Why the soul takes bodies? Why we are souls, not bodies?
A male devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
Jai shri krishna, don’t tell my name, i want to know, as we all know, we are in this world, “Soul connected with body”. Can you please explain why the soul takes bodies and which is real – soul or body?
REPLY:
Actually, “I” means soul, ie, athma. The soul is the person. He is travelling in a vehicle for a certain number of years and he will dispose that vehicle and board another vehicle. That vehicle is our body. Yes, our body is a temporary vehicle for us. Do you understand this?
(Nature Of Atma (Soul): Complete Details with Simple Explanation!
READ HERE!)
Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (2-13):
“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.”
Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (2-22):
“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.”
Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (2-18):
“The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end”
Above, in B.G 2-18, the Lord means as “temporary material body accepted by the eternal soul”.
You are travelling by ‘Air Asia’ flight to Malaysia today. How will you tell your friend in malaysia?
“Hello dear, “I” am coming to your house today through “AIR ASIA” evening flight”
Will you say “Hello dear, “Air Asia” is coming to your house today”
So, this body is nothing but a mortal vehicle. If you have to do business in malaysia, you need a flight or ship to travel. Similarly, the athma has no need to do any business. Its only business is to serve his master Lord Krishna.
(Soul entering the bodies – How, when and other related questions!
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However, we came to this material world because we (athma) wanted to come here. We were contaminated with jealousy on Lord Krishna and we too wanted to enjoy like Lord Krishna.
We thought: “Why Lord alone should enjoy dancing with thousands of gopis and be served by so many devotees? How it will be if I too enjoy like this and others perform service to me?”
Thus, the contamination started in our thoughts.
It is the fact that we can enter and live in Goloka ONLY WHEN & ONLY TILL WE ARE PURE. If we show even a trace of contamination in our thoughts, we are sent back to material planets like earth.
(QUALITIES OF A PURE DEVOTEE OF KRISHNA! READ HERE!)
So, Krishna decided : “this devotee has developed jealousy on others; so let him be under the control of our external potency maya for some time. Let him face the consequences of jealousy by being in the material world. When he realizes his mistake again, I will take him again”.
So, He gave us an opportunity to come to earth and understand the real nature of material enjoyments that actually end in pains, and then come back to Goloka after realizing that material pleasures are temporary.
So, we are here. And, we are ignorantly thinking that these material pleasures are permanent for us. The fact is that a person can enjoy this material world only UPTO 100 YEARS MAXIMUM.
So, we (athma) who were living with an eternal spiritual bodies were sent to the earth to take a temporary material body. With this short lived body, we are doing all the nonsense. Man kills other bodies (not persons); he pretends; he cheats others; he earns and saves the wealth that will support many generations; he develops jealousy here also; he enjoys opposite sex uncontrollably.
Only because we are thinking that WE ARE THIS BODY, we are attracted by the temporary attraction of the bodies of opposite sex. There is no gender for us, ie, soul/ athma. Both males and females are the same in the state of athma. If it takes male body, it is identified with male body and if it takes female body, it is identified with female body. Thats all.
Thus, the people are doing all the atrocities thinking that they are going to stay here for ever. All these problems are because we are thinking that we are these bodies. If we realise that we are athma, not body, then, we will not be attracted by lust, cheating mind, attacking and killing mindset, etc. So, the whole world will be peaceful.
That is why, Srila Prabhupada wrote to the then Prime Minister of India to make the study of scriptures compulsory in schools. Srila Prabhupada wrote that if everyone realizes their real nature and their prime duty of serving the Lord, then, the whole country will be peaceful and spiritual. But, unfortunately, our present leaders are not in a position to consider those suggestions by him because, they are very busy in creating a “body conscious society” that is running towards flesh, money, etc.
We are absolutely souls. Body is our vehicle. This is final and if you do not realize this fact, you can’t advance even a bit further in devotion. So, accept what I have replied that has been stated by all the scriptures and acharyas. No scripture say that we are body. So, it is final.
Hope you are clear now why the soul takes bodies and why we are souls, not bodies.
(HOW THE ATHMA (SOUL) CHANGES THE BODIES? MECHANISM!
READ HERE!)