Posted on: 16 Feb 2021
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on January 23, 2021, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]
[Smt Anita Renkuntla asked: The Human Incarnation preaches spiritual knowledge to humans on earth to uplift them or to reform them because people here do wrong deeds and accumulate sin. Energetic Incarnations in the upper worlds are meant only for energetic souls. Actually, the upper worlds are meant only for enjoyment (bhoga lokas) and no new deeds (karma) are done there. Therefore, there is no question of doing sins or bad deeds. Please tell me if I have misunderstood anything. Based on my above understanding, I have the following questions:
Swāmi replied: The upper worlds are certainly meant for the enjoyment of good and bad deeds for souls coming from earth. Apart from these souls coming from earth, there are also energetic beings permanently residing in the upper worlds. Such local residents of the upper worlds are called angels. These angels need spiritual guidance and hence, Energetic Incarnations preach to these souls in the upper worlds. The souls coming from earth are not permanent residents of those upper worlds. These earthly souls reside in the upper worlds only for a temporary period like visa holders in a foreign country. Even these earthly souls get the opportunity to hear the preaching of the Energetic Incarnations there. We find some classes of ethics and morality conducted even for prisoners in this world. The soul carries that knowledge with it when it comes back to earth. There are fourteen worlds and the upper worlds above the earth are pooled together and called the upper world. The lower worlds below the earth are similarly pooled together and called the lower world. Earth in the middle is called the middle world. In this way, the fourteen worlds are classified into three categories as upper, middle and lower worlds, which are known as the three worlds.