What happens to SOUL during and after death?
0 comments Posted by RisingCitizen at Thursday, November 26, 2009During DEATH:
Although what happens to SOUL during death is described in the Gita, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad explains it very nicely when Sage Yagnavalkya says,
"Now when that SELF having sunk into weakness, sinks, as if, into unconsicousness, then gather the senses around him and he taking with him the element of Light descends into the heart When that person in the eye turns away , then he ceases to know any forms. "He has become one," they say, "he does not see ." "He has become one," they say, "he does not smell." "He has become one," they say, "he does not taste." "He has become one," they say, "he does not speak." "He has become one," they say, "he does not hear." "He has become one," they say, "he does not think." "He has become one," they say, "he does not touch." "He has become one," they say, "he does not know." The point of his heart becomes lighted up, and by that light the Self departs, either through the eye, or through the skull, or through other places of the body. And when he thus departs, life (the chief prâna) departs after him, and when life thus departs, all the other vital spirits departs after it".
So, in short, the spirit moves along with the senses and moves out of the body at the time of death and when spirit moves out, so does the breath and so life.
Krishna says, "Like the wind carries scents from flowers, the Jivatma (SOUL) carries mind and the senses while leaving the body and migrates to the body which it acquires" (Chap 15- verse 8)
After DEATH:
In the GITA, chapter 2, Krishna explains this in the following verse:
"As a man shedding worn-out garments, takes other new ones, likewise the embodies soul, casting off worn-out bodies, enters into others which are new." (Chap 2- verse 22)
"Just as boyhood, youth and old age are attributed to the soul through this body, even so it attains another body. The wise men do not get deluded about this." (Chap 2 - verse 13)
In fact, because SOUL moves from one body to another and life goes on, Krishna says
"There was never a time when I was not, or when you or these kings were not present. Nor is it a fact that hereafter we shall all cease to be." (Chap 2 - verse 12)
"Wise men do not sorrow over the dead or the living." (Chap 2 - verse 11Already, in the question, "What is SOUL", it has been mentioned it is present in all. Krishna says in verse 30 of Chapter 2,
"Arjuna, this soul dwelling in the bodies of all can never be slain;" (Chap 2- verse 30)
Chap - 2
"Know that, by whom this entire body is pervaded is indestructible. No one is able to cause the destruction of the imperishable soul." (verse 17)
"Soul neither kills nor is killed." (verse 19)
"The soul is never born nor dies; nor does it become only after being born; For it is unborn, eternal, everlasting, undeteriorating and primeval; even though the body is slain, the soul is not."(verse 20)
"The Soul is imperishable, eternal, free from birth and decay." (verse 21)
"Weapons cannot cut it nor fire can burn it; water cannot wet it nor can wind dry it." (verse 23)
"The Soul is incapable of being cut; it is fireproof, impervious to water, and cannot be dried. It is eternal, omnipresent, immovable, constant, everlasting." (verse 24)
"The Soul is unmanifest, unthinkable, immutable." (verse 25)
Before we go the GITA, let us see what Chandogya(Khandogya) Upanishad talks about a substance found in the body (For readers who do not know what Upanishad means, I will be soon coming with what it means in a separate article. CLICK ON THE VERSE TO SEE THE SOURCE/REFERENCE. Note, The verses taken are the literal translation first ever done into English by MAX MUELLER , a German Philogist who studied Sanskrit as early as 1845 and translated all Indian Upanishads into English, whose texts are available in the libraries in India at Bhandarkar Insitute in Pune and Motilal Banaridas in New Delhi, and is published widely on the internet).
Chap 3 - 12th Khanda (subchapter)
And the ether which is around us, is the same as the ether which is within us. And the ether which is within us,
That is the ether within the heart. That ether in the heart (as Brahman) is omnipresent and unchanging. He who knows this obtains omnipresent and unchangeable happiness.
Which means there is "ETHER" which lies within our heart and is responsible for everything. This ether is the "SOUL".
Further, the Chandogya Upanishad, Sage Sandilya says,
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the soul is defined as (In other words, the soul's definition must be approached not by saying - "It is this, it is that", but by saying "It is not this, it is not that"
Back to the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13 describes at length the meaning of SOUL in the following verse ,
As the Sun illuminates this entire universe, so the Spirit/Soul illuminates the entire body (verse 33)
(verse 31)
Arjuna, The Spirit dwelling in this body, is really the same as the Supreme. He has been spoken of as the Witness, the true Guide, the Sustainer of all, the Experiencer (as the embodied soul), the Overlord and the Absolute as well. (Chap 13 - verse 22).
