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PREFACE

       This pamphlet is an abridged and free translation of a booklet in Assamese written by me on the same subject several years ago. It may be considered as a commentary on the Samkhya Karika of Isaarakrisna, (edited and translated by me), with special reference to the Theory of Rebirth.

         The problem of rebirth has been engaging the attention of all thinking men of all countries since the beginning of history. No man likes to think that his life is a mere ephemeral phenomenon ending with death, like a shooting star in the sky. Thinking people all over the world like to think that life is real, that life has a meaning and that the grave is not its goal. But in European countries the theory of rebirth was not accepted as a truism. In ancient India, however, it was accepted as a fruit of mystic psychological experiences always verifiable by Yogins. Every man in ancient India, be he a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Jain, or a member of an animistic tribes, took it for granted that the Indian theory of rebirth was an absolute truism. This belief was indeed at the root of what we now call ‘Indian culture’. It accounts for the peace, honesty and contentment which reigned in ancient Indian societies. Every one believed that he was only reaping the fruits of his actions of his previous life and that good actions and good thinking in this life would ensure the bliss of his next life. In such a society there would be no room for jealousy or envy of any kind. There were love and friendship in society which made life worth living. This was a great sanction to morality and above all there was no place for Marxism or Communism in such a society.

      But I have not discussed these matters (the law of Karma) in this little volume. My object is merely to show how simply Vedanta has presented the theory of rebirth to us. I only stress that once we make our ideas clear about the true nature of the soul and of the thoughts—matters on which the East and the West do not agree—’the theory of rebirth will appear to us as a self-explanatory subject.

       I am grateful to my friend Sbri Sushil Chakraborty for the trouble he took in having this book printed expeditiously.

       I am also indebted to my friend Sri Biman Bhattacharji who wrote this book to my dictation, supplied the references and prepared the type-script for the press.

Jorhat

The 15th June 1962.

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