If somebody called God actually created me then why did he also create death for me? Usually, a mother or father who gives birth to a child will never want it to die; on the contrary, she or he will be more than ready to give her or his life, if required, to save the child? Also, a painter or sculptor, who paints or sculpts a painting or a sculpture, does not do so to later destroy it. I am confused. Please explain.

If somebody called God actually created me then why did he also create death for me? Usually, a mother or father who gives birth to a child will never want it to die; on the contrary, she or he will be more than ready to give her or his life, if required, to save the child? Also, a painter or sculptor, who paints or sculpts a painting or a sculpture, does not do so to later destroy it. I am confused. Please explain.

God is the creator of all animate and inanimate beings of the world. No doubt about it. What we have to understand at the outset is that the Supreme Lord of lords, Shri Krishna, is energetic and basically possesses two categories of energies, namely, spiritual and material. Through the spiritual energy, the Lord manifests spiritual worlds. These abodes and their residents are never destroyed. In that realm, nobody dies. Everybody lives eternally.

However, through the material energy or material nature, the Lord creates material universes. All the living beings who take birth here must die, as stated by the Lord Himself in the Gita (2.27): “Jatasya hi dhruvo mrityu – one who has taken birth is sure to die.” Similarly, the Lord Krishna clarifies in the following verse (9.10) of the Gita that the whole universe will be ultimately destroyed:

“This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.”   

From this, we understand that as long as we stay in the grip of material nature, we will be subjected to repeated birth and death. This is the stringent law of material nature. If you decide to avoid death, then you will have to make an attempt to transfer yourself to the spiritual world called Vaikuntha where everyone lives eternally and everything exists eternally.

How this can be achieved has also been explained by the Lord in the verse 8.5 of the Gita, stated as under:

“And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. of this there is no doubt.”

In order to remain Krishna-conscious at the time of death, one must start chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” from now on. This is the easiest way recommended for the people of Kali Yuga to remember the Lord at the time of quitting one’s body.