Soul (जीवात्माएँ)
The word Atma(soul) is derived from the Sanskrit verb "अत सातत्यगमने", which means the one who moves continuously or the one whose Dharm is to make continuous effort is soul. It is animate(Chetan) i.e. with conscious power or it is full of knowledge.
It is subtle, stay at one place, immortal, eternal, imperishable, less powerful, less knowledgeable, the conscious comes in bondage with Prakriti. The souls are innumerable, we cannot count them. Only God knows the number of souls.
What is the basic nature of soul? What are the characteristics of the soul? (आत्मा का मूल स्वरूप क्या है? आत्मा की पहचान किन लक्षणों से होती है?)
The soul is eternal, pure, wise and free-natured. It is eternal, infinite, dwelling in one place or it is like having an atomic magnitude in a body i.e. microscopic and is formless.
By which inhalation and exhalation of life force(air) is done, by which the eyes/eyelids gets up and down, who hold the life, contemplate means who has knowledge, itinerate, engage in action wherever it want or whatever it like, drive the senses into their subjects, receive subjects and the one who experiences fever, fear, hunger, thirst etc. is the soul. Happiness, sorrow, desire, hatred, effort and knowledge, all these happen to whom or through whom these are experienced is called soul.
This is the identity or symptom of the soul. Means wherever all this happens, consider that there is a soul.
Relationship between organism and soul (जीव और आत्मा में सम्बन्ध)
Only the soul after taking the body is called organism . Both are same. The soul that is in the body is organism . The soul and organism are both the same thing.
Difference between soul and God (जीव और ईश्वर में अन्तर)
God is free from bondage, while the soul comes in bondage, takes up the body.
God is omnipresent, almighty, omniscient and omnipresent, whereas the soul is only a point in one place is smaller than an atom, is less powerful, has less knowledge and cannot know everything at once.
God is the master of this world and we are all his people. We get pleasure from the body, means and knowledge given by him.
How is the soul and the Supreme Soul experienced? (आत्मा व परमात्मा का अनुभव/दर्शन कैसे होता है?)
The soul is formless. It has no magnitude. It has no length, width, height or thickness. It is conscious. It cannot be seen with the eyes. How can the eyes see the one who sees through the eyes. How will the eyes show the one who is seeing from inside the eyes? It can be manifested in the state of samadhi through a concentrated, pure mind.
In the state of samadhi, the soul and the Supreme Soul(God) are experienced. There are two types of samadhis. Sampragyat Samadhi and Asamprajnat Samadhi. A clean, calm, concentrated and pure mind leads to Sampragyat Samadhi. In that state the soul is seen/observed by the mind. And by knowledge and detachment, Asamprajnata Samadhi occurs in the restrained state of mind. In this state of samadhi, God is realized through the soul. Which is the ultimate aim of life to attain liberation or salvation to get rid of all sorrows.
Samadhi can be learned under the guidance of a Vedic Guru, Acharya or Sadhak. No guru or teacher can tell this without the knowledge of Vedas.
How far is the journey of the soul? (जीवात्मा का सफर/ यात्रा कहाँ तक है?)
the soul is from time immemorial and experiences happiness and sorrow till eternity with power and means given by God. He comes into bondage by merging with Prakriti and is freed from bondage after attaining God. After a very long period of Parant Kaal i.e. 100 Brahma years, again take birth and comes in bondage, then after making efforts, attains salvation. Bondage and salvation has been going on since time immemorial and will continue till eternity. There is no time when this journey of the soul has stopped, or it will ever stop. This will never happen. It is an infinite flow. In the state of salvation, the soul escapes from birth and death for a very long time, lives in bliss, is saved from sorrows, but it is not possible to remain in liberation forever, because that which has a beginning has an end. If liberation has begun, there will be an end too. In the same way, if you have come into bondage, you will also have liberation.
How does a soul take birth? When does the soul enter the body? (आत्मा जन्म कैसे लेता है? जीवात्मा शरीर में कब प्रवेश करता है?)
