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264
Bhagavati Sūtra
Consideration till Q./A. 215 is about sinful activities starting with injury to living beings...till perverted faith.
140. It is an interesting dialogue with Arya Roha, in which the Lord ordains and establishes that there is no order as prior and posterior, since all objects are ever existent. Order is interpolated by human beings for their own convenience.
141. The two expressions, 'non-soul is based on the soul'. and 'non-soul holds the soul', may cause a little confusion. If non-soul is based on the soul, how can it hold the soul? In the first expression, non-soul or matter sticks round the soul, making the soul the container of matter. In the second expression, which has a different import, the soul is subject to karma which imparts life-span, race, name, etc., to the soul, thus holding it in bondage. So there is no contradiction.
142. The consideration is about the relation between soul and matter, both of which exist together from an eternal past. Like the leaky boat, which sinks to the bottom of the tank and is no longer separately visible, but is mixed with water, the soul and matter are mixed up with each other in a manner which creates the impression that the two are one. The only exception to this is the liberated soul who may be without body, or with body which is worn for the last time and which will be taken no more.
143. The consideration is about minute particles of water like mist, dew, etc., which, unlike the bigger drops, are incessantly falling and falling everywhere. During the day, when the sun is hot, they disappear even before coming anywhere near the earth, but not so at night or in the early hours of the morning when they get deposited on the earth and are visible even to the naked eye.
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144. The expression 'an infernal being taking birth among the infernal beings' may appear to be in conflict with the authoritative assertion that only animals and human beings are born in the hells, not the infernal beings, who, when once in the hells, run a full course, and are not born there again. The difficulty may be resolved in the following manner. When an animal
