Atma/Soul

Atma is pronounced as aatma.

न यं रिपवो न रिषण्यवो गर्भे सन्तं रेषणा रेषयन्ति | अन्धा अपश्या

न दभन्नभिख्या नित्यास ई प्रेतारो अरक्षन || RV 1.148.5

N yam ripvo na rishnyvo grbhe sntm reshnaa reshynti, andhaa apshyaa na dbhnnbhikhyaa nityaas e pretaaro arkshn. RV 1.148.5

Meaning: Atma/soul is Eternal; no enemies, no designers of evil, no destroyers, no attacks, can damage it. The blind and the ignorant hurt it not, they cannot suppress it. Those who know, those who love, value and cooperate, permanently protect and promote it.

Every living being – human, animal, bird or insect has an Atma.  It is a living being only because of the presence of the Atma. When Atma leaves, it becomes a dead body. Body is luminous only as long as Atma is present, after Atma’s departures body becomes unwanted.

Atma in the body is like a lit candle in a room.  Candle is at one place, but lights the whole room. Similarly, Atma is at one place in a body, but it impacts the whole body.

Atma is finite, it cannot be seen with eyes, or even with the help of a biggest microscope.

Atma by itself is not capable of doing anything. All its physical actions are done through the body.

Anything and anybody who has awareness, makes efforts to survive, wants to quench thirst and satisfy hunger, has rivalry as a survival instinct, feels happy at times and sad at other, have an Atma, hence is a living being. These are the attributes of an Atma, not of the body. A dead body lacks these attributes.

A body grows only with the presence of an Atma. Even in the mother’s womb, the growth begins with the presence of the Atma — phenomenon called conception. No Atma, no growth.

Atma is never born. It never dies. It always exists. It is eternal. Weapons cannot cut it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot spoil it and air cannot dry it.

Atma is neither male nor female, nor even unisex. Its gender depends upon the body it gets. If it is in a male body, it is a male. If it is in a female body, it is a female. If it gets a unisex body it is said to be unisex. Although the body is male/female/unisex yet they have mixed traits, hobbies or interests.

Atma is ruled by the Law of Karma (as you sow, so shall you reap). Through Reincarnation, Atma can be reborn as a human or non-human based on one’s own deeds.

Your own Atma is the only thing which is your own and will be yours through eternity.  One must take decisions for the betterment of the Atma; otherwise consequences would be disastrous. Human life is precious and a golden opportunity to improve upon. Once this opportunity is lost without availing, it will be a grave disaster. The key to betterment is true knowledge, good deeds and meditation (gyan, karma, upasna).

Atma/Soul is Immortal

वायुरनिलममृतमथेदं भस्मान्त शरीरम |

ओम्  क्रतो स्मर | क्लिबे स्मर | कृत स्मर || YV 40.15

Vayurnilmmritmthedm bhsmaant shriram,

om krtosmra, kilbe smr, krit smr. YV 40.15

Meaning: End of the body is dust. The prana-vayu merges with the cosmic energy. This Atma is immortal. O Atma, remember Om, Supreme Atma (God) of Existence. Agent of Karma, remember your karma. Remember both these to realize your real form and potential.

Subtle Body

Atma possesses a subtle body comprised of:

1. Intellect,
2. Mind,
3. 5 powers of senses (touch, taste, smell, hearing and seeing),
4. 5 properties of elements (air, fire, water, earth and space)
5. 5 Pranas (Prana — out breath, Apan — in breath, Saman — digestive system,Vyan — circulatory system, Udaan — food intake system)

Subtle body stays with Atma and it goes where ever Atma goes. Subtle body is what one has made of oneself thru karma. Hence future depends upon it, therefore making progress in these areas is essential:

1. Intellect is a decision maker called budhi, it includes thoughts receiver called chitta. Gaining true knowledge is the key to improve intellect. Chitta is screen, where thoughts from ahmkar (explained in next point) come and go, which are essential for budhi to make decisions. Simply put, with wrong knowledge wrong decisions are made, with correct knowledge right decisions are made. Therefore, always gain intelligence and wisdom in a logical and rational manner.
2. Mind is comprised of a storehouse. Mind is called mana, and the store house is called ahmkar. Mana is a link through body and senses to the world. Ahmkar is storehouse where all happenings and thoughts of past and present lives are stored. Also it will store all happenings and thoughts from future lives as well. They come out off and on as memories or dreams. Truthfulness and righteousness purifies the mind. As a result pure thoughts, righteous actions and true knowledge are stored in ahmkar.
3. 5 senses are purified by using them properly and not let them astray.
4. 5 elements are redeemed by using the resources wisely.
5. 5 prana become strong with yogic breathing exercises called pranayama. Pranayama is a science to make the body and mind healthy, pure and strong.

There are five sub‐Pranas — Naga, Kurma, Karikala, Devadatta and Dhananjaya. Naga performs hiccup and excretion. Kurma performs blinking of the eyes. Karikala induces feeling of hunger and thirst. Devadatta causes yawning. Dhananjaya causes fainting and snoring.