Atma the Self

Author(s): Punyadarshanvijay
Publisher: Sanmarg Prakashan

Page 32

.... ĀTMĀ
The Self....
Life-forces - Prana :
The soul (Jiva) is immortal, when the life-span is over, it leaves the body and takes a new body elsewhere, but the soul with form or body, possesses Prana or life-forces. There are ten life-forces. They are (the five-senses of) (1) Touch (II) Taste (III) Smell (IV) Seeing (V) Hearing, (VI) Bodily force (VII) Force of speech (VIII) Force of mind (IX) Capacity of respiration and (x) Duration of life. (The number of forces varies in different types of living beings. Destroying, hurting, damaging and obstructing any of the life forces in any manner, even in thought or in a dream is violence (Prāņātipāta)
The Nigõda:
At the very bottom of the scale comprising the lowest form of life, are sub-microscopic souls which possess only one sense, that of touch. They are so tiny and undifferentiated that they lack even individual bodies. One body (called Nigoda) contains infinite (Ananta) number of Souls. They live in a "Single Infinitesimal Body", in a continuous cycle of births and rebirths. They have the shortest life-span of "256 Avalikā" (5825 Āvalikā per second). There are countless number of bodies in a (Nigoda) G'ubule and countless (Asankhyāta) invisible Globules pervade the entire cosmos. They are in “Avyavahāra Rāśi" (inert-non-active division) for beginningless and endless time (Anādi Ananta).
All the souls in the Cosmos (except liberated souls) are in two separate classes of Avyavahāra Rāśi (non-active, passive division) which consists of Anantānant Souls (infinite power to infinite), while Vyavahāra Rāśi (active division, dynamic, practical) has Ananta (Infinite) numbers of souls and is only a fraction of Avyavahāra Rāśi. There are visible Nigoda Globules in fungus, root vegetables like Potatoes, Onions, etc. Large number of globules will occupy only a pin point space.
The moment a liberated soul attains "Siddhatva" - Godhood - Puresel it migrates to "Siddhaloka" - The Eternal Region. According to Cosmic Law another soul with “Bhavitavyatā" - Fate (+ Kala - whose time is overde) transmigrate from. Avyavahāra Rāśi Division to Vyavahāra Rāśi Division,