Atmatatva Vichar Or Philosophy Of Soul

Author(s): Vijaylakshmansuri, Ghanshyam Joshi, Kirtivijay Gani
Publisher: Mohanlal D Mehta

Page 33

PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
The King, "Listen to one more anecdote which strengthens my conviction that there is no independent entity as soul. In this very city lived my grandmother, who was very religious minded and highly devoted to the Jain Monks. She was conversant with the elements like Jeeva-Ajeeva. (Soul non-soul etc.). She was sanctifying herself with restraint of senses and penances. This my grandmother died and in your opinion she must have attained to heaven. I am her very dear grandson. She used to love me extremely. Now she could have come from heaven and told me. “Oh grand son, practise religion as I did; and thou shalt gain heavenly happiness.” But till this day she has not turned up to tell me anything of the sort, and so I am not inclined to believe in heaven or hell. Therefore, I hold that body and soul are not distinct but identical and this is my firm conviction.
Acharya: "Suppose you have bathed yourself clean and you are about to leave for temple to worship. You are clad in white clothes. Fragrant-smoke pot you carry in your hand and you proceed towards the temple. Meanwhile, some one from the lavatory calls you to visit the lavatory and tells you to rest and stretch yourself there. Oh King; would you attend to him ?" The King: "Oh Lord, I would not attend to him at all. Lavatory is very filthy and dirty. How would I go to such a place ?"
Acharya: "Oh King, in the same manner your grandmother elevated as god in heaven would not be able to come and speak to you about her happiness. A god newly born in heaven desires to come to the human world but cannot do so because of four reasons : Firstly such god is very much engrossed in celestial happiness and therefore, has no liking for human happiness.
Secondly, God's relation with human beings is cut off and new affectionate relation with gods and goddesses is contracted. Thirdly, god engrossed in divine happiness desires to go to the human world just after a moment but in the meanwhile some period flows away and by that time the short living human relatives die away because god's moment means thousands of human years. Fourthly the human world smells very filthy. This bad odour pervades three to four hundred miles above and god is disgusted with it. Due to these reasons God from heaven cannot come back