The Pathway to Moksha मॊक्ष-द्वार

MOKSH DWAR

मॊक्ष-द्वार 

The five Pandava brothers had just finished the Holy Mahabharat war. They had even completed the sacrifice that pertains to victorious kings,symbolizing the glory of the kings that of the rising sun. Now all that was left to be done was to attain the ultimate bliss before completing their earthly pilgrimage, and in pursuance of that goal of attaining true salvation, they arrived at the pilgrim centre of Haridawar.

 In order to attain Moksha (salvation) at any cost, and thus satisfy the one and only deepest longing of the human soul they came to the banks of the great ganga and there washed themselves in the holy bath ritually at Har Ki paudi of Brahma Kund, and then proceeded to climb the glorious valleys of Himalayan mountains to achieve the fulfilment and satiate their quest for salvation.

 Whether the ritual bathing at Brahma Kund in the Ganga waters, had brought them on to the purest ad the Holy path of attaining moksha (salvation), remained an unanswered mystery, which only the saviour and eternal God knows. We can hear the warning bells toll, as we take care listen to the voice of Shrimad Bhagvad Gita.

 ‘Mannusham Lokam Mukti Dwaram’ which means that life span in the body of human beings is the gateway of liberation.

 We live in a world of complex relatives & perplexities, with which the progress and the opportunities that come along are manifold and yet there is despair involved in evolving ways and means for a long lasting PEACE.

 It is the living word of God that drives us all to share what it means to us as pilgrims on that path of peace and joy. This article is written by Pandit Dharm Prakash Sharma, son of chief priest of Pushkar, Ajmer, India and contains in brief the truth from ancient books (Scriptures) and his journey with Prabhu Ishu Krisht (Lord Jesus Christ). This booklet goes out with our prayer that this simple and earnest truth will enrich many lives and bring them to the peace and joy of the living God.

 The Great need of Salvation and why it can’t be Attained :

The tangible experience of Moksha or Salvation is the hardest problem and the greatest need of mankind. How clearly the book of Vivek choodamani, casts light upon this fact when it says, that among all creation, the birth of human kind is attained with difficulty more especially that of male body. To be born a Brahmin is rare, rarer to be born attached to Vedic dharma. The hardest to acquire among these, is that birth that understand the mystery of Brahma (the only God) and Maya (bondage of sin, illusion and ignorance and then find path to attain Moksha (salvation).

There is a very beautiful story from Vedic scenario that graphically depicts the difficulty in acquiring Moksha or Salvation. There once was a man who in search of the easiest way to redemption, went to Adi Sankaracharya. The guru than said, the one who has attain oneness with God in order to receive salvation, has to be truly equal than said, the one who has the patience to sit by ocean and dig a pit on the sandy shore, then he would have to take a blade of Kusha grass and dip into in the ocean water to bring out drop by drop of the ocean through the blade of grass, into the pit that he dug. When all the sea water is brought out into that pit then he would attain Moksha.

 The Quest of Moksha and Attainment:

All the penance of the generation of the Aryan sagas and pilgrim saints, were in search of the way of salvation. Beginning at the Vedas and journeying through the Upanishads, the Aranyakas, Puranaas, they continued their pilgrimage through the Nirguna (in sprit) and saguna (in blissful form) path of devotion, while they kept pressing forward with unshaken and true spiritual thirst. Is it all possible to perceive and experience Moksha in reality anywhere? As man bound by sin, continues to persist in his search for truth. It seems as though the eternal God and attaining Him in experience plays hid and seeks with man and the cry goes out-how long? How long... Will it go on?

But, behold at such grim and groaning moments of utter darkness, ages ago on the length and breadth of the vast horizon there appears a silver lining in sky. The history of the world stand witness of the fact that nearly two thousand years ago at a time when all the major philosophies of the religions of the world had reached their zenith-the philosophy of the Greeks, the Sankhya, the Vedanta, the Yoga, the Hebrew, the Jain, the Buddhist, the Persian and other and their sun was setting. While mankind was languishing on the spiritual horizon, the most High God himself took body in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,Being the full incarnation or Purna Avatara. He was manifested so that, the burden of the wage of sin, and the bondage of death or “Karma-danda”, which inflicts mankind may be lifted by him personally, Having said: “It is finished”, he gladly offered himself to atone for man’s sin on the altar of sacrifice, which is the Cross of Christ. By his incarnation as man and while suffering death under that incarnation of man, he has fulfilled his role as ‘TRATA’ (only Saviour of mankind) and “Pitratam Pitrana Pita”(most cherished heavenly Fatherliest of all fathers, envisaged in Rig Veda 4: 17:17 ).

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Author of Salvation, Sinless & Perfect Incarnation:

The panoramic creation of beautiful nature; the sons and daughters of the land of Aryans that is called Bharat, yearns through the length and breadth for its only creator and the living God. The ardent prayers of the Vedas, the deepest yearning of the Upanishads are all directed towards that one Holy and purest of beings, the liberator of sinners.

In order to mitigate the suffering that abound in and all around the universe, many great personalities and saints, prophets and priests or kings and monarchs were born but here was still left in every nook and corner of this earth of this earth, a palpable yearning and looking for the one was can redeem man from the endless power of death’s sting and grant full salvation; even the Holy blameless perfect incarnation of a loving God. It was then; from out of the bosom of the dark night that morning star appeared. The eternal and uncreated one; the Alfa and Omega God for the first and last, took upon himself the human incarnation out of deep compassion for the human race which was helplessly trapped in the strong grip of sin. It was such a perfect incarnation, for that, whole creation and every living thing eagerly looked forward to with great hope. The venerable and adorable from the Vedic scriptures like “Vagg Vai Braham” (Brhado Aranyaka Upanishad 1:3, 21, 41:2 ) meaning: The word is God; Shabdakhara Param Braham;

(brahamabindu Upanishad 16 ) meaning: The logos is the indestructible God, the supreme leader who is the cause and governor of all cause governor of all creation (Rigveda 10:125) who to protect and save sinful mankind, Himself appeared upon the earth, wrapped in the body that is Holy and without sin.

