Jeev-Soul
Soul is called jeev because it it conscious and gives life.
Every conscious living entity is called jeev (Devanagari: जीव ISO15919: jīva). The other names of jeev is atma (Devanagari: आत्मा ISO15919: ātmā), spirit, inner self, soul etc.
This is also written as jiva.
The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word jeev means life. So, the one which is always alive and infuses life in the entire body it lives in is jeev. So, jeev is the conscious entity inside a inert body. It is due to the jeev that all living-things (viz human beings, animals, birds, trees) seem conscious and alive.
Every jeev has been given a body which is made of five gross elements earth, water, fire, space and air. That is why it is sustained by these elements. Also, deficiency of any of these five elements, makes our body ill. These elements are material which means they are made of Maya and like Maya they are inert and insentient. Hence, the body which is made from these is also inert or lifeless.
When the jeev enters the body it permeates the entire body. It is then the body and senses perform work as if they too were conscious.
Jeev is sent into the body for a predetermined length of time. When that much time has elapsed, the imperceptible jeev leaves the body and then it is called a "dead body". Means it returns back to its original lifeless state. The consciousness of soul was making it perform the work viz. perceiving their objects of senses, locomotion etc was possible.
For instance, a pair of tongs is lifeless, yet it lifts up burning coals only when hand holds those tongs.
They can't pick up embers on their own accord. Only when a hand holds those tongs then it can hold coals. Similarly, human body is lifeless. It seem to be sentient due to the jeev.
Hand is also inert until it gets consciousness from mind. The mind gets power of consciousness from intellect. Intellect gets power of consciousness from jeev which is eternally conscious. Jeev is eternally conscious for Brahm-Supreme God eternally gives consciousness to each jeev.
Brahm-Supreme God is the ultimate life force. He does not get His consciousness from anyone. He Himself is consciousness. That is why in many places Vedas have referred to God as jeev. He is the Supreme and original source of all the sources including life.
सर्व कारण कारणम् ।
sarva kāraṇa kāraṇam ।
"He is the cause of all causes".
The power called jeev
God has three main powers (shakti) namely
- Chit Shakti,
- Jeev Shakti and
- Maya Shakti
In this article we will concentrate on Jeev shakti of The Supreme God.
Every jeev is part of God’s Jeev shakti. Jeev is a conscious entity and it is an inseparable and eternal part of God.
Jeev is part of God means God like big rock. When the big rock (God) is broken then each piece is called jeev?
No. Jeev is a part of God must not be considered as a small piece of a big rock. God is akhand (Devanagari: अखंड ISO15919: akhaṁḍa), which means God cannot be broken.
Jeev is called a part of God because it is a power of God.
God is eternal and all His powers have also existed with Him. God revealed innumerable jeev, and still God possesses unlimited consciousness with unlimited and unceasing divine splendor.
If eternal part were to mean a fragment then after revealing innumerable jeev, God would cease to exist but that is NOT the case.
Each jeev is part of Jeev shakti of God.
Jeev shakti is called taṭastha (Devanagari: तटस्थ ISO15919: taṭastha) power. Taṭastha means "middle ground". The Sanskrit word taṭa (तट) means bank or shore, stha (स्थ) means situated.
So, the jeev is the part of God and it is conscious like God. Yet it is not endowed with unlimited life, knowledge and bliss. Consciousness of soul is confined to their own body only.
Jeev is divine and eternal part of God and it has a material mind and body so it is not fully divine or fully insentient. Instead it is situated in the middle of Brahm-Supreme God and Maya.
River bank is part of land, yet has some properties of the river like wetness. Similarly jeev is part of God, and has proximity of Maya. Therefore, some attributes of Maya are also seen in the living beings.
For more lucidity, just imagine a man is standing at the bank of river.
Ask him, “where are you standing?”
He would reply “I am standing at the bank of this river.”
"But what is this ? Is it a part of land or a part of river?"
He would reply, ”it is a part of land only”.
Ask again, “so what is behind you?”
“It is a very huge land.”
“Then why do you call it bank instead of land?”
He would explain, “From here one can wash hands and clothes since it is adjoining the river. Although, this is part of land yet this ability differentiates this bank from the rest of the land behind.”
Likewise, although we are the part of God, yet exhibit some attributes of Maya. The bank inherits some attributes of the river as well like wetness. Likewise, we have chosen Maya and we got attached to it, forgetting about our true source of happiness. This is the main reason for our ignorance. Ignorance is the only reason for our miseries.
Each jeev has been in search for happiness. Since jeev are non-doer or akarta (Devanagari: अकर्ता ISO15919: akartā) jeev does not perform any karma. God gives each jeev a body to attain the ultimate goal of life.
Vedas compare the human body to a chariot where
- the gyanendriyan are the horses.
- mind is the bridle
- intellect is the charioteer (driver) and
- jeev is the passenger in this c hariot
The owner of this chariot is jeev. It is also the passenger in this chariot wanting to reach its destination. In the chariot, bridle is controlled by the driver. The bridle in turn controls the horses.
Similarly, in this body intellect controls the mind which in turn controls the senses. Since eternity under the guidance of intellect the mind has been directing senses to find happiness for the jeev.
The jeev relies solely on the charioteer to take it to the abode of Anand (bliss). Since jeev is akarta it cannot give any instruction or direction. Still jeev has the final say on when this quest can end. The quest of jeev ends when the aim of life of the jeev has been achieved.
The intellect, mind and senses are eternal servants of the jeev. Neither they can defy their master nor can they resign. They have to continue to find bliss. Just like the jeev they are eternal too. They have no excuse and are not constrained by time. They have to serve their master.
