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190
Aptavani-8
Questioner: So the Atma cannot be divided?
Dadashri: The Atma itself is the Absolute Soul (Parmatma). And it is in an elemental form (vastu swaroop). Therefore, not a single piece of it can be separated; it is entirely whole. Division would create a portion, and it would destroy the element (vastu), but that is not how it is. The Atma cannot be divided.
Questioner: The life-forms (jivas) that are called amoeba, they multiply systematically through division, from one into two, and from two into four, that is why I was asking about whether the Atma divides.
Dadashri: That is true. But the Atma does not undergo division. It is the body that goes through the division. There are infinite jivas in the body, and they have their own divisions. In a single potato, there are many, many life-forms (jivas). When you cut it up, you could plant this small a piece, and it would even grow. And there are so many other things that if you cut up, would not grow! Anything which you cut up, and which grows when you plant it, has many living entities (jivas) in it. Plants with milky secretions and succulents (water-retaining) like cacti, would grow if you planted a small segment. They contain the most jivas, which continue to proliferate.
Questioner: So what is the difference between, what they call a subtle soul (sookshma atma), and the gross soul (sthool atma)?
Dadashri: There are no divisions such as subtle (sookshma) Atma or gross (sthool) Atma or anything else, for the Atma. Nevertheless, people go around saying gross Atma and subtle Atma, and all that. All that; is the transient or destructible (vinashi) Atma. And that which is the real, original Atma, is eternal and indestructible (avinashi). It does not have a subtle part, nor does it have a gross part!
