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The statement that the soul, which knows the mind, the five great elements, and the one man-soul, is liberated, regardless of whether it resides in an ashram, wears matted hair, or has a topknot, is meaningless and pointless.
By considering the soul as pervasive and eternal, it is not possible for it to be born in a divine or human womb, to leave it, and to be reborn in another womb. Since the soul is eternal, it does not experience any kind of forgetfulness or delusion. All things remain in its memory as they are. Therefore, actions like remembering one's birth and caste do not arise.
The use of "tathā" and other such words here implies that nature is the doer. The doership of all actions in the world lies with nature. The soul is the enjoyer of its fruits. In Samkhya, the soul is called Purusha. Therefore, the implication here is that the soul enjoys the fruits of actions performed by nature. This is not proven because enjoyment is also an action. In Samkhya, the soul is considered inactive or inert.
If it is said that the soul enjoys the fruits of actions performed by nature through the analogy of the reflection of a seal, i.e., just as a seal and an image remain outside but are reflected in a mirror and appear to be in the mirror, similarly, although the action of enjoyment does not occur in the soul, it appears to be in the soul like the image reflected in a mirror, this statement is merely a play of words and devoid of logic. Only those who are not aware of reality will accept this.
Is it not also worth considering that the appearance of a reflection in a mirror is also a kind of action? When the soul is eternal, unchanging, and without modification, how can this action occur in it? Just as the appearance of an image in a mirror does not occur in the soul, such an action never occurs.
If you say that the action of enjoyment and the appearance of a reflection occur in the soul, then we can consider the soul to be active in this regard. However, we cannot consider it to be capable of performing all actions simply because of this action. The soul can be considered active if it performs all actions.
The author, anticipating such a doubt, writes:
The absence of fruit does not prove the absence of a tree, because if a tree bears fruit, it is called a tree, and if it does not bear fruit, it is not considered a tree. Similarly, although the soul is inactive and without action in certain bodily states, such as sleep, it cannot be called actionless simply because of this. Trees that bear little fruit are not evidence of the absence of a tree, i.e., it is not necessary to have abundant fruit to be called a tree. Jackfruit trees, etc., bear very little fruit, but they are still called trees. Similarly, if the soul is slightly active, it is still called active.
If you state your opinion as follows: "That which has little action is actionless, just as someone who has only one penny is not called wealthy, similarly, the soul is not called active because of its slight activity, it is inactive," this is not inappropriate or unsuitable.
The question is, did you give this analogy with respect to a particular individual or with respect to all individuals? If you gave it with respect to someone who...