Qualities of jeev
Prahlad stated twelve qualities/attributes of the jeev
- nitya (Devanagari: नित्य ISO15919: nitya) - eternal
- avyaya (Devanagari: अव्यय ISO15919: avyaya) - does not increase or decrease
- shudhah (Devanagari: शुद्ध ISO15919: śuddha) - pure
- ekah (Devanagari: एक ISO15919: eka) - it is one
- kshetragya (Devanagari: क्षेत्रज्ञ ISO15919: kṣetrajña) - kshetra = body. gya = knower. One who knows the body is kshetragya.
- ashrayah (Devanagari: आश्रयः ISO15919: āśrayaḥ) - provides support to the body
- avikriyah (Devanagari: अविक्रियः ISO15919: avikriyaḥ) - unchangeable
- svadrik (Devanagari: स्वदृक् ISO15919: svadar̥k) - the illuminator
- hetu (Devanagari: हेतु ISO15919: hetu) - reason
- vyapak (Devanagari: व्यापक ISO15919: vyāpaka) - permeates the body
- asangi (Devanagari: असंगी ISO15919: asaṁgī) - is not attached to anything.
- anavritah (Devanagari: अनावृतः ISO15919: anāvr̥taḥ) - not covered by any sheaths. Mind is covered by sheaths.
Categories of jeev
Based on whether jeev has found bliss or not they can be divided into 2 categories.
In addition there is also another category called Mayadheesh.
Let us briefly discuss all three of these classes.
Mayabaddh Jeev
Baddha means controlled. This types of jeev have been eternally controlled by Maya hence they are called mayabaddh jeev (Devanagari: मायाबद्ध जीव ISO15919: māyābaddha jīva). These are also called (Devanagari: मायाधीन जीव ISO15919: māyādhīna jīva) which means jeev who are subjugated by Maya.
Even though these jeev have eternally been under the control of Maya it doesn't mean it will always stay this way. God has given a path to jeev to promote themselves from Mayabaddh to Mayateet category.
Mayateet Jeev
Ateet means beyond. Those who are beyond control of Maya are called Mayateet jeev (Devanagari: मायातीत ISO15919: māyātīta). Unlike us who live in the the world, they live in the divine abode. They can be further categorized into 3 groups -
Nitya Siddha Jeev
Nitya means eternal and siddha means perfect. These jeev are also part of Jeev Shakti of God and yet they are eternally free from Maya. So, they are called nitya siddha (Devanagari: नित्य सिद्ध ISO15919: nitya siddha).
Example of this kind of jeev is hymns of Vedas.
Sadhan Siddha Jeev
Sadhan means practice and siddha means perfect. Those who were once mayabaddh jeev, they did sadhana bhakti then one day realized God. Such jeev are called in sadhan siddha (Devanagari: साधन सिद्ध ISO15919: sādhana siddha) category. Since that blessed moment they live in divine abode.
Parikar
There are some jeev who are part of Jeev shakti and yet they have been eternally free from Maya. Some of them are associates of God. those associates are called Parikar (Devanagari: परिकर ISO15919: parikara). They are also called Parshad (Devanagari: पार्शद ISO15919: pārśada).
These blessed souls have the exclusive opportunity to participate in leelas of Supreme God.
Examples of Parikar are Shri Krishna's friends in Braj namely Dhanasukha, Mansukha.
Swansh
Descensions (Avatar) of God are called swansh (Devanagari: स्वांश ISO15919: svāṁśa). They are part of Chit Shakti and are governors of Svaropa shakti. Jeev who are part of Jeev shakti can NEVER become swansh.
Examples of Swansh are eight friends of Shri Radha, Lord Vishnu etc.
Mayadheesh
Dheesh means controller. No jeev can ever become Mayadheesh. That position is reserved for God and God alone.
The Supreme God is the one and only controller of Maya. He is also the beholder of Jeev Shakti.
Mayabaddh to Mayateet
The mayabaddh jeev are controlled by Maya since eternity. If they choose then they can become mayateet Jeev (free from the bondage of Maya).
To become free jeev needs to understand
- Why am I pursuing Maya?
- I belong to Shri Krishna only.
Firm understanding of these 2 points will detach the mind immediately from the worldly attachments and naturally enthuse jeev to surrender solely unto God.
No jeev can conquer Maya on their own. Lord Krishna says in Gita,
दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया ।मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते ।। गीता |
Daivī hyēṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā. Māmēva yē prapadyantē māyāmētāṁ taranti tē.. Gītā
"Maya is my personal power. None can win it since it is controlled by Me. I am invincible. Those who surrender solely unto Me, can traverse the ocean of Maya by My grace alone".
The body, mind and intellect are provided by Maya, so they are material. The acts of thinking and deciding is performed by mind and intellect respectively. The matters of world are very attractive for material mind and intellect because they are both material.
Also, many of the material matters are achievable by the material mind and intellect. Hence, our mind has a natural affinity for material matters.
So far, we are deprived of our natural right of attaining divine bliss since we are attached to the material world and have forgotten our very source - God.
Still if we use our inherent discriminatory power of intellect, we find them jejune and inverted source of happiness. This renunciation is called virag (Devanagari: विराग ISO15919: virag) or (Devanagari: वैराग्य ISO15919: vairagya) from the world.
Then our mind turns towards God, the very foundation of our existence. And that is all that needs to be done. No sooner does the jeev turn towards God, He bestows upon us our right to enjoy true, divine and unceasing happiness.
The only way to attain true and everlasting happiness is to turn the mind towards God by constant thinking that "I belong to God alone. I have no relationship with anyone else. He is veritable bliss. He is so kind to jeev (His children), that as soon as someone wholeheartedly accepts this relationship, He does not look at the record of offenses one has committed in the past".
Wise person are those who avail the advantage of His merciful nature.