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Soul is eternal. So there is nothing, no cause for lamentation, because soul will remain. Even the body is destroyed, there is no cause of lamentation

Expressions researched:
"soul is eternal. So there is nothing, no cause for lamentation, because soul will remain. Even the body is destroyed, there is no cause of lamentation"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Believing in the existence of soul. So soul is eternal. So there is nothing, no cause for lamentation, because soul will remain. Even the body is destroyed, there is no cause of lamentation. And those who do not believe that, "There is no soul; everything was void in the beginning . . ." So in the beginning there was void, and in the middle it is manifested.

Prabhupāda: . . . believing in the existence of soul. So soul is eternal. So there is nothing, no cause for lamentation, because soul will remain. Even the body is destroyed, there is no cause of lamentation. And those who do not believe that, "There is no soul; everything was void in the beginning . . ." So in the beginning there was void, and in the middle it is manifested. Then again it is void. So void to void, where there is lamentation? This is the argument Kṛṣṇa is giving. Both ways you cannot lament. Then?

Pradyumna: (purport) "Yet even if, for argument's sake, we accept the atheistic theory, there is still no cause for lamentation. Apart from the separate existence of the soul, the material elements remain unmanifested before creation. From this subtle state of unmanifestation comes manifestation. Just as from ether, air is generated; from air, fire is generated; from fire, water is generated; and from water, earth becomes manifested. From the earth, many varieties of manifest . . ."

Prabhupāda: This is the process of creation. From ether, then sky, then air, then fire, then water, then earth. This is the process of creation. Yes?

Pradyumna: "Take, for example, a big skyscraper manifested from the earth. When it is dismantled, the manifestation becomes again unmanifested and remains as atoms in the ultimate stage. The law of conservation of energy remains, but in course of time things are manifested and unmanifested. That is the difference. Then what cause is there for lamentation either in the stage of manifestation or unmanifestation? Somehow or other, even in the unmanifested stage, things are not lost."

"Both at the beginning and at the end all elements remain unmanifested, and only in the middle are they manifested, and this does not make any real material difference. And if we accept the Vedic conclusion as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (antavanta ime dehāḥ) that these material bodies are perishable in due course of time (nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ) but that soul is eternal, then we must remember always that the body is like a dress. Therefore why lament the changing of a dress?"

"The material body has no factual existence in relation to the eternal soul. It is something like a dream. In a dream we may think of flying in the sky or sitting on a chariot as a king, but when we wake up we can see that we are neither in the sky nor seated on the chariot. The Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization on the basis of the nonexistence of the material body. Therefore in either case, whether one believes in the existence of the soul or one does not believe in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation for loss of the body."

Prabhupāda: One point in this connection is that at night, when I am dreaming, I forget this body. This body, in dream I am seeing that I have gone in a different place, talking with different men, and my position is different. But at that time I don't remember that actually my body is lying on the bed in the apartment where I have come. But we don't remember this body. It is everyone's experience. Similarly, when you come again, awakening stage in the morning after getting up from the bed, I forget all the bodies I created in my dream. So which one is correct? This is correct? This body's correct, or that body's correct? Because at night I forget this body, and in daytime I forget the other, dreaming body. So both of them not correct. It is simply hallucination. But I am correct, because I see at night, I see in daytime.

So I am eternal, the body is not eternal. This is the fact. Antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ (BG 2.18). Śarīriṇaḥ, the owner of the body, is eternal, but not the body. In so many ways Kṛṣṇa is explaining about the material condition of this body. But those who are not very intelligent, with poor fund of knowledge, it is very difficult for them to understand. Otherwise, things are very clear. This point is very clear. That at night I forget this body, and in daytime I forget the body at night. This is a fact. Similarly, I may forget the body of my last appearance, last duration of life, or I may not know the future body. But I will exist, and the body may change, but I'll have to accept another body, which is temporary. But I, as I exist, it means I have got a body. That is spiritual body.

Page Title:Soul is eternal. So there is nothing, no cause for lamentation, because soul will remain. Even the body is destroyed, there is no cause of lamentation
Compiler:SharmisthaK
Created:2023-03-08, 12:21:46
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1