A weary Traveller, carrying the weight of doubt, asked Baba what many seekers quietly wonder: If life is nothing but an endless cycle of birth and death, then why strive for moksha at all?
The query lingered in the air like smoke rising from the sacred fire. Was existence truly an endless spinning wheel, binding souls to return again and again? Or was there a hidden truth behind this motion, unseen yet waiting to be discovered?
In this timeless conversation, Sai Baba Answers on Birth and Death Cycle, guiding the Traveller and through him, all of us towards a perspective that unsettles assumptions and opens the doorway to deeper understanding. His words do not simply provide an answer; they invite reflection, urging seekers to look beyond what seems eternal and question the very fabric of reality itself.
If Life is an Endless Cycle of Birth and Death, Then Why Strive for Moksha?
The Traveller sat near a pillar at the corner of Dwarakmai, the flickering light of the Dhuni casting long shadows on the earthen walls. His eyes, filled with restless curiosity, met Baba’s gaze.
“Baba, if life is a circle, birth, death, rebirth, why does man strive for moksha? No matter how much he follows spirituality, bhakti, or any path, isn’t the next step only rebirth? What is the point of all this striving?”
Baba smiled, His eyes reflecting the wisdom of lifetimes. He picked up a spinning top lying near a child and set it in motion on the ground. The top danced, whirling in perfect balance.
Baba’s Wisdom
“Look at this top, My child. As long as it spins, it remains upright. The moment it loses momentum, it wobbles and falls. Life is much like this, people keep spinning in the cycle of birth and death because they do not stop to understand why they spin at all.”
The Traveller watched the top, deep in thought.
“Now tell Me,” Baba continued, “does the top spin forever?”
The Traveller shook his head.
“No, Baba, it eventually stops.”
Baba nodded. “Exactly. The spinning continues only until the force driving it exists. Samsara, the cycle of birth and rebirth, is not an eternal prison, but a result of momentum carried by desires, attachments, and ignorance. The moment one realizes this and ceases to spin through wisdom, the cycle ends. That is moksha, the liberation.”
The Traveller frowned. “But if birth is inevitable, how can one stop the cycle?”
Baba took a burning stick from the Dhuni and waved it in the air. “What do you see?”
“A circle of fire, Baba.”
Baba stopped moving the stick. “And now?”
“Just a stick, no circle.”
Baba smiled. “The circle was never real, only an illusion created by motion. In the same way, birth and rebirth seem like an endless cycle, but they are sustained only by movement, the movement of mind, desires, and karma. Stop the motion, and you will see there was never a circle, only stillness, only truth.”
The Traveller sat in silence, his mind spinning, not in circles but in deeper understanding.
The Answer
Moksha is not an escape from an eternal cycle, it is the realization that the cycle was never real to begin with. Rebirth is not a punishment but a continuation of movement, just like a wheel that keeps rolling because of its own momentum. The moment one sees through this illusion, there is no need for movement anymore. The wheel stops on its own.
A river flows toward the ocean not because it is forced, but because it is its nature to merge. In the same way, a true seeker does not strive for moksha because of some external rule but because his very being longs to dissolve into the ultimate reality.
A Final Thought
If one believes they are bound, they will seek liberation. If one realizes they were never bound, what is there to be free from? So, do we seek moksha, or do we seek to understand what binds us in the first place?
Contributed by: Murali P K – Author of Shirdi Sai Baba – The Guiding Light for the New Age (Volume 1)
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Posts in this Series
1️⃣ Sai Baba Answers About Human Suffering
2️⃣ Why Is God Worshipped in Different Forms?
3️⃣ Existence and Reality – Sai Baba Answers
4️⃣ Why Does the Universe Seem Fine-Tuned for Life?
5️⃣ Is There Life Beyond Earth? Sai Baba Answers
6️⃣ Sai Baba on The Unseen Laws of the Universe
7️⃣ Sai Baba on Consciousness Beyond Science
8️⃣ Sai Baba Answers – Consciousness Beyond Death
9️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Near Death Experiences
🔟 Sai Baba Answers on Spiritual Experiences and Parallel Worlds
1️⃣1️⃣ Sai Baba Answers – Can We Talk To The Dead
1️⃣2️⃣ Sai Baba Answers On Recurring Dreams
