This soul... "Do not think that soul is born." No. As God is ever-existing, the soul is ever-existing. It is not... There is no question of birth. And when there is no question of birth, there is no question of death. Because we experience, anything, anybody, who has taken birth, he dies. Nobody will live here. So if the soul has no birth, there is no question of death. And as Kṛṣṇa, God, God is eternal, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ Purāṇa (Bs. 5.33). Purāṇa means old. Because Kṛṣṇa is the original person, therefore He must be Purāṇa, the oldest, older than Brahmā. Because Brahmā is given birth by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa has been addressed in the Bhagavad-gītā as prapitāmaha (BG 11.39). Brahmā is called pitāmaha, the grandfather, and prapitāmaha means "the father of the grandfather." So Kṛṣṇa has been addressed as prapitāmaha, "father of Brahmā." Therefore He's ādi-puruṣa.
Soul has no birth
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
The body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth from the womb of the mother's body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion. The soul, however, does not go through such changes. The soul is not born, but, because he takes on a material body, the body takes its birth. The soul does not take birth there, and the soul does not die. Anything which has birth also has death. And because the soul has no birth, he therefore has no past, present or future. He is eternal, ever-existing, and primeval—that is, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth, etc., of the soul. The soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels himself to be in the same spirit as in his childhood or youth. The changes of the body do not affect the soul. The soul does not deteriorate like a tree, nor anything material. The soul has no by-product either.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So the soul cannot be killed. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. And the soul has no birth, no death. As Kṛṣṇa is eternal, Kṛṣṇa has no birth and death... Ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā. Kṛṣṇa says in the Fourth Chapter. Aja. Kṛṣṇa's another name is Aja. Or viṣṇu-tattva. Aja. We are also aja. Aja means who does not take birth. So the both Kṛṣṇa, or God, and the living entities, they are eternal. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). The only difference is because we are a small particle, therefore we are prone to be covered by material energy. This is the difference. We become cyuta, fallen down. But Kṛṣṇa is Acyuta. He never falls down. That is the difference. So just like cloud. Cloud can cover a portion of sunlight. Not that cloud can cover the, all the sunlight. That is not possible.
How easy it is. You take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you overcome the cycle of birth and death. And as soon as you overcome the cycle of birth and death, you overcome all miseries. Because birth and death means this material body. The living entity, spirit soul, has no birth and death. And anyone who possesses this material body has to undergo the threefold miseries of the material world. A similar passage is there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The other day, as I was speaking to you, nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4). All these people, they are acting in a way which they ought not to have done. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ. But they are acting as madmen.
In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that if you like, you can go to the heavenly planets, higher planetary system. Yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25). In the higher planetary systems, you get more, I mean to say, elevated standard of life. You can live there for millions of years, and there is better facilities for sense enjoyment. But anywhere you go within this material world, you cannot avoid the four principles, namely birth, death, old age and disease. The birth, death, old age and disease are the inconveniences of the body. The spirit soul has no birth, no death, no old age and no disease, neither the spirit soul is annihilated after the destruction of this body. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). This is the statement of the Bhagavad-gītā, that after the annihilation of this body, the spirit soul does not annihilate. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to stop this disease: birth, death, old age and disease. And this can be achieved very easily if you simply try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Birth means material body. There is no birth of the soul. The soul transmigrates from one body to another. That is called birth. Otherwise there is not birth. Na jāyate na mriyate, the soul does not take birth nor dies. If there is no birth, then where is death? The body has got birth, therefore there is death. Anything which takes birth, it has got death. But soul is part and parcel of God, God is eternal, therefore soul is eternal. Therefore it is said we give up this gross body or subtle body but we do not die. Just like we change our dress—I give up this shirt or dress—but I do not die. Similarly, the soul is changing, accepting another material body. The result of devotional service is that you do not accept another material body, but you remain in your spiritual body. The soul is spirit, the soul has got spiritual body—hands, legs, mouth, everything—otherwise, how this dress is made? Dress is made according to the body.
One must be intelligent to know that "I am eternal." Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). It is the preliminary study of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa is instructing about the constitutional position of the soul: na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20), na jāyate na mriyate kadācit. Kadācit, at any time, the soul does not take birth, does not die. And more explicitly it is said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). The covering, the body is the covering. So after destruction of this body, the soul is not destroyed. Just like if I change my shirt and coat or somehow or other the shirt and coat is destroyed, I, the person who put on this dress, I am not destroyed. This simple knowledge is instructed in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā.
