68 Evolution oj Life and Form. 



thing, to whom form is but a changing, convenient 

 vehicle, and the life that moulds the form is the 

 one thing that is worthy of thought, he strikes 

 away the form when its purpose is completed ; to 

 him such destruction is the act of mightiest charity ; 

 it is the deed most helpful to evolution. We err, 

 my brothers, when we look on death with eyes 

 that are full of tears, with hearts that are breaking. 

 Death is he who brings us to a higher birth, and 

 who sets free the imprisoned soul ; it is the libera- 

 tion of the bird confined within the limits of a 

 cage, enabling it to soar upwards into the heavens, 

 singing, as it goes, with joy at the freedom it has 

 recovered. Does that seem strange ? Let us take 

 an illustration from the Mahdbhdrata : 



There was a council among the Gods in Svarga, 

 how some of them would take incarnation upon 

 earth for the sake of helping men at a great crisis 

 in the world's history. Great men were needed, 

 and the question arose whether some of the Gods 

 were willing to bind themselves within the limits 

 of human form, in order to give special help to 

 human progress ; among those who were needed 

 for the work that was coming was the son of Soma 

 Deva, Varchas, as he was called, and the Gods 

 desired that this Deva should be born on earth. 

 Soma Deva hesitated. He was not willing that 



