How the soul enters the body without leaving the spiritual sky

Prabhupada explains that life in this material world is like a dream. The soul somehow becomes entrapped in this material world, although never leaving one’s original position. How is this possible?

Prabhupada explains that life in this material world is like a dream. In a dream, we travel to many places and see many illusory situations, while at the same time never leaving our room. Similarly, the soul somehow becomes entrapped in this material world, although never leaving one’s original position. This means we are here, living in a material body, but at the same time with Krsna in the spiritual world. How is this possible?

This very intricate point of our philosophy is explained by Lord Kapila in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

On SB 3.27.11-13, he explains the example of the reflection in the dark room, which is central to understanding the relationship of the soul and the material world:

"A liberated soul realizes the Absolute Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental and who is manifest as a reflection even in the false ego. He is the support of the material cause and He enters into everything. He is absolute, one without a second, and He is the eyes of the illusory energy. The presence of the Supreme Lord can be realized just as the sun is realized first as a reflection on water, and again as a second reflection on the wall of a room, although the sun itself is situated in the sky. The self-realized soul is thus reflected first in the threefold ego and then in the body, senses and mind." (SB 3.27.11-13)

These three verses give a very deep explanation of the nature of our materially conditioned consciousness, the presence of the Lord, and the vision of a pure devotee.

The Lord is present everywhere in the material creation, even in the false ego, which is the most subtle of all material elements. However, at the same time, it is said that the Lord never touches material nature. How is it that the Lord is present everywhere if He never touches the material creation?

Lord Kapila explains this point by using the example of the sun reflected on a pot of water and then on the walls of a room. The material world is, by nature, dark, just like a dark room, and the only light comes from the Lord.

Prabhupada explains this example: "The example given herewith is perfect. The sun is situated in the sky, far, far away from the surface of the earth, but its reflection can be seen in a pot of water in the corner of a room. The room is dark, and the sun is far away in the sky, but the sun’s reflection on the water illuminates the darkness of the room."

Because the sun is so powerful, even the reflection of the sun in a pot of water in the corner of a dark room is sufficiently luminous to be reflected again in the walls of the room and thus illuminate the whole place. The sun thus enters the room and illuminates it, although it never leaves its position in the sky. Similarly, although the Lord is far, far away, outside the coverings of the universe, he becomes present everywhere by the diffusion of the reflection of His energy.

The Lord is situated in the spiritual sky, and He never comes in contact with the material energy. However, at the same time, He becomes present through the reflection of His energy. In this way, Lord Maha-Vishnu appears as Lord Garbhodakasayi-Vishnu and then as Ksirodakasayi Vishnu, and from Him, all avataras are manifested. Even Krsna Himself, who never leaves Vrindavana, appears in the different universes together with his supreme abode. A pure devotee can thus see Krsna present everywhere, although He is eternally situated in the spiritual sky.

This also shows that although present everywhere, Paramatma is just one. Ksirodakasayi Vishnu is like the reflection of the sun in a pot of water. The light of the reflection illuminates the whole room, although all the light comes from a single source. Just like the light coming from the reflection on the pot of water illuminates the whole room, Paramatma permeates all parts of the universe, although, at the same time, living in his own abode in Svetadwipa. The Lord is thus simultaneously all-pervading (being present everywhere) and localized (being present in one place). This may sound like a contradiction, but it is just another illustration of the transcendental nature of the Lord.

What about the soul? The soul is just like the Lord (tat tvam asi). The Lord is like the big sun, and the soul is like a small sun. They are qualitatively one, but quantitatively distinct. The infinite Lord can simultaneously permeate all material universes, while the infinitesimal soul can permeate just a single material body. Just like the Lord doesn't come in contact with the material energy, the soul also doesn't, although the consciousness of the soul somehow becomes entrapped here. Lord Kapila explains this point on verse 3.27.13: evaṁ trivṛd-ahaṅkāro, bhūtendriya-manomayaiḥ, svābhāsair lakṣito ’nena, sad-ābhāsena satya-dṛk.

There are two meanings in this verse. One is that the soul is reflected in the false ego, and then in the body, senses, and mind, and another is that the Supreme Brahman, the Lord, is reflected in the material elements and is thus present everywhere. Prabhupada translates it as "The self-realized soul is thus reflected first in the threefold ego and then in the body, senses and mind." and then explains also the other meaning in his purport.

A pure devotee can see the Lord present everywhere by His reflection in the material energy, understanding that everything should be used in His service. Prabhupada gives the example that when a conditioned soul sees a nice flower, one thinks how this flower can be used for his sense gratification, while a liberated soul sees the flower as a reflection of the superior energy of the Lord, and plans how to utilize it in His service. A pure devotee also sees the Lord present in his body, mind, intelligence, and senses, and thus understands that all of these should be used in the service of the Lord.

Just as the Lord is present in the material world as a reflection, the pure devotee can see himself also present as a reflection. The consciousness of the soul is first reflected in the three divisions of the false ego (in goodness, passion, and ignorance) and from there permeates the body, senses, and mind, just like the sun first reflected in the water and then in the walls. In this way, the big sun permeates all material universes, while the small sun permeates just a particular body, but both are eternally situated in the sky.

The soul enters into the body in the form of consciousness, and goes from one body to the other, even though the soul never factually comes into contact with matter, remaining always in one’s eternal transcendental position. The material consciousness we have now is manifested by Lord Vasudeva as a reflection of the original consciousness of the soul, and this reflected consciousness is then covered by the false ego, manifested by Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, and then the intelligence and the mind, manifested from Lord Pradyumna and Lord Aniruddha. This combination, what we call the subtle body, is the particle of consciousness that is transported by the vital air from one body to the other. However, if one looks for the soul inside the subtle body, one will not find it, because in reality, the soul is not present there. The soul is present in one’s original position in the spiritual sky, and only one’s attention is somehow captured in the material elements. This elusive nature of the soul is indicated in the Svetasvatara Upanisad (5.9), "When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul."

If one takes the smallest particle he can measure, he will find that the soul is still smaller. If, by the improvement of technology, one becomes able to detect and measure a still smaller particle, like an atom, one will find the soul is still smaller. In this way, one will never the able to measure the soul, it will always escape him.

As explained by Lord Kapila, we are not factually present in this material world, although our consciousness is focused here. This explains how a soul can achieve liberation by just focusing one’s meditation on Krsna. When one can do so, he sees himself immediately with Krsna, even while still technically living in a material body. Being in the material world is thus not a question of being in a geographical space, but a matter of consciousness. As long as our consciousness is focused on the material world, we are here, but as soon as our consciousness is again focused on Krsna, we suddenly realize we never left. This is a very subtle point in our philosophy, Prabhupada explains in his purports.

In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Srila Rūpa Gosvāmī explains that a pure devotee can be liberated even while living in his material body. From this, we can understand that liberation is not about living in a certain geographical space, but about becoming aware of one's eternal relationship with Krsna. This leads us to the question: How can the pure devotee become aware of His eternal relationship with Krsna and thus be directly present with Krsna even though he is still living in his physical body?

The answer is that the sun still shines in the sky, even though reflected in the water. The light of the sun has no problem in being manifested in many places simultaneously. As Prabhupada explains: "When one is reflected through the material contamination of the body and mind in false identification, he is in the conditional state, but when he is reflected in the pure stage he is called liberated."