Who will you be in the next birth?
Who or what?
It is not necessary that you will be born as a human being.
It can be in any of the 84 lacs of species.
There are two factors that decide the next birth.
Karma and the state of mind at the time of death.
Between the two, the state of mind at the time of death decides the next birth.
Karma, you may know, is of three types: sanchita, kriyamana, and prarabdha.
Let's say you have a total load of 10,000 kg of karma attached to you.
This has been acquired over thousands of births.
This is your total load.
You have to extinguish this.
Then only you will be relieved from the cycle of rebirths.
But then, every birth you are doing fresh karma.
This gets added to the already existing 10,000 kg.
Maybe 1 or 2 kgs.
This is the problem with result-oriented action.
Result-oriented action creates fresh karma.
It gets added on to the already existing sanchita karma.
10,000 kg becomes 10,001 kg.
But then what about the results of your past karma which you have undergone in this birth?
This is called prarabdha.
Out of your total load of 10,000 kg, Bhagavan takes out 2 kgs and says, now go and undergo the results of this karma.
Life ends when the results of this 2 kg of karma are undergone.
That means at the point of death, prarabdha becomes zero.
What you have done in this birth is added on to the total load or sanchita karma.
So let's say it was 10,000 kg when you came here.
Out of that, you exhaust 2 kg in this birth.
The total load becomes 9,998 kg.
But then you created fresh karma, 1 kg in this birth.
This gets added to the total sanchita.
It becomes 9,999.
So if you want your 10,000 kg to become zero, then you have to stop creating fresh karma and undergo the results of all that existing 10,000 kg.
Not easy.
But then there are techniques to manage this and speed it up.
This is what spirituality is all about.
Now, this 10,000 kg is a mix of so many things.
Pleasure, suffering, pain, gain, loss, stress, feeling great, so many things.
A bag full of balls of different colors.
Now, what is the role of the state of mind at the time of birth?
This is in Gita.
यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम्।
तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः।।8.6।।
Whatever you are thinking about at the time of death, based on that Bhagavan will pick up those balls from the bag and give them to you saying: now, take these, you have to undergo these in your next birth.
So, the state of mind at the time of death is the deciding factor.
It decides which among your sanchita karma of 10,000 kg you have to undergo in the immediate next birth.
If your mind is contented at the time of death, then you will have a contented next birth.
If you are afraid, if you are anxious at the time of death, your next birth will be full of fears and anxieties.
If it is a mix of emotions, then the next life will also be a mix.
This is how Bhagavan chooses.
It is a mix and match.
Whenever a person dies, Bhagavan looks at his state of mind.
If he sees suffering, he will pick up a few red balls and give to him.
If he sees tranquility, he will pick up a few white balls and give to him.
For the next birth.
What if the person is in a coma when he dies?
Say, someone is in a coma for 3 years and then dies.
The last thought before he went into a coma, that would decide.