Origin of the soul: as per Sri Bhagavata-Purana & Bhaktivedanta Swami

bhaktajan · July 12, 2008

Origin of the soul: as per Sri Bhagavata-Purana & Bhaktivedanta Swami:

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SB 3.26.5

"Divided into varieties by her threefold modes, material nature crates the forms of the living entities, and the living entities, seeing this, are illusioned by the knowledge-covering feature of the illusory energy."

PURPORT

Material energy has the power to cover knowledge, but this covering cannot be applied to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is applicable only to the prajäù, or those who are born with material bodies, the conditioned souls.

The different kinds of living entities vary according to the modes of material nature, as explained in Bhagavad-gétä and other Vedic literature. In Bhagavad-gétä (7.12) it is very nicely explained that although the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance are born of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is not subject to them.

In other words, the energy emanating from the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot act on Him; it acts on the conditioned souls, who are covered by the material energy. The Lord is the father of all living entities because He impregnates material energy with the conditioned souls.

Therefore, the conditioned souls get bodies created by the material energy, whereas the father of the living entities is aloof from the three modes.

It is stated in the previous verse that the material energy was accepted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in order that He might exhibit pastimes for the living entities who wanted to enjoy and lord it over the material energy.

This world was created through the material energy of the Lord for the so-called enjoyment of such living entities. Why this material world was created for the sufferings of the conditioned souls is a very intricate question. There is a hint in the previous verse in the word lélayä, which means “for the pastimes of the Lord.”

The Lord wants to rectify the enjoying temperament of the conditioned souls. It is stated in Bhagavad-gétä that no one is the enjoyer but the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This material energy is created, therefore, for anyone who pretends to enjoy.

An example can be cited here that there is no necessity for the government’s creation of a separate police department, but because it is a fact that some of the citizens will not accept the state laws, a department to deal with criminals is necessary. There is no necessity, but at the same time there is a necessity.

Similarly, there was no necessity to create this material world for the sufferings of the conditioned souls, but at the same time there are certain living entities, known as nitya-baddha, who are eternally conditioned.

We say that they have been conditioned from time immemorial because no one can trace out when the living entity, the part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, became rebellious against the supremacy of the Lord.

It is a fact that there are two classes of men—those who are obedient to the laws of the Supreme Lord and those who are atheists or agnostics, who do not accept the existence of God and who want to create their own laws.

They want to establish that everyone can create his own laws or his own religious path. Without tracing out the beginning of the existence of these two classes, we can take it for granted that some of the living entities revolted against the laws of the Lord. Such entities are called conditioned souls, for they are conditioned by the three modes of material nature. Therefore the words guëair viciträù are used here.

In this material world there are 8,400,000 species of life. As spirit souls, they are all transcendental to this material world. Why, then, do they exhibit themselves in different stages of life?

The answer is given here: they are under the spell of the three modes of material nature. Because they were created by the material energy, their bodies are made of the material elements.

Covered by the material body, the spiritual identity is lost, and therefore the word mumuhe is used here, indicating that they have forgotten their own spiritual identity.

This forgetfulness of spiritual identity is present in the jévas, or souls, who are conditioned, being subject to be covered by the energy of material nature. Jïäna-gühayä is another word used. Gühä means “covering.”

Because the knowledge of the minute conditioned souls is covered, they are exhibited in so many species of life. It is said in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam, Seventh Chapter, First Canto, “The living entities are illusioned by the material energy.”

In the Vedas also it is stated that the eternal living entities are covered by different modes and that they are called tricolored—red, white and blue—living entities. Red is the representation of the mode of passion, white is the representation of the mode of goodness, and blue is the representation of the mode of ignorance.

These modes of material nature belong to the material energy, and therefore the living entities under these different modes of material nature have different kinds of material bodies.

Because they are forgetful of their spiritual identities, they think the material bodies to be themselves. To the conditioned soul, “me” means the material body. This is called moha, or bewilderment.

It is repeatedly said in the Kaöha Upaniñad that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is never affected by the influence of material nature.

It is, rather, the conditioned souls, or the minute infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme, who are affected by the influence of material nature and who appear in different bodies under the material modes.

SB 3.26.6

"Because of his forgetfulness, the transcendental living entity accepts the influence of material energy as his field of activities, and thus actuated, he wrongly applies the activities to himself."

