Soul as described in Shri Gita

 

Our scriptures say it and our sages have advised us to understand that we are not  the body that we live in, we are something beyond that. Our body is our abode, our dwelling. Dene and we are the in-dwellers Debe So. it is our bounden duty to figure out our real nature, what we in reality are and what our essence is. Once we do that we shall have realised ourselves. Shri Krishna while enjoining upon Arjuna to do his duty and fight, has described this at length and in multiple ways. Let us try to understand what all has been explained in this connection in Shri Gita.

First of all whatever is has been divided into two groups, that which is bom and that which is not bom Whatever is born has to die, Jalasya hi dhruvo mitych The soul that is the real I in our body, is unborn and thus will never die. Na jayate mayate va kadache The body is bom and has to die. The soul is not bom and therefore, does not die. It discards the old worn-out body that it had adopted and adopts a new one in its place just as one changes clothes, Vasansi jeemani yatha vihaya navan grinali naroparan, tatha shanirani vihaya jamani anyan sanyat navani dehi Here this I has been described as one adopting the body or in other words the soul residing therein This leads us to the principle of transmigration of soul, which essentially says that the unborn soul adopts a form again and again While in one form, it seems to grow from childhood to old age and then gives up that body and takes up a new one, Dehinosmin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara latha dehaantara-praphidheerastatra na mutyat So the death is seen as the fourth stage in this growth. Elsewhere this division in two groups has been explained as one which is finite or Kshara and the other which is infinite or Akshara Here again it is made clear that the form and the body is finite since it is born and has to end one day But the soul, or the essence of a being, is infinite, immortal and never ending Obviously, therefore, we should not get stuck up with the mortal frame but should try to realise the immortal self. Then only shall we attain the truth. The form or the body is our possession; it is a tool for us to function in that form. It has been made clear that the soul is superior to body, senses, mind and the intellect, in that order Indelyani paranyahuh indyebhyah param manah Manasastu paraa buddhiyo buddhah paratastu sah 1-42 .

 

Again, it has been emphasised that Antavanta ime deha, these bodies have an end but the soul within the body is eternal Nityasyokhtah sharinnah The soul thus seems to be like air. It is everywhere, it is a part and the whole, both. It neither kills anything nor is killed by anything Naayam hant na hanyate It was not born ever, nor does it die. It is not something that sometimes comes into existence and sometimes ceases to exist. It is unborn, eternal, constant and most ancient. When a body is slain, it does not get killed, Na jayate mayate vaa kadaachi naayam bhutva bhavita vaa na bhuyah. Ajo nityah shashvato-ayam purano. Na hanyate hanyamane sharire The soul is immutable and does not undergo any change. It is indestructible, eternal, unborn and changeless. Once we know this fact and understand it fully we will realise that we cannot kill it or cause it to be slain vedaavinashinam nityam ya enam-ajam-avyayam katham sa purushah Parthal Kam ghatayall hant kam? 

Chapter II of Shri Gita has dealt with this topic at length. It has explained that the soul is a subtle entity within various and different gross forms. It leaves one form and adopts another While in one form it acts through that and according to the properties of that form. It is beginning-less and thus endless but the form it takes has a beginning and an end. We attach these properties, mistakenly thought, to the soul. This wrong and erroneous impression is what is called maya, or an illusion because it is not a reality Maya itself means something Ya which is not Ma. At the level of an individual being the reality is a soul, Aatma and at the level of the entire creation it is the Super Soul or the Paramaatma The job of a seeker is to realise either Once he realises one and knows the reality of that entity he ipso facto knows the other and comes to realise that the two are in effect one and the same. That is why it is called Advaita or non- dualism. The Lord has made it clear that the entire creation exists in Him like pearls on a string. May sarvam-idam protam sutre manighanah-va When He showed His universal form to Arjuna, he could also see everything in Him, even gods, sages as also Brahma, the creator, Pashyami devanstava deva dehe, sarvanstatha bhavisheshasanghaan Brahmaanam-isha kamalassanastham nishincha sarvaan-uragan cha divyan divided into five types, 1 Praana, 2 Vyaana, 3. Apaana, 4 Our Upanishads, too, are replete with statements and explanations about the All-pervading Entity called the Divine or the Super Soul, Paramaatma: Ishavasyam-idam sarvam "Elsewhere it has again been emphasised in these words 'Uttamah purusha savannah paramaatmetyudahntah, yo lokatrayamaavishya vibhartyavyaya ishwarah-This Supreme called the Super soul is distinct in as much as it is indestructible Lord who pervades and sustains the three worlds.

When a being dies, we observe that its gross body. along with all its external organs, are intact, of course if the death is natural. The only thing visibly absent is the air or the breathing that was earlier there. This gives an impression that the soul is this air. It may perhaps be because of this that air in Roman is called atmos or Aatma, from which the term atmosphere is made. But it is also a fact that a being in spite of breathing can be without any semblance of life in it. This clearly proves that the soul is something beside the air that we inhale while we are alive. Our scriptures have identified this air as a different entity. called Prana or life essence. This has further been sub- Udaan, and 5 Samaan 1 is in nose and mouth, 2 is below naval, 3 gives strength to the body, 4 is in the upper portion of the body and the 5 is in the digestive system. Soul is different from it. While we are awake, we are guided by this soul When we are in dream, the soul is active and on coming out of it, the soul says: 1 saw a beautiful dream When we are in deep sleep then also the soul is awake and once we get up it says "Oh! I slept like a log This soul has two distinct properties. It is in the form of light, Prakaasha It is self-illuminating light. Then it has awareness that it is light. This is called Vimarsha. When we perceive these two properties we have realised the self, which is nothing but God realisation because the soul and the super soul are one and the same.

This soul is unique inasmuch as it has Jnatratva kartritva bhokhtritva, faculties of knowing, doing and enjoying Yet it remains unaffected by the worldly chores, Prapancha. It is at once within and without the body it has adopted. It is at once subject and object, knower and that which is sought after.

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Courtesy:-  TN Dhar Kundan"  and  koshur Samachar May,2018