About "aborting the game."Another thing I had doubt is that like Ankit, we are also playing the arcade game. And we can't abort the game in between. And we are also expected to realize that this is a Maya world and focus on attaining Moksha. But since we can't abort, how do we play the arcade game? even when we don't want to? How do we navigate between not accidentally killing a sputnik? Aka overcome Dharm sankat or dilemmas? When we have become desireless, doesn't it mean we have lost the desire for life? Arjuna lost the desire to battle and Krishna had to make him understand so that he could fight again. And over the years many people had different takes on it and the final message became diluted. So I want to know what is the point of playing out the rest of the game? When we can put it on autopilot and just focus on getting back to 'divya'? But that isn't what Krishna adviced Arjuna. He asked him to fight in for his share of kingdom, cause the death and suffering of many people and eventually the end of kuru clan. Why didn't Arjuna just renounce the 'game'? Shouldn't he have followed the path of renunciation?
- We are in this universe to fulfill our own desires, yes
- So if and when we become free of desire, we no longer have a personal reason to continue "playing the game"
- So are we allowed to "abort" then?
- Nope, there is also another principle at work, the law of karma
- We will have to continue "playing the game" till our karmic consequence is fulfilled
- There is this country, a paradise of material fulfillment
- A certain guy in this country suddenly decides - I've had enough of this country, I no longer desire to live here
- He petitions his govt. to revoke his citizenship, so he can live in another country of his choice
- Govt: Sure, if you no longer wish to live here, we are not going to force you, you can emigrate to a country of your choice [list]
- However, there is this Re. 80 lakhs mortgage, which you still haven't closed
- Please close that, and then you are free to go
[*]Govt: Sorry dude, you will have to close it before you leave.[/*]
[*]The stability of the bank is not going to be compromised just because you "no longer wish to live here"[/*]
[*]The financial security of another 20 to 30 citizens is tied up with your mortgage[/*]
[*]We will not clear your emigration unless and until you pay up[/*]
[/list]
Getting the picture? This is a karmic universe. We live and interact with hundreds or thousands of other beings (not just human) or even with trillions of beings (if one counts our interactions with bacteria, viruses, grass, worms, etc.), and our karmic consequence is intimately tied up with theirs. God is not going to allow their desire-fulfillment (based on their karmic consequence) to be jeopardized, by allowing any of us to vacate this material plane without living out our karmic consequences. Regardless of whether or not we become free of desire.
I believe this is why sages and saints, even after attaining enlightenment, continue living out their karmic consequences. Many of them fulfill their obligations by teaching disciples. They even suffer from incurable diseases, or get tortured by political opponents, to fulfill some of their earlier negative consequences.
Basically, if the guy above had chosen to continue living in the country, he could have paid off his mortgage in 25 years. Since he wanted out, he had to find a way to pay it all in a month. Likewise, if those sages had continued in the material plane, they could have paid their karmic dues over maybe 25 lifetimes. If they want out because they become desire-free, they have to pay it all in the rest of that life.
When Sri Ramakrishna got diagnosed with cancer, his disciples started whispering that he had taken on their sins for them. Naren (later known as Swami Vivekananda) set them right on this. Please make your own inferences, with regards to any other religion.
This is why Ankit could not simply "abort" the game and walk away. In the story of Ankit and Divya as it stands, the analogy is imperfect, since Ankit is playing a single-player game, so one doesn't see the negative consequences of an "abort." If he had been playing a multi-player game, just like we all do in the material plane, then one could clearly see that he couldn't abort, without the other players yelling and demanding their money back from the arcade.