A living being has different activities in different stages of life. One stage is called jagrata or the life of awakening, and another is called svapna or the life of dream. Another stage is called susuhpti or life in an unconscious state, and still another stage occurs after death.
At night, when this gross body is asleep, the subtle body works. Therefore we dream. In a dream, one’s gross body is lying on the bed while the subtle body carries the soul, the living entity, to another atmosphere. But because the gross body has to be continued, the subtle body comes back and settles in the present gross body. The gross body may lie on a bed and rest, and even though the machinery of the gross body is working, the living entity may leave, go into a dream, and return to the gross body. When he returns to the body, he forgets his dream.
In the fourth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Narada Muni explains to King Pracinabarhi, “The living entity acts in a gross body in this life. This body is forced to act by the subtle body, composed of mind, intelligence and ego. After the gross body is lost, the subtle body is still there to enjoy or suffer.” Thus there is no change. The living entity, while dreaming, gives up the actual living body. Through the activities of his mind and intelligence, he acts in another body, either as a god or a dog. After giving up this gross body, the living entity enters either an animal body or a demigod’s body on this planet or on another planet. He thus enjoys the results of the actions of his past life. The living entity labours under the bodily conception of “I am this, I am that. My duty is this, and therefore I shall do it.” These are all mental impressions, and all these activities are temporary; nonetheless, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the living entity gets a chance to execute all his mental concoctions. Thus he gets another body. One can understand the mental or conscious position of a living entity by the activities of two kinds of senses—the knowledge—acquiring senses and the executive senses. Similarly, by the mental condition or consciousness of a person, one can understand his position in the previous life. Sometimes we suddenly experience something that was never experienced in the present body by sight or hearing. Sometimes we see such things suddenly in dreams. Therefore, my dear King, the living entity, who has a subtle mental covering, develops all kinds of thoughts and images because of his previous body. Take this from me ascertain. “There is no possibility of concocting anything mentally without having perceived it in the previous body.” (SB 4.29.65)
In dreams, we sometimes see things that we have never experienced in the present body. Sometimes in dreams, we think that we are flying in the sky, although we have no experience of flying. This means that once in a previous life, either as a demigod or astronaut, we flew in the sky. The impression is there in the stockpile of the mind, and it suddenly expresses itself. It is like fermentation taking place in the depths of water, which sometimes manifests itself in bubbles on the water’s surface. Sometimes we dream of coming to a place we have never known or experienced in this lifetime, but this is proof that in a past life we experienced this. The impression is kept within the mind and sometimes manifest either in a dream or in thought. The conclusion is that the mind is the storehouse of various thoughts and experiences undergone during our past lives. Thus there is a chain of continuation from one life to another, from previous lives to this life, and from this life to future lives.
Sometimes we suffer because we see a tiger in a dream or a snake in a vision, but actually, there is neither a tiger nor a snake. Thus we create some situations in a subtle form and suffer the consequences. These sufferings cannot be mitigated unless we are awakened from our dream. No one can counteract the effects of fruitive activities simply by manufacturing a different activity devoid of Krishna consciousness. All such activity is due to our ignorance. When we have a troublesome dream, we cannot relieve it with a troublesome hallucination. One can counteract a dream only by waking. Similarly, our material existence is due to our ignorance and illusion. Unless we awaken to Krishna consciousness, we cannot be relieved of such dreams. For the ultimate solution to all problems, we must awaken to Krishna consciousness.
Gaurangasundar Das is Iskcon, Inc Communication Director and SM IT head.