The soul is unborn and eternal, it neither takes birth nor dies. So if you say 'birth of soul' then it is wrong. Yes the soul appears in a living body. When it is combined with nature, it emerges through the body, this is called birth.
The soul is associated with the body by God at the time of union of Shukra and Raj particles in the mother's womb. The soul itself cannot move. The one who is out of the body is taken by God at the time of the union of suitable parents. The soul enters the womb at the time of parental union or conception. Therefore, the birth takes place by God through the parents.
A soul in body is called Swabhimani soul. The one which has not yet received birth is called a Anushayi soul, for which a suitable mother's womb is not ready yet. Such a soul which is waiting, does not wander, it remains dormant. And the third stage is that in which the soul has attained salvation. It is called a liberated soul, which has been freed from birth and death.
Where does the soul reside in the body? (शरीर में आत्मा कहाँ रहती है?)
In the human body, the soul resides in the heart region, deep in the middle of the chest. He is subtle and formless. His consciousness in the whole body is just like a lamp in one room which illuminates the whole room even though it remains in one place.
How does the soul leave the body? (आत्मा शरीर कैसे छोड़ती है?)
The subject with which man renounces the body in the end times, the soul gets out of the body through the organs related to them. One who renounces the body in the higher state of knowledge, that soul comes out of the Brahmarandhra, the topmost part of the head. And one who suffers from cravings and desires for the rest of his life, in the end he has to leave this world in agony, weeping and sobbing. He renounces of the body through the same senses by which he used to dance in his lifetime under the control of those senses and the mind.
Why does the soul wander? For how many days does the soul wander after death? (आत्मा भटकती क्यों है? मृत्यु के बाद आत्मा कितने दिन भटकती है?)
First of all, it should be understood that the soul cannot move without a body, without a means. Wandering is a long way off. The soul does not go anywhere on its own, can't even move around. The wind cannot carry the soul with it. It is God who sends the soul in that house, with those parents, in that species where to be sent on the basis of its karma, sends it appropriately and justly in a moment and by determination. So the soul does not wander. Its another birth takes place. Get another body. Then how do these ghosts and spirits etc. make people unhappy! This hysteria(phantom fear) is a disease.
Then it should be treated. It is mentioned in the scriptures of Ayurveda. It gets treated properly. This is a disease, when it appears abnormally, the family gets scared and sometimes they get some tantric activities done. It's not okay. This disease also arises due to hysteria etc. or due to mental disorders. It also has a solution. Treatment for the phantom diseases can be done nicely. In this, some special procedures like Yajna etc. have to be done. We will describe it further. It is only being told here that the soul does not wander, one's soul cannot enter someone's body. Only God can give him a new body. Although many souls are always around us, but they cannot harm us.
Tools of the soul (आत्मा के साधन)
The soul is conscious, ajar(they don't age), immortal, and imperishable. And the body is inert, inanimate and is generated. It is also destroyed. The soul is the user of the body, it is the charioteer. The body is a means by which the soul experiences happiness and sorrow and attains salvation. The soul is the seeker, the body is the means and God is the destination it seeks for.
The human body is necessary to attain God. It is not possible to attain God in other bodies because only man is free to act. He is the doer. The doer is the same. "कर्तुम् अकर्तुम् अन्यथाकर्तुम् य: स्वतन्त्र: स कर्ता" means one who is free to act, not to do and vice versa, whatever he wants. Only God bears fruit in a justly manner. Those who work in subordination do not get the fruits of their karma. Only the soul who acts independently in the human body, gets the fruits of that action. Other species/organisms are bhogyoni(for punishments). Not all of them get the fruits of their karma.
Goal of the organism and the means of achieving the goal (जीव का लक्ष्य और लक्ष्य प्राप्ति का उपाय)
The goal of every living being is the attainment of eternal happiness and bliss i.e. Moksha. Which he can get only by the grace of God. Click here for ways to attain God.