 Personification of the Divine: Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Among the important Hindu Puranas, one Bhavisya purana, written by Maharishi Vedavyasa- also the writer of Sri Bhagvatgeeda, around 20 BC in Sanskrit describes quite lucidly about this holy incarnation in Pratisarg Parva of Bharath Khand vers 31, as follows:

Yeesh Moorti hridayam prapta nitya shuddha shivankari;

Yeesha Mashi itticha mam nama prathishtatham,

Meaning: the revelation of God who is eternal, Holy, compassionate and giver of salvation; who dwells in our hearts is manifested. His name is Yeeshu Mashi (Jesus Christ).

           The Bhavishya puranas while speaking of this saviour and God incarnate, refers to Him asPurusha Shubham (Blameless and Holy person). Balwaan Raja Gaurng Shweta vastrakam (the sovereign king in a holy person robed with white); Yeesh Putra (son of God); Kumari Garbha Sambhavam (one who is born of a virgin); and Satya Varatha Paraaynam  (the one who is the sustainer of the path of truth.

The holy scriptures of India are not the only ones that speak authentically about the divine incarnation of Lord Jesus Christ, the saviour of Humanity; but the oldest of Jewish holy writings and books of the old testament, witnessed to this fact seven hundred years before his birth “in whom was no sin” (Isa.7:14). Even Islam, in its chief religious scripture; the holy Koran, in surah miraim, refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as “Rooh Allah” meaning he is a spirit of God and Miriam as the most holy among all women.

The only and eternal God Almighty, ever been incarnated? If so, what are the promises and signs that point to it. The scriptures and the holy writings give us the following indications and clues that God ought to be the: Sanathana shabdha bramha (The ever lasting one and the word who is God), Srishtikartha (Creator), Sarvagyaa (The Omniscient one), Nishpaap-Dehi (The sinless one), Sachindananda (Truth, Conscious & Joy), Tri Ekaya Pita (The Triune God), Mahan Karma Yogi (The Greatest Accomplisher of the will of God), Siddha Brahmachari (The complete celibate by vow), Aloukik Sanyasin (The supernatural recluse), Jagath Paap Vahi (The bearer of sin of the world), Yagna Pursa (The sacrifice of the alter), Aadveta (The only one), and Anupam Premi (The matchless lover)

            The word of God, The Bible has in its new testament all these attributes and many more aspects of the uniqueness of the good incarnate as amply evident of the life and Holy personality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Salvation: Only in Jesus Christ

The Holy Word of God through Jesus talks about bequeathed salvation in this way, “God after He spoke along to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His son whom He (God) appointed heir of all things through whom also He made the world. He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature (Heb. 1:1-3). “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man comes to the Father (God) but by me” (John. 14:6) I and my Father are one (John 10.30).

There is now no more condemnation (the death that results in sin) to them who are in Christ Jesus; who walk not after flesh, but after the spirit” (Rom.8.1) Because the wages of Sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord” (Rom. 6:23)

            Dear friend, are you a traveller of the path of salvation? Has your soul longed after ad thirsted for the Living God? Only in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have redemption from the bondage of your sins and can receive peace that passes all understanding. The incarnate God is calling you this very instant. “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other! (Is. 45:22) “That whosever believes in Him (Jesus) should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16)Salvation is not available anywhere else except in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is our deepest prayer that God Almighty may strengthen and establish you in this truth.

 “Aashradha param paapam shradha papa pramochini” (Mahabharata, Shanti Parva 264:15:19) meaning: It is a great sin to be unbelieving, but faith and belief washes away one’s sins.

          A word of testimony from the writer of the message “Pathway to Salvation”

          Lord Jesus Christ and so called Christianity, as a religion, were mere fake and foreign denominational cults for me – same as to a majority of common Indians. Still there was a little open mind in me for Lord Jesus due to his famous “Sermon on the Mount” which inspired Mahatma Gandhi and his national movement on the solid foundation of truth, non-violence, love and forgiveness even to the enemies.

            One evening in 1954 as a teenage student, when I was in my hostel room, studying a book of English (which was my subject) I came across a lesson heading “Sermon on the Mount”. I read out the whole text in one breathe! Oh! It was the same that inspired the life and works of Gandhiji during freedom movement of India. It was memorable moment for me, while reading this great sermon, I heard repeatedly a divine voice from all around me saying – “I am the same person whom you are seeking from your very childhood!” which enslaved me with a heavenly super light!

             The desire of the Vedic Rishis from ages was a quest to seek the ultimate realization of true God and His grace. The same thirst of my heart was fired through the power of this great good news of the Heavenly father and brought me to my feet of only eternal God, who became flesh for us all, that in Him only we may have “Sakhashatkar” – the perfect realization of our God, the Father of all.

             Mahamantra (the essence of salvation)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16.

“Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” Acts 2:21

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For more information contact:

Pandit Dharm Prakash Sharma

Genehra Road, P.O. Pushkar Teertha

Rajasthan, 305 022 India

Phone: 011-91-9928797071 ©.

            011-91-1452772151 ®

E-mail: ptdharmp.sharma@yahoo.co.in