Body, Soul and Atma

 Arjuna asks Krishna whether there is an 'atma' or Soul apart from the body. Elaborating on the nature of atma Krishna says that atma is called ' Sadvasthu'-- existing entity. That which is not atma is called 'asath' namely the body. That is the conclusion of great philosophers. The Supreme Soul, like the Individual Soul, has no beginning or end. The world appears to exist as in a dream! It is unreal like the water in a mirage or a snake in a rope or silver in a mother of a pearl. No power on earth or heaven can destroy Him who destroys everything. Atma is not destroyed even after the destruction of the three bodies viz 'sthul (physical) 'sukshma' (subtle) and 'karana' (causal) bodies. It is very important to practise one's own dharma to realize the knowledge of the Self. Atma can never kill another atma nor can it be killed. To think otherwise is stupidity and foolishness!

     In our ignorance we attribute our bodily qualities to the atma. What are the qualities of the body? The six qualities that the Body has can never be taken as the characteristics of the atma. These qualities are (1) 'asthi'--remaining in the mother's womb for a period of time (2) 'jayate'--birth (3) 'vardhate'-- growth (4) 'parinamathe'--changing from one stage of life to another like childhood, youth, and old age (5) 'kshiyathe'--decline,senility (6) 'nasyathe'--going out of existence, death. Krishna tells Arjuna that there is no need to cry over the death of the body. We discard worn out clothes or shift from our old and dilapidated residences to fresh and new ones.In the same way atma enters into the best or average or the worst type of bodies according to its past 'karma'. Therefore Krishna argues that the sooner we get out of this mortal coil, however good and beneficial it may be, the better because we would be nearing our goal--Paramatma!  "Ajo nithyaha saswathoyam purano nahanyathe hanyamane sareere"(2-20).  "Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grunhani naroparani tatha sareerani vihaya jirnanya anthani samyati nayani dehi" (2-22).

       Not fully satisfied, Arjuna asks Krishna how the atma can be called ' avikari'--without any affectation whatsoever. Krishna says that atma cannot be torn off by any weapon; fire cannot burn it; water fails to drench it; air cannot evaporate it. All the above mentioned states are only for the body, not for the soul!  "Nainam chindanthi sasthrani nainam dahathi pvakaha naichainam kledayam thyapo nasoshayati marutaha" (2--23). How can we justify this statement of Krishna? (1) Weapons, water and fire are Jada -and act on inanimate objects only. Atma is unaffected as it transcends nature. (2) Individual or Supreme Soul is atomic in nature. No weapon can reach it and cut or slice it. (3) Fire can burn an object that has the quality of ignition. Fire cannot burn ash. In the same way atma cannot be touched by fire. (4) A piece of cloth becomes wet because of the fibrous pores in it. Atma has no such pores in it. So water cannot drench it. Air evaporates the wetness in a cloth.There is no moisture in atma to be affected by air. So the Supreme and the Individual Souls are eternal, immanent, stable and without any beginning or end! It is said tat Alexander the Great was surprised at the indifference of a sage whom he met in India after the war with Porus, when he tried to kill him, the sage quoted the above sloka and said, "You cannot kill ME!"

        Atma is beyond the reach of the external sensory organs. Mind cannot imagine what it is. "Yato vacho nivartante aprapya manaso saha" says the upanishad! Even if the body and Soul are identical it is foolish to weep for the body as death is inevitable for anything that is born. Birth is follwed by death. "Jathasya maranam dhruvam". The word "Sareera" means, that which is destroyed. Creation is only projection. Like the sea that draws the wave into itself and the spider that weaves the web and withdraws it at will, God projects the world out of him, becomes immanent and withdraws it into Himself at will. The five elements with which our body is formed merge into their parent entities after the body disintegrates. It is very difficult to control sorrow over the death of some one near and dear. Even Sage Vassishta had to grieve for the death of his childen.

        Summing up Krishna describes the differences between the Body and the Atma or Soul. (1) Body is Jada or inanimate; Atma is full of awareness-chaitanya. (2) Body is ephemeral, Atma is eternal. (3) Body is full of sorrow, Atma is full of Bliss or Ananda. (4) Body is highly impure, Atma is very pure. (5) Body is full of ignorance, Atma is full of Knowledge. Krishna tells Arjuna that HE is not the impure and ignorant Body but the Chaitanya filled awareness blissful and eternal principle of Atma!