THE PATHWAY TO MOKSHA OR SALVATION -- BY PANDIT DHARMA PRAKASH SHARMA

The Pathway to "Moksha" or Salvation





The five Pandava brothers had just finished the Holy Mahabarat war. They had even completed the sacrifice that pertains to victorious kings, symbolizing the glory of the king as 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 center of Haridwar.



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 holy bath ritually at Har Ki Paudi of Brahma Kund and then proceeded to climb the glorious valleys of Himalayan mountains to achieve the fulfillment and satiate their quest for salvation.



Whether the ritual bathing at Brahma Kund in the Ganga waters had brought them onto the purest and Holy path of attaining Moksha remained an unanswered mystery which only the Savior and eternal God knows. We can hear the warning bells toll as we take care to listen to the voice to Shrimad Bhagvad Gita:



“Mannusham Lokam Kukti Dwaram'” which means that this life span in the body of human beings is the gateway of liberation.





The great need of salvation and why it cannot 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 the living 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 understands the mystery of Brahma (the only God) and Maya (bondage of sin, illusion and ignorance and then find the 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 of redemption, went to Adi Sankaracharya. The guru then said, “The one who has to attain oneness with God in order to receive salvation, has to be truly equal to the man who has the patience to sit by the ocean and dig a pit on the sandy shore. Then he would have to take a blade of Kusha grass and dip it 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 for Moksha and its attainment





All the penance of the generations of the Aryan sages and pilgrim saints were in search of the way of salvation. Beginning at the Vedas and journeying through the Upanishads, the Aranyakas and Puranaas, they continued their pilgrimage through the Nirguna (in spirit) and Saguna (in blissful form) the 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 play hide and seek 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 the sky. The history of the world stands witness to the truth that nearly two thousands 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 others 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 wages of sin, and the bondage of death or “Karma – danda” which inflicts mankind maybe 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 Jesus. By His incarnation as Man and while suffering death under that incarnation for man, He has fulfilled His role las 'TRATA' (only Savior of mankind) and 'Pitratam Pitranga' (most cherished heavenly fatherliness of all fathers, envisaged in Rig Veda 4:17:17).



The Lord Jesus Christ, the author of salvation and sinless and 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 yearnings of the Upanishads are all directed towards that one most Holy and purest of beings, the Liberator of sinners.



In order to mitigate the sufferings that abound in and all around the universe, many great personalities and saints, prophets and priests or kings and monarchs were born but there was still left in every nook and corner of this earth a palpable yearning and longing for the One who can redeem man from the endless power of death's sting and grant full salvation; even the holy, blameless perfect Incarnation of a wonderful loving God. It was then from out of the bosom of a dark night that morning star appeared. The eternal and uncreated One, the Alpha and Omega God for the first and the last, took upon Himself the human incarnation out of deep compassion for the human race which was helplessly trapped in the strongest grip of sin. It was such a perfect incarnation for which the whole creation and every living thing eagerly looked for with a great hope. The venerable and adorable words from the Vedic scriptures like “Vagg Vai Brahma” (Brhado Aranyaka Upanishad 1:3, 21, 4:1, 2) meaning “The logos is the indestructible God, the Supreme Leader who is the cause and governor of all creation (Rigveda 10: 125) who to protect and save sinful mankind Himself appeared upon the earth, wrapped in a body that is holy and without sin”.



Personification of the Divine: Jesus Christ the Son of God



Among the important Hindu Puranas, one Bhavishya Purana, written in Sanskrit around the 7th Century A.D. Describes quite lucidly about this holy incarnation in Pratisarg chapter of the Bharath Khand as follows:



Yeesh moorti prapta nitya shuddha shivakari; Yeesha Mashi itticha mam nama prathishtatham



Verse 31 means: “the revelation of God who is eternal, holy, compassionate and giver of salvation; who dwells in our heart is manifested. His name is “Yeesha Masih” (Jesus Christ).



The Puranas while speaking of this Savior and God incarnate, refers Him as Purusha Shubham (sinless or blameless and holy person), Balwaan Raja Gaurang Shweta Vastrakam (the sovereign king in a holy person robed in white); Yeesh Putra (Son of God): Kumari Garbha Sambhavam (the One who is born of a virgin) and Satya Varatha Paraayanam (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 Savior of mankind; but the oldest of Jewish holy writings and books of the Old Testament, witnessed to this faca seven hundred years before His birth “in whom was no sin” (Isa.53:9). “A virgin will give birth and His name shall be called Immanuel, that is God with us” (Isa.7:14). Even Islam, in its chief religious scripture, the Holy Koran, in Surah Miriam, refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as “Rooh Allah” meaning “the Spirit of God” and “Miriam” as the most holy among all women.



Has the only and eternal God Almighty, ever been incarnated? If so, what are the promises and signs that point to it. The scriptures and holy writings give us the following indications and clues that God ought to be the:



Sanathana Shabdha Brahmha (the Everlasting One and the Word who is God), Srishtikartha (Creator), Sarvagyaa (The Omniscient one), Nishpaap dehi (The sinless One); Sachidananda (Truth, conscious and Joy),Tri Ekya 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 Paapvahi (The bearer of the sin of the world), Yagna Pusha (the Sacrifice of the Altar), Aadveta (the only One), 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 God incarnate as amply evident in the life and holy person of the Lord Jesus Christ.



Salvation: Only in Jesus Christ



The holy word of God through Jesus Christ talks about bequeathed salvation in this way: “God after he spoke long ago 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.1:1-13). “I am the Way the Truth and the Life; no man comes to the Father (God) but by Me” (John 14:6). There is now no more condemnation (the death that results from sin) to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom.8:1). “But 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 traveler of the path of salvation? Has your soul longed after and 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 moment. “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other” (Isa.45:22). “That whosoever 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.



A word of testimony from the author of this message, “Pathway to salvation”



Lord Jesus Christ and the 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 the 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 teenager 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 breath! Oh! It was the same that inspired the life and work of Gandhiji during freedom movement of India. It was a memorable moment for me, while reading this great sermon, I heard repeatedly a divine voice from all around me saying, “I am the same whom you are seeking from your very childhood...”



The desire of the Vedic Rishis from ages was a quest to seek the ultimate realization of the true God and His grace. The same thirst of my heart was fired through the power of this great good news of salvation from God and brought me to the feet of the only eternal God, who became flesh for us all.



Written by: Pandit Dharma Prakash Sharma, Pushkar Tirth , Ajmer Rajsthan , India