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Question:
Sir, while thinking further, I came up with a question as to how the karmas of previous birth influences the present birth in this physical world, when the memories of the previous birth are sealed.
Reply:
The memories of the previous birth are sealed to a limited mind, even to the limited man of the person concerned. However, it is not sealed to supernatural people (devatas) and to deities (paramatmas). There is a verse in Bhagavad Gita:
श्रीभगवानुवाच
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि
जन्मानि तव चार्जुन ।
तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि
न त्वं वेत्थ परंतप ॥४.५॥
śrībhagavānuvāca
bahūni me vyatītāni
janmāni tava cārjuna
tānyahaṁ veda sarvāṇi
na tvaṁ vettha paraṁtapa (4.5)
śrī bhagavān — the Blessed Lord; uvāca — said; bahūni — many; me — of Me; vyatītāni — transpired; janmāni — births; tava — your; cārjuna = ca — and + arjuna — Arjuna; tānyahaṁ = tāny (tāni) — them + aham — I; veda — I recall; sarvāṇi — all; na — not; tvaṁ — you; vettha — you remember; paraṁtapa — O scorcher of the enemies
The Blessed Lord said: Many of My births transpired, and yours, Arjuna. I recall them all. You do not remember, O scorcher of the enemies. (4.5)
This means it is sealed to a limited entity (jivatma) but it is open for viewing by higher entities.
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As to how/why the sealed memories still have an effect on the present and future, that happens because of two aspects:
- force propelled when the action is first committed
- potency stored for later use when the action is first committed
There are immediate repercussions. These produce other waves which travel in time and cause favorable or unfavorable reactions to the actor and to others in the same or in other environments.
Some of the action is stored, so that it is delayed but then it is activated later in a future time or future life. This occurs irrespective of if the actor is aware of the movements or not.
These complexities were explained in detail in the Anu Gita.
Comment to Memory in the Next Body
