Guest guest Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Jaya Jagannatha Dear Gaurav, Namaste To assist in answering your question re ‘What is Atma?’ there is nothing better than to refer you to the Bhagavad Gita where Lord Krishna best describes the nature of the Soul in Chapter 2 verses 20 to 25 (extract below). There are also many beautiful verses in the Bhagavad Gita that comments on the Soul and to get a better understanding of them, I recommend that you read the purport or commentaries for each verse to get the meaning of the verses into perspective. I have uploaded an English text version of the Bhagavad Gita in case anyone needs a copy. The document is in MS Word, so you can use the >>Edit >>Find function to search the Bhagavad Gita for topics of interest. Thanks Gaurav for getting me back to reading the Bhagavad Gita again with new ‘eyes’ Regards Bipin TEXT 20 na jayate mriyate va kadacin nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah ajo nityah sasvato ’yam purano na hanyate hanyamane sarire TRANSLATION For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. TEXT 21 vedavinasinam nityam ya enam ajam avyayam katham sa purusah partha kam ghatayati hanti kam TRANSLATION O Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill? TEXT 22 vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro ’parani tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany anyani samyati navani dehi TRANSLATION As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. TEXT 23 nainam chindanti sastrani nainam dahati pavakah na cainam kledayanty apo na sosayati marutah TRANSLATION The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. TEXT 24 acchedyo ’yam adahyo ’yam akledyo ’sosya eva ca nityah sarva-gatah sthanur acalo ’yam sanatanah TRANSLATION This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same. TEXT 25 avyakto ’yam acintyo ’yam avikaryo ’yam ucyate tasmad evam viditvainam nanusocitum arhasi TRANSLATION It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body. On Behalf Of yobrevol Friday, June 17, 2005 8:37 AM Re: [Jaya Jagannatha] Re: basic quesiton-interesting experiment-japan-Bipin || Hare Rama Krishna || Namaste Bipin, I think rene descartes was referring to living beings when he wrote that . anyways, you are right in the fact that the duality of mind and body does not apply to free flowing atmas' for the simple reason that they do not have either. May I request the gurus to please guide us define and understanding WHAT IS ATMA? Namaste, Gaurav Jain ******************************************************************* The e-mail and attachments are confidential and intended only for selected recipients. If you have received it in error, you may not in any way disclose or rely on the contents. You may not keep, copy or distribute the e-mail. Should you receive it, immediately notify the sender of the error and delete the e-mail.Also note that this form of communication is not secure, it can be intercepted, and may not necessarily be free of errors and viruses in spite of reasonable efforts to secure this medium. ******************************************************************* -- Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 267.7.1 - Release 6/13/2005 -- Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 267.7.1 - Release 6/13/2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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