Mythologically, Krishna is one of the 10 avtars (incarnations) of Vishnu. However, Krishna reveals himself in the below shlokas/chants/verses (taken from all 18 chapters) - What he is, where he is present, what he controls and many other facts about himself. KRISHNA clearly says he is all demi-gods and everything and anything you can think of. And henceforth, he is the SUPREME.
For a Hindu, this would never come as a conflict because it does not matter whether you are a hardcore devotee of Krishna or Rama or Durga or Hanuman - they all mean what God ultimately wants from us - BELIEVE HIM, TRUST HIM, HAVE FAITH IN HIM.
As I mention, I also refer to Chapter and the Verse. This is considered the ultimate truth because Gita is that which God himself spoke.
Chap 7:
1) There is nothing else higher than Me, in Me, all this is woven as clusters of gems on a string. (verse 7)
2) I am the sap in water, I am the light in the moon and the sun. I am the syllable "Om" in all the Vedas, sound in ether, virility in men (verse 8).
3) I am the sweet fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings and I am the austerity in ascetics (verse 9).
4) I am the eternal seed of all beings. I am the intelligence of the intelligent, the radiance of the radiant (verse 10).
5) And of the strong, I am the strength devoid of desire and attachment; and in all beings I am the desire unopposed to dharma (verse 11).
6) And whatever beings are of SATTVA (pure) or RAJAS (active) or TAMAS (inert), proceed from me and still I am not in them, they are in Me (verse 12).
7) Deluded by these 3 things composed of gunas, all the world knows not Me as distinct from them and immutable (verse 13).
8) The foolish think of Me as the unmanifested coming into manifestation, knowing not My higher, immutable, unsurpassed nature (verse 24)
9) I know the past and the present, O Arjuna, and the future beings, but Me nobody knows.
Chap 9:
10) By Me all this world is pervaded, My unmanifested form. All beings dwell in me; and I do not dwell in them
(verse 4).
11) Nor do those beings dwell in Me - behold My divine Yoga ! Sustaining all beings, but not dwelling in them, is My Self, the cause of beings (verse 5).
12) As the mighty wind moving everywhere rests ever in space, so all beings rest in Me
(verse 6).
13) Animating My Prakriti, I again and again send forth this whole multitude if beings, powerless under the control of the Prakriti (verse 8).
14) With Me supervising, Prakriti produces the moving and unmoving; because of this, O son of Kunti, the world revolves (verse 10).
15) My higher being is that I am the Great Lord of beings (verse 11).
16) I am the 7 vedic fire rituals, I am the 5 daily acts of sacrifice, I am the oblations offered to the departed ancestors, I am the healing herb; I am the transcendtal incantation; I am clarified cow ghee; I am the fire and the act of offering (verse 16).
17) I am the father of this universe, the mother, the grandfather, the progenitor, the essence to be known, the purifying "Om" vibration, Rig, Saama, Yajur Veda (verse 17).
18) I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the refuge, the guardian, the well-wisher, the creation, the dissolution, the preservation, the reservoir and the imperishable cause (verse 18).
19) I give heat, I sendforth and withold rain, I alone am immortality and death and all that exists in the manifest present, unmanifest past and future (verse 19).
20) I am the enjoyer and the ultimate master of all the sacrifices (verse 24).
21) I am same to all beings; to Me there is none hateful nor dear; but those who worship Me with devotion, they are in Me and I am also in them (verse 29).
Chap 10:
22) Neither the hosts of the gods, nor the great rishis know my origin; for I am the source of all devas and great rishis (verse 2).
23) I am unborn, beginningless, the Great Lord of the worlds (verse 4).
24) Spiritual intelligence, knowledge, freedom from false perception, compassion, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness, unhappiness, birth, death, fear, and fearlessness, non-violence, equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame, infamy - all these originate from ME (verse 4 and 5).
25) I am The 7 great sages - Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasistha; 4 Manus - Svamyambhuva, Svarochita, Raivata, Uttama; all existing progeny in the universe (verse 6).
