Hinduwebsite.com
Hinduwebsite.com - Hinduism,Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Spiritualism, Self-development and more brought together in one place!
Home Hinduism Other Rel. Self- Devt. Spiritualism Web Res. Reference Utilities Shopping Scriptures
Bhagavad gita Upanishads Symbolism Saivism Vedas Hinduism A to Z Esoteric History Scriptures
Product Offers
Featured Article
Message Board
Hinduism A to Z
Hinduism FAQ
Hindu Pantheon
Upanishads
Bhagavad-Gita
Buddhist Philosophy
Practical Buddhism
Symbolism
Yoga
Scriptures
Vedas
My Horoscope
My Search
Web Directory
Indian News
Hinduism News
Video Center
Today in History
Technology Articles
Encyclopedias
Information Portal




Recent Articles
Subscribe to Featured Article Feed


Support this site
The money generated from the website will help us improve the website. Use our shopping center to make your online purchases from today.

 

Descriptions of Soul in the Bhagavadgita


 


by Jayaram V

According to the Bhagavadgita, the soul is indestructible and eternal (2.18) It neither slays not can it be slain (2.19). It is never born, never dies and after coming into existence never ceases to be. It is nitya (always), sasvatah (permanent), purana (very ancient) (2.20). At the time of death the soul does not die. It just leaves the body and then enters into a new one (2.22). Weapons cannot pierce it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot moisten it and wind cannot dry it (2.23). It is unpiercible, incombustible, all pervading, stable and immobile (2.24). It is invisible, incognizible and immutable (2.25).

No one exactly know what soul is. One looks at It with great surprise, another speaks about It with great surprise, another hears about It with incredulity and yet another after hearing about It knows it not (2.29). The soul is superior to everything else in the human being. It is said that the senses are great, greater than the senses is the mind, greater than the mind is buddhi and greater than the buddhi is the Self (3.42).

The soul residing in the body is referred as the indwelling witness the Adhiyagna. We are told that when Purusha, also known as the Adhidaiva (Controlling Deity), resides in the body as the inner witness, He is becomes Adhiyagna or the Seat of Sacrifice(8.4). The mental condition in which the soul leaves the body at the time of death is very important, because whatever the person thinks of at that time, that alone he achieves thereafter (8.6). Thus if someone departs from the body thinking of God alone, he would undoubtedly attain Him (8.5, 12 &13).

The soul in the body is different from Jiva (the living entity). The striving yogi perceives Him, as seated in the body enjoying the sense objects, united with the gunas, departing the body at the time of death, but the ignorant ones whose hearts are impure, do not perceive so even after much striving.(15.11&12).

Self-realization is the ultimate goal of yoga or spiritual discipline. That condition is the aim of all yoga, in which through the practice of yoga, the mind become stilled, in which the self behold the Self within and is absorbed in the Self, in which the yogi finds supreme ecstasy (6.21-22). And when the yogi develops the unified and holistic vision through the practice of yoga, he sees the Self in all and all in the Self (6.29).

The soul is bound to the body and to the illusory world through attachment arising out of the interplay of the triple gunas (14.5). When through yoga the indwelling soul overcomes the triple gunas, He becomes free from birth and death, old age and sorrow and attains immortality (14.20). This in brief is the description of soul in the Bhagavadgita.

Suggested Further Reading

 

Go Top
© 2000-2007 V.Jayaram. All Rights are reserved. No part of this website can be copied or reproduced in any manner. However links to the website can be established. Your use of the website is subject to the terms of use attached hereto.
About Us Privacy Policy Contact Us Terms of use Help Us