Secrets of the Soul 32

dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.13]

This simple concept—transmigration of the soul—is explained very clearly in Bhagavad-gita. And all living entities are also eternal individuals. There is no question of our mixing together or merging into the Supreme. Everyone of us is an individual by our spiritual constitutional nature. God is an individual, and we are also individuals:

nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman
tam atma-stham ye ’nupasyanti dhiras
tesam santih sasvati netaresam

“The Supreme eternal conscious spiritual individual, the Personality of Godhead is the maintainer of innumerable eternal conscious spiritual living entities, in terms of their different situations according to individual work and reactions of work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is also, by His plenary portions, alive in the heart of every individual living entity. Only saintly persons who can see, within and without, the same Supreme Lord can actually attain to perfect and eternal peace.” [Katha Upanisad 2.2.13]

All spiritual beings are eternal and individual. The difference between the living entities and God, is that God does not change His body. But even that is only in this material world. When we go to the spiritual world, there is no more change of body. The soul’s existence is eternal. As Kṛṣṇa has His eternal body—a purely spiritual form that is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge and pleasure—similarly, when we go back to home, back to Godhead, we also get a spiritual body similar to His.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

“Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.”[Brahma-samhita 5.1]

That is the difference. When Kṛṣṇa comes to this world, He does not change His body. Therefore Arjuna mentions His name Acyuta, the Infallible One. He never changes or falls down under the control of the material energy, maya, because He is the controller of maya. But we are controlled by maya. That is the difference between ourselves and God, Kṛṣṇa. We are controlled by the material energy, but Kṛṣṇa is the controller of the material energy, the spiritual energy, and all other energies. Therefore offering devotional service to Kṛṣṇa according to the instructions of the Esoteric Teaching is the clear path to the perfection of yoga.

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