26) I am the original generating cause of all causes; everything emanates from Me (verse 8).
27) I am the Ultimate consciousness situated in all living entities; I am the beginning, the middle and end of all creatures (verse 20).
28) Of the 12 adityas, I am VISHNU. of all the luminaries - the Sun, of the 7 Maruts - I am Marichi, and the constellations - the Moon (verse 21).
29) Of the Vedas, I am the Saama Veda, of the demigods I am the Indra, of the senses I am the mind, and of all living entities - I am the consciousness (verse 22).
30) Of the 11 Rudras, I am Shiva, and of Yakshas and Raakshas, I am Kubera (treasurer of Gods), 8 Vasus, Agni and Meru amongst the mountains (verse 23).
31) I am Brihaspati - chief priest of the demigods, of the commanders I am Kartikeya and reservoirs of water - ocean (verse 24).
32) Of the great sages - I am Bhrigu, of the speech am the "Om", of all sacrifices, I am the sacrifice of chanting the holy names of the Ultimate Personality, and of the immovable things the Himalayan mountains (verse 25).
33) Of all trees, I am the sacred banyan tree, of divine sages - Narada Muni, of the Gandharvas - Chitraratha, and of perfected beings - Kapiladeva (verse 26).
34) Of horses - I am Ucchaishrava, I am the nectar got from the churning milk ocean, of lordly elephants - Airavata and of human beings - the King (verse 27).
35) Of all the weapons, I am thunderbolt; of cows- I am the Surabhi, I am cupid, the motivation of procreatrion for begetting progeny, amongst poisonous single headed serpents - I am VASUKI.
(verse 28).
36) of the many headed non poisonous serpents - I am Anantha; of all acquatics - I am Varuna; of the ancestrs - I am Aryama, I am Yamaraja - judge of all beings at the time of death (verse 29).
37) Of the Daityas - I am Prahlada, of measurements - I am time, of all the animals - the Lion, of all the birds - Garuda (verse 30).
38) Of the swift moving - the wind, of the weildors of weapons I am RAMA, of the fishes the shark, of the flowing rivers I am GANGA (verse 31).
39) I alone am the creator, sustainer and destroyer of all creation, of knowledge I am spiritual knowledge, and of arguments I am the logical conclusion (verse 32).
40) Of letters, I am the first letter, of compound words - I am the dual word, I am the eternal ever flowing time and the 4 faced Brahma (verse 33).
41) I am all-devouring death, of the 6 manifestations of all living entities, I am the birth; of feminine attributes - I am fame, beauty, perfect speech, memory, intellect, patience and compassion.
42) I am the Saama Veda, of the mantras - I am the Gayatri; of the months - I am the harvest month; I am the fall and seasons of the spring (verse 35).
43) Of deceivers - I am gambling; I am the glory of the glorious; I am the victory, enterprise, and the nobility of the noble (verse 36).
44) of The descendants of Vrishni, I am VASUDEVA, of the Pandavas - I am Arjuna, of the sages - I am Vyasadeva, Suklacharya - priests of the Daityas (verse 37).
45) I am the rod of punishment, success, silence, strategy, wisdom of the wise (verse 38).
46) I am the root cause of all entities; there is nothing mvoing or stationary- living or non-living that exist without Me (verse 39).
47) THERE IS NO LIMIT TO MY TRANSCENDTAL MAJESTIC OPULENCES; ALL THAT I MENTIONED ARE IN BRIEF (verse 40)
48) Wherever and whatever is majestic, beautiful or magnificent, - all arise from a fraction of My glory (verse 41).
49) I SUPPORT THIS ENTIRE UNIVERSAL MANIFESTATION SITUATED IN, BUT A FRACTION OF MYSELF
(verse 42).
Chap 11:
50) I am terrible time - destroyer of all beings in all worlds (verse 32).
Chap 15:
51) That light which resides in the sun, moon and the fire are Mine (verse 12).
52) I permeate through all planetary systems, I maintain all moving and stationary through my potency and nourish all plant life (verse 13).
53) I am the indwelling monitor in all living beings, from Me arises consciousness, wisdom and forgetfulness, I am the knower of the Vedas, I am the compiler of the Vedas and I am to be known by the Vedas (verse 15).
54) I am beyond perishable, I am the ULTIMATE PERSONALITY, and the ULTIMATE.
(verse 18).
