The journey of soul after death -1

According to Shuniya vadins, our gross body is made of atoms of five mahabhuta i.e., water, air, fire, earth and ether and inner most part of all these atoms is Void or Shuniya. This void portion contains the spirit of God and acts as energy principle in all animate and inanimate life. The gross body that is also part of Vedic Maya appears real to human senses. This illusion is necessary as to achieve salvation the human soul has to get rid of gunas effect along with its past good and bad actions and this is only possible when material body is provided to the soul.

Thus mortal and immortal are associated since immemorial. Times. Those who believe that soul and spirit are the same normally consider the matter as inert and there is no life in atoms and their conglomeration or any other coherent mass of matter. Such individuals find soul/spirit in animals, birds and all animate life. Exploitation of matter, treating earth as quarry, creating all round pollution and not finding any sin or evil in this kind of activity, is mostly by such people and by those who do not believe the existence of soul or spirit at all. For them even the laws of God and Nature do not exist and they create their own laws to justify all types of exploitation. For such persons their minds become logic inventing machines.

Soul does not eat food and is silent observer of the actions of the human beings. Intake of food along with energy principle is the cause of “seeds” for reproduc¬tion in all types of animate life. Not only animals, birds and others which have mind, will and energy principle in them but even plants, trees have spirit for their growth, reproduction and the instinct of survival. Thus, soul and spirit are clearly distinguished as two separate divine entities. While soul is only in the human beings and is a particle of God, spirit is in all animate and inanimate life, which is also divine but comes through the Nature.

There is an important simile in the Vedas and Svetasvatra Upanishad, which refers to two birds sitting on a tree, one bird is enjoying its fruits and the other bird is observing silently without eating its fruit. It is the soul, which does not eat any food and is silent observer of the activities of human beings, though all the time it advises and guides the right path. With sattavic food that is pure, nutritious and simple along with ten Pranas (vital breaths), the spirit maintains its energy and provides the same to all parts of the human body. Vedas further make it clear that in the human beings spirit, mind, will, vital breath and virtually all parts and organs of the body are born of the atma (soul). Once atma leaves the gross body, all others disappear and merge in Prakrti and the universe. It is like a man and his shadow, which are inseparable. As long as the real self i.e., soul is in the gross body, mind, will, pranas etc., remain as shadow of the soul being part of the cosmic illusion - Maya.

It is like electricity, which takes the form of object it enters and communicates silently with the entire body through innumerable nerves, which are contained in the body along with heat energy. Though it is silent, it teaches limitless knowledge being a particle of the Supreme Brahma.

• According to Yajnavalkya, we are but HE when we know our real self.

• In Kena Upanishad, it is made clear that the soul is Brahma Himself.

• Brihadrnayaka Upanishad mentions “ahm Brahma asi” - I am Brahma.

• Mundaka Upanishad says, “ayam atma Brahma”- my soul is God.

Thus, Vedic metaphysics leaves no doubt that soul of an individual is part of the formless and ineffable God. Sankracharya however, makes it clear that this stage of soul being part of God is when all good and bad actions of the body on the soul disappear and we reach beyond gunas of purity, activity and passivity. This stage is reached when only transparent, truthful, selfless actions for the wel¬fare of others in the society are performed. According to Vedas, this is the only purpose of our birth. No on can acquire this stage without divine and spiritual knowledge, also known as Brahma Jnan or Vidya. We also acquire a-priori knowledge through the soul and the knower of real nature of soul gets permanent bliss (R.V.1-58-5, 6). Those who do not know its real nature hanker after transitory pleasures through matter under the influence of their senses. These transitory pleasures are the source of pain and misery to them and other members of family and society.

Since the same spirit of God pervades in all human beings whether Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Zoroastrians, Buddhists and others, the Vedic metaphysics has developed a spirituous-social concept of Univer¬sal Brotherhood (Vishwa Bandhutva). It is this spirit, which makes the entire mankind as spiritual brothers and sisters. However, the manifested soul makes us all different and dis¬tinct in personality, conduct, outlook and divinity. It is the spirit which makes a person social animal and through soul only divinity can come taking a person towards perfection. Vedic metaphysics is emphatic that owing to the prevalence of the spirit of God in all human beings, any distinction of class superiority or inferiority is negation of religion and ethics.

When soul leaves the body, you are no longer your self. Human dead body is of no use to any one. The spirit goes away and merges in the Prakrti. Thus, the spirit is the spirit of the living, while the soul is the sole balance left after death. Soul is dynamic but not moving, when manifested but moves faster than all material things when not manifested. It traverses billions of miles when it goes to Sun, Moon, Indra, Varun, Yama etc., during the 12 days journey after the death of gross body for purification, knowledge, and luster, noble and divine traits, which it lost during the stage of manifestation in the body. Thus, Jiva Atma (manifested soul) is different from Atma (soul) in attributes. Yajur Veda describes about its journey of 12 days. However, wha-tever is active both in animate and inanimate life is spirit. Though spirit is subtle, it is more energetic and powerful than any gross matter.

After its 12 days journey, it is well equipped with Vedic knowl¬edge, a-priori principles and cosmic laws of social and moral order. Thus on the birth of a child, the knowledge of four Vedas is made available through the manifested soul which is part of the inner world. Later seers and sages created mythological fables to convey Vedic meta¬physical concept in Puranas and Tantras about the children having complete knowledge of God, Nature, Soul, Spirit etc., at an early age. Prahlad, the son of a demon king, was a child devotee of Lord Vishnu and was aware of divinity in him through his soul at a very tender age. In Ramayana and Mahabharta both lord Rama and Krishna had perfect Vedic knowledge as infants. The two sons of Lord Rama, Lov and Kusha, as children of tender ages had got this knowledge partly from their preceptor Maharsi Valmiki but mostly from their inner “real selves.” Even going beyond mythology and religious fables, the greatest Indian metaphysicists Sankracharya acquired this knowledge as a child. At the tender age of 8 years, he could dis¬cuss, deliberate and even explain in details the various aspects of Vedic knowledge. He wrote his greatest commentary on Vedas in his Brahma sutras at the age of 12 years, which are now even recognized as the greatest authority on Advait Vedanta - pure Vedic monism and monotheism.