Atonement, the sinful life, this is also diseased condition. Just like we have accepted this chain of birth and death. This is diseased condition of the soul. The soul has no birth and death, no disease. Because it is spirit soul. Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, na jāyate: "Soul has no birth." Na mriyate: "It has no death." Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre: (BG 2.20) "Soul is eternal," śāśvataḥ, "existing everlasting. Don't think that it is lost along with the dissolution of this body. No." Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). Na hanyate means it is not killed, or it is destroyed, even after the destruction of this body. This is the missing point of modern civilization. They do not know... There is no educational system in the university, what happens after death.
Kṛṣṇa says, the authoritative knowledge, that, as the soul, dehi, the proprietor of the body. We do not know whether I am this body or I am the proprietor of this body. That knowledge is also lacking. Big, big professors, they do not know. I was talking in Moscow, one big professor, Professor Kotofsky, he said: "Swamijī, after this body's finished, everything is finished." This is their knowledge. Blunt knowledge. No, it is not finished. We get from the Vedic literature, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). Nityo śāśvato yaṁ na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit. The soul is eternal. Soul is eternal and soul does not take birth. The body, we get a new body, that is called birth. And when this body is annihilated, that is called death. So birth and death is in reference with the body, not with the soul.
Parāṁ gatim means to go back to home, back to Godhead. That is our real home, the spiritual world. And live there eternally, blissfully, with full knowledge. That is our real position. So here we have come in this material world for material enjoyment. And the more we are making plan for material enjoyment, the more we are becoming entangled. That we do not know. They are thinking that material sense enjoyment is the aim of life. No, that is not the aim of life. That is the way to become more and more entangled. For sense enjoyment I have got this now body, Indian body, you have got this Australian or American or European body. But you have to change this body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). We are eternal. Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit. The soul does not take birth; neither it dies. We simply change body.
General Lectures
Bhagavad-gītā explains this idea very nicely: na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin. The spirit soul has no birth nor death. This body, just like we are no longer in our past childhood body, similarly, when this body will be also finished, it does not mean that I will not exist. I will continue to exist. As I am existing, as I can remember my childhood days, my youthful days, therefore I am existing. In spite of my..., that childhood body being finished, my youthful body being finished, I am existing. Similarly, after finishing this body also, I will exist. Is there any difficulty to understand? There is no difficulty. I am eternal. The only difference is that, because we are infinitesimal living spark, therefore we forget.
And if you make this plan, that "I want to go back to home, back to Godhead..." The Bhagavad-gītā is there. You study. You cultivate this knowledge. And Kṛṣṇa says: tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). "My dear Arjuna, such persons who have developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness perfectly, after giving up this body, he does not accept any more material body." Tyaktvā deham. "After giving up this body..." Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). Janma means birth, means accepting another material body. Otherwise, the soul has no birth, no death. Na jāyate na mriyate vā. The soul never takes birth or never dies. It is the body only. It takes birth and dies according to my karma. So if one becomes Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Kṛṣṇa conscious, the ultimate goal of life, then after giving up this body, he does not accept any more any material body. Then what does he do? Mām eti, "He comes to Me." This is the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the ultimate goal of life.
But unfortunately there is no education on this spiritual knowledge in any school, college, although there are books. They can read, they can understand the constitutional position of the soul. But there is no arrangement. Perhaps this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the only institution which is teaching people that he is not this body; he's spirit soul—he's different from body and he's transmigrating from one body to another, birth and death. Actually, the spirit soul has no birth and death. Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit. The spirit soul is eternal. It does not take birth or it dies. The body is changing. The change of the body is known as birth and death. We are eternal; therefore nobody wants to die, because he is eternal by constitution. He doesn't like to change, but he's forced to change by some power.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Practical is that our śāstra says that pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt, na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum. The idea is that one should not become a father, one should not become a mother, unless they know how to make his child immortal. Because soul is immortal but he is entangled in this material body, therefore death takes place. Actually soul is not born, na jāyate na mriyate vā. So this process is going on, transmigration of the soul from one body to another, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). The father and mother should be so enlightened and educate the son in such a way that this is the last acceptance of material body. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9), he may not accept again this material body. If the father and mother is determined in that way, then they should become parents, otherwise no.
| Page Title: | Soul has no birth |
| Compiler: | Laksmipriya, Matea |
| Created: | 14 of Dec, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=12, Con=1, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 14 |