Rebirth-Myth or reality

The Sanskrit word for rebirth or reincarnation is 'punarjanam' and 'samsara' (the round of births and deaths or transmigration of the soul). Researchers have found that memories of past lives are most active during childhood, mainly between the ages of three and five.

I will now recount a short story-One little boy of three was taken by his mother to Pantaloons Calcutta,for the first time, to buy some new clothes.As they came upon the kids section,and the mother asked for trousers with suspenders, the little boy turned towards her and said- "Yeah, I will take them,as I always wear these types of trousers.''

But the mother knew that wasn't the case, as she had never bought them for the child earlier.

So she asked him when-and his response was "When I lived in Bangalore, and I was also wearing them the day I died."Despite being shaken by the answer, the mother persisted with her qns. and soon had the name of the young man,who had died, as detailed by her little boy...

A few weeks and some phone calls later and it was proved- that a young man of abt. 26 had been killed in a headlong collision with a truck in Bangalore, the day before her son was born.And he always wore jeans/trousers with suspenders.

And her son loved playing with cars and bikes to the point of being obsessed.....In fact, he still does.

This story- is reproduced exactly as this young woman told me. Make of it what you will....

One thing is certain, however, as the Bhagavad Gita says: "Jatasya hi dhruvo mrityuh—for one who is born, death is certain.'

Perhaps what Manu wrote in Manusmriti could serve as the definitive answer: he who possesses true insight (into the nature of the world) is not fettered by his deeds, but he who is destitute of that insight is drawn into the circle of births and deaths."