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Thread: Can animals attain moksha?

  1. #1

    Can animals attain moksha?

    Namaste,
    Over the time, I have read interesting stories about different animals that do so surprising things that no one would imagine them to do & then I suddenly though, if animals could attain or moksha or not? Your opinions, please.

    Have a nice day,
    ~Alice

    EDIT: I want to let you know that I'm aware that every soul can [and will] attain moksha. My question is more specifically about moksha while soul has animal's body.

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    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    Pranam

    Yes by the grace of the Lord anything is possible, in this relation to this the Moksha of Gajendra, the elephant in distress being killed by crocodile comes to mind. we must remember this is an exception to rule. Gajendra Moksha is narrated in Srimad Bhagvat 8.3.1.
    apparently the elephant remembers his previous life of Indradyumna and by the grace of the lord at the time off his distress starts praying and was saved from the crock and attained Moksha.

    Jai Shree Krishna
    Last edited by Ganeshprasad; 19 March 2011 at 04:52 PM.
    Rig Veda list only 33 devas, they are all propitiated, worthy off our worship, all other names of gods are derivative from this 33 originals,
    Bhagvat Gita; Shree Krishna says Chapter 3.11 devan bhavayatanena te deva bhavayantu vah parasparam bhavayantah sreyah param avapsyatha Chapter 17.4 yajante sattvika devan yaksa-raksamsi rajasah pretan bhuta-ganams canye yajante tamasa janah
    The world disappears in him. He is the peaceful, the good, the one without a second.

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    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    Vannakkam SA: Personally I think you need a human body to attain moksha, but of course others may have differing opinions. Why would it matter?

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    Namaste SA and GaneshPrasad ji,

    Quote Originally Posted by Ganeshprasad View Post
    Yes by the grace of the Lord anything is possible, in this relation to this the Moksha of Gajendra, the elephant in distress being killed by crocodile comes to mind. we must remember this is an exception to rule. Gajendra Moksha is narrated in Srimad Bhagvat 8.3.1.
    Yes, by the grace of God anything is possible & that is a very good example. There are other examples too :

    a) Lord Rama granting moksha to Jataayu, the vulture.
    b) Lord Rama granting moksha to Baali, the monkey king.
    c) Lord Krishna granting moksha to Arjun trees

    But such cases are very rare. In such cases they are generally evolved souls but due to some particular sin in the last birth they are taken to lower yonis. Sometimes some animals show very interesting traits which cannot be explained by any theory except the reincarnation. I was told by my parents that when I was very young, we had a pet dog who would refuse to eat during Ekaadasis !

    Normally, the evolution is step-by-step from one lower yoni (species) to another higher yoni due to Kaala (i.e. time ... the effect of Yugas) and Karma through transmigration from one species to other.

    OM
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

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    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    namaste everyone.

    Here is a picture of the 'gajendra mokSham':
    gajendra.jpg

    Here is a modern version of it:
    http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=268749

    As GP, Devotee and EM have pointed out, I think the spiritual evolution curve is from the lower to the higher yonis. In the legends of animals attaining mokSha, mostly it would be case of their being a human in their previous birth.
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    Pranam Devotee ji Saidevo ji and all

    Stating the obvious, no doubt human vehicle is most suitable for attaining moksha, and in Gita Lord Krishna says out of thousands who strive for perfection hardly anyone knows him in truth, to put things in perspective vis animal attaining moksha it defies human logic in such circumstances only shatra and sadhu are the authority to guide us.
    Ramayan, Mahabharat Bhagvat gives those examples unless I am above those Shastra I could not hold my personal opinion, who would have thought Ganesha rides a Rat?

    Jai Shree Krishna
    Rig Veda list only 33 devas, they are all propitiated, worthy off our worship, all other names of gods are derivative from this 33 originals,
    Bhagvat Gita; Shree Krishna says Chapter 3.11 devan bhavayatanena te deva bhavayantu vah parasparam bhavayantah sreyah param avapsyatha Chapter 17.4 yajante sattvika devan yaksa-raksamsi rajasah pretan bhuta-ganams canye yajante tamasa janah
    The world disappears in him. He is the peaceful, the good, the one without a second.

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    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    I see animal life as a way to develop the various abilities the bodily existence offers.

    Some animals are fast, some are very strong but slow, some have excellent vision, some excellent olfaction...

    It seems to me that a jiva goes through all these different life forms to exercise its impulse of action. And after it experiences all those states, navigates through all of the gunas, it finds balance being a human, that has all of these qualities in moderation and to compensate for the lack of excellence focused on certain organs of action, it gains the gift of exalted intellect (buddhi), through which we can question our own existence and pursue a spiritual path.

    That's my view based on what the Vedas offer.

    Om Tat Sat

  8. #8

    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    It sure seems like we would be better equipped.
    But unless we can remember a past life as an animal and really remember thoughts and how our brains worked we really cannot say.

    We really cannot compare our thought process with animals, we live such different lives. We sit here with our computers with our coffee mugs that we brought from our high tech kitchens and we assume that animals are less able to reach moksha because we compare them to ourselves.

    But we really do not know what other abilities does to enhance the possibility of moksha. Animals know a lot that we don't and cannot perceive.

    Just a sense of smell, my dog knows if my husband has come home as soon as she steps in the elevator. I see her sniffing the air. I'm completely oblivious that the elevator smells of him.

    What about whales, or dolphins who have the ability to be in two dimensions, water and the surface of the sea? They have a completely different viewpoint than us.
    Or Eagles with amazing eyesight, who can fly high up in the air and (and see the roundness of our planet and the sky with their own eyes) then dive deep down to catch a fish, or the diving birds that fly and then dive real deep down in the water and swim under the surface to look for food.
    Or the fish that are under the water and can "fly" on the surface of the water.

    Humans are amazing, but we use a lot of technology and help to be were we are (not to say that it's not amazing, that we got here and learned all this)
    but I don't think you can compare and make assumptions.

    Maya

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    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    Pranam all

    Please dont get me wrong. I am not suggesting for a moment that animals have faculties to strive for moksha that is not what Shastra says but under certain circumstances and by the grace of the Lord it is possible as per the examples given.

    Jai Shree Krishna
    Rig Veda list only 33 devas, they are all propitiated, worthy off our worship, all other names of gods are derivative from this 33 originals,
    Bhagvat Gita; Shree Krishna says Chapter 3.11 devan bhavayatanena te deva bhavayantu vah parasparam bhavayantah sreyah param avapsyatha Chapter 17.4 yajante sattvika devan yaksa-raksamsi rajasah pretan bhuta-ganams canye yajante tamasa janah
    The world disappears in him. He is the peaceful, the good, the one without a second.

  10. #10

    Re: Can animals attain moksha?

    Another interesting fact is that when humans still thought the world was flat, birds could have told us the truth had we only been able to communicate.
    The ones who can fly high enough, have never thought that it was flat.
    We thought it only because it looked like there was an edge at the horizon.

    Maya

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