PURPORT

The forgetful living entity can be compared to a man who is under the influence of disease and has become mad or to a man haunted by ghosts, who acts without control and yet thinks himself to be in control.

Under the influence of material nature, the conditioned soul becomes absorbed in material consciousness. In this consciousness, whatever is done under the influence of the material energy is accepted by the conditioned soul as self-actuated.

Actually, the soul in his pure state of existence should be in Kåñëa consciousness. When a person is not acting in Kåñëa consciousness, he is understood to be acting in material consciousness.

Consciousness cannot be killed, for the symptom of the living entity is consciousness. The material consciousness simply has to be purified.

One becomes liberated by accepting Kåñëa, or the Supreme Lord, as master and by changing the mode of consciousness from material consciousness to Kåñëa consciousness.

SB 3.26.7

"Material consciousness is the cause of one’s conditional life, in which conditions are enforced upon the living entity by the material energy. Although the spirit soul does not do anything and is transcendental to such activities, he is thus affected by conditional life."

PURPORT

The Mäyävädé philosopher, who does not differentiate between the Supreme Spirit and the individual spirit, says that the conditional existence of the living entity is his lélä, or pastime.

But the word “pastime” implies employment in the activities of the Lord. The Mäyävädés misuse the word and say that even if the living entity has become a stool-eating hog, he is also enjoying his pastimes.

This is a most dangerous interpretation. Actually the Supreme Lord is the leader and maintainer of all living entities. His pastimes are transcendental to any material activity.

Such pastimes of the Lord cannot be dragged to the level of the conditional activities of the living entities. In conditional life the living entity actually remains as if a captive in the hands of material energy.

Whatever the material energy dictates, the conditioned soul does. He has no responsibility; he is simply the witness of the action, but he is forced to act in that way due to his offense in his eternal relationship with Kåñëa.

Lord Kåñëa therefore says in Bhagavad-gétä that mäyä, His material energy, is so forceful that it is insurmountable. But if a living entity simply understands that his constitutional position is to serve Kåñëa and he tries to act on this principle, then however conditioned he may be, the influence of mäyä immediately vanishes.

This is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gétä, Seventh Chapter: Kåñëa takes charge of anyone who surrenders to Him in helplessness, and thus the influence of mäyä, or conditional life, is removed.

The spirit soul is actually sac-cid-änanda—eternal, full of bliss and full of knowledge. Under the clutches of mäyä, however, he suffers from continued birth, death, disease and old age.

One has to be serious to cure this condition of material existence and transfer himself to Kåñëa consciousness, for thus his long suffering may be mitigated without difficulty. In summary, the suffering of the conditioned soul is due to his attachment to material nature. This attachment should thus be transferred from matter to Kåñëa.

SB 3.26.8

"The cause of the conditioned soul’s material body and senses, and the senses’ presiding deities, the demigods, is the material nature. This is understood by learned men. The feelings of happiness and distress of the soul, who is transcendental by nature, are caused by the spirit soul himself."

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gétä it is said that when the Lord descends to this material world, He comes as a person by His own energy, ätma-mäyä. He is not forced by any superior energy. He comes by His own will, and this can be called His pastime, or lélä. But here it is clearly stated that the conditioned soul is forced to take a certain type of body and senses under the three modes of material nature.

That body is not received according to his own choice. In other words, a conditioned soul has no free choice; he has to accept a certain type of body according to his karma.

But when there are bodily reactions as felt in happiness and distress, it is to be understood that the cause is the spirit soul himself.

If he so desires, the spirit soul can change this conditional life of dualities by choosing to serve Kåñëa. The living entity is the cause of his own suffering, but he can also be the cause of his eternal happiness.

When he wants to engage in Kåñëa consciousness, a suitable body is offered to him by the internal potency, the spiritual energy of the Lord, and when he wants to satisfy his senses, a material body is offered.

Thus it is his free choice to accept a spiritual body or a material body, but once the body is accepted he has to enjoy or suffer the consequences. The Mäyävädé philosopher’s presentation is that the living entity enjoys his pastimes by accepting the body of a hog.

This theory is not acceptable, however, because the word “pastime” implies voluntary acceptance for enjoyment.

Therefore this interpretation is most misleading. When there is enforced acceptance for suffering, it is not a pastime. The Lord’s pastimes and the conditioned living entity’s acceptance of karmic reaction are not on the same level.