Datta Maata 226 : One can change his fate of future births by doing noble deeds in this birth

We can say that spirituality has its base on the theory of previous births. If we say that past births, present birth and future births do not exist, then sins-merits, scriptures of dharma and spiritual paths and all vanish. Hence, those who ask whether there are previous births, we must say that they do exist. There are several stories in our scriptures that say that previous births exist. Amongst those, let us now look into the story of Sravana Kumara.

Dasharatha, when he was still not the father of Sri Rama; one day went to forest for hunting. While he was searching to kill cruel animals, he heard the splashing sounds of water from some distance. He felt that some animal was drinking water and hence released arrows in that direction. That arrow straight away had hit Sravana kumara who was filling his pot with water. He called his parents in pain and died on the spot. Dasharatha heard the sounds of a human and went to that place only to find the dead body of Sravana Kumara. He was shocked and horrified. He took the water in the pot and approached his parents. He gave them water and told them that he was the reason behind their son's death. They also gave up their bodies at once and cursed, "May you also suffer the grief of getting seperated from your son!" Cursing so, they died. Even though, Dasharatha felt sorrow for their curse, he still was happy for some reason. The reason for his happiness is that they cursed him that he would get seperated from his son. Till that time, he was worried that he could not beget sons. But, from that moment onwards, the thought that he would beget a son itself gave him great happiness. He felt that if he has to get seperated from his son, this implies that he would certainly have one. Since he was the reason behind their death, he had performed the last rites of the family and through sage Vasista did all the rituals for atonement.

Let us analyse the previous birth of Sravana Kumara. In his previous birth, he was born as a fish in a pond. In the vicinity of the pond, there lived a couple of birds. As time passed by, those birds and fish became friends. During the time of summer, the pond started to evaporate. In order to protect the fish, while the bird couple were taking the fish to another pond by holding it tightly within their mouths, in a garden named Navakanda, bamboo shrubs had pierced the body of the fish. Because of that, the fish was split into two halves and collapsed on Earth. After witnessing the fish's death, the birds were grief stricken. On that day itself, they too gave up their lives. Those two birds are none other than Sravana kumara's parents. That fish is Sravana Kumara. He cleared the debt in this birth towards his parents who served him in his previous birth as birds. Also, Eknatha Ramayana says that all the three attained salvation by giving up their lives at the same time. This is the story of previous birth of Sravana Kumara.

With this, we realize that previous births do exist. Hence, we must engage in noble activities in the present birth and lay strong foundation for the future births. It is not about the existence or non-existence of previous births. Doing good activities consciously in this birth itself is our main duty because we have something good in the previous birth and hence we have the thought of doing something good in this birth. Even though, we do not know about the stories of previous births, we must try to engage in noble activities by being good. We must practice to speak good words. We must practice to lead a life of sacrifice. Also, we must be inclined towards charity. Based on this, we can make a strong foundation for the future births. There are many who say, "Let us experience everything in this birth itself because we do not know whether rebirths exist or not. Who knows whether sins and merits exist? Hence, let us experience everything in this birth itself. Let us eat happily, roam around joyfully and spend time. We do not know whether previous births exist or not" There are so many people who think this way in this world. Even if we do not know about the previous births, whatever we do in this birth must be noble and the best. With that our fate also changes.

Jaya Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!