God's mouth supported with the divine wisdom/reason/argument mentioned in the same.Thanks

Please consider reading some hindu scriptures before commenting.

devotee
04 November 2008, 09:05 AM
Can a human be born again as a animal or plant? Or is it only possible that a plant or animal gets born as a human?

Namaste Indra,

In Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna mentions re-births & how it is decided. Abrahimic religions don't talk about re-births but they talk of Judgement Day. However, if we examine logically, then Judgment day idea doesn't answer many questions satisfactorily :

a) On Judgment Day, the righteous souls are given eternal life in heaven & the wrong-doers are sent to hell for burning for eternity. Now, the question is what purpose is served by punishing someone for eternity ? How does it serve the punished person, other souls or even God ? This creation of avoidable pains for eternity is illogical even from a human mind. How can God award such a judgment unless He is a psychopath ?? As God is omnipotent & creator of all beings, he has no reason or purpose for being cruel, so this idea of eternal punishment appears illogical.

b) What happens to a person who dies before attaining adulthood ? What punishment or reward can we expect for a Child's deeds when he doesn't even know what is right or wrong ? Similarly, if a person gets a longer life, he can always repent or correct his ways but if someone dies a premature death he doesn't get this opportunity. How can God allow this partiality ?

c) Why some people are punished to live a cursed life right from the time of birth i.e. why some people are born blind, deaf & dumb, impotent, transsexuals, without some limbs, poor, ugly, born to cruel parents, get born in poor state ? Similarly, why some people get bad chances in life if everything is to be decided only on Judgement Day ??

d) What about other animals & plants ? They also have life as we have. They also feel pains, hunger & thirst as we feel ? Why create life full of pains & ignorance ? If they are created just for sustaining human beings why they were given the senses to feel pains. Why didn't make these poor animals in a way that they didn't feel pains ? Why was "Pain" & "hunger" given to them ?

e) The life of a man is hardly 70 years on an average. The human life on this earth is for last more than 2 to 3 million years. That means the man who was born neary 3 million years ago ... lived a life of nearly 70 years & waiting for his judgment for 3 million years ? Just think of the plight of the poor chap ! He will not even remotely remember on the Judgment Day what he is being punished for !! This appears completely out of proportion ! And why should God make him wait for such a long time ? What is stopping God to take immediate descision & passing judgment ?

There can be even more questions.

OM

santosh
02 January 2009, 03:53 PM
Our sacred scriptures Srimad Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam tell us about reincarnation.

As explained in scriputres, there are total of 8.4 million species of life. The soul transmigrates from lowest to higher species. Out of the 8,400,000 different species of living beings, there are 400,000 human species.

One gets the next body depending upon the consciousness one develops during one's life. For example, if one cultivates the habit of eating indiscriminately meaning eating anything and everything, he/she will get the body of hog in their next life. So any form of life you see in any species of life, they are not there by accident, they are in that form of life because of their own activites in their previous lives.

Lower forms of life are not held responsible for their karma performed in that body, they are simply burning off their karma. They are simply going step by step up the ladder of 8.4 million species.

According to Bhagavad Gita, if one develops higher consciousness in this life, he/she is elevated to a body in the higher planetory systems (bhuvarloka, swargaloka, maharloka, janaloka, tapaloka, brahmaloka).

Those with medium (madhyam) consicousness, come back to Bhuloka or Prithviloka and those whose consciousness is in the mode of ignorance (tamoguna) get life in the lower planetory systems (atal, vital, sutal, talatal, mahatal, rasatal, patal)

And those fortunate, good people who develop pure spiritual consciousness, having attained perfection of life, go to the spiritual world which is eternal and full of ever increasing bliss and they live there eternally.

Santosh