Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 191, Soul, Self, Dimensions of thesoul

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Digest 191, October 24th 2006. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

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Soul, self, Dimensions of the soul

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Q: In the Bhagavad Gita we find the word "atma" used to denote the mind, body

and soul and even senses, as defined in the Vedic Dictionary.

 

My question is: If the soul is an eternal, spiritual particle, why is it lumped

in with these other subtle and gross material objects under the word "atma?"

 

Answer: Sanskrit is a rich and refined language, thus many Sanskrit words often

denote multiple meanings. "Atma" is a word that refers to the "self", and thus

would naturally denote the spirit soul, which is actually the real self.

However, since embodied living entities most commonly tend to identify the self

with the body or mind, 'atma' refers to these coverings of the self as well.

 

This is something like how we might remark "There goes the President," upon

sighting the President's car. The intended meaning becomes clear when one

understands the context in which it is used.

 

Q: It is described that the individual spirit spark measures less than

1/10,000th the tip of a hair. How is it that something spiritual has a material

measurement? Wouldn't this mean that the spiritual sky has limited material

dimensions also?

 

Answer: This is one of the many inconceivable attributes of the soul. The

scriptures themselves describe the soul as immeasurable (aprameyasya; see BG

2.18) and then also assign a measurement to it! It is not even possible for us

to see or perceive the soul, what to speak of measure it by any means. And yet,

although impossible to measure, we can know this dimension to be true, a

perfect description of the reality of the soul, because it is given by shastric

evidence. [as quoted from Svetasvatara Upanishad in BG 2.17p]

 

These verses describing the size of the soul also give us an idea of the

infinitesimal nature of the soul, and yet simultaneously it is not a gross

material or perceivable measurement.

 

We can think of a slightly different example to get some idea of the nature of

spiritual dimensions. Scriptures also describe the Supersoul as being situated

in the heart of the living entity, and measuring the size of a thumb. Does this

measurement limit Krishna's unlimited form, or does it mean this shastric

statement is not to be taken literally? The answer to both questions is

negative - the Paramatma is both unlimited as well as measuring thumb-high in

the heart of the living entity--- this is inconceivable. Similarly, in the

Damodara-lila (which Vaishnavas around the world are celebrating and glorifying

each day during this entire month of Kartika by singing the Damodarastakam

prayers), the child-like form of Krishna could not be bound by any length of

mother Yashoda's ropes. Thus, describing Krishna's height or form does not

limit or restrict Him as also His presence in one place does not mean He is

confined to that location and is not all-pervasive. Of course, the

characteristics of the minute soul ca

nnot be equally compared to that of the inconceivable potencies of the Infinite

Supreme Lord, still being of the same spiritual nature, the spirit soul has

inconceivable qualities. Thus the spirit soul, residing in the material body,

is the size of one-ten-thousandth of the tip of a hair, but not materially

limited by such a dimension.

 

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Past Questions and Answers: All previous digests with responses to about 485

questions can be accessed at http://www.romapadaswami.com/Inquiries/

 

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Brief biography of His Holiness Romapada Swami:

http://www.romapadaswami.com/bio.html

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