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Ätmasiddhi
old. These changes occur in the same person.
Now let us consider Pudgal. Earlier, we had talked about transformation taking place in the worldly life. Every transformation involves a change from an old state to a new one. Natural forces are continually at work to bring about such changes. When water is turned into snow, its liquid form gives place to the solid one. The living beings too are instrumental in bringing about such changes. When a cow eats grass, the carbohydrate form of grass is destroyed and it assumes the form of blood, meat, milk, etc. When a goldsmith makes earrings out of a necklace, he destroys the necklace form of the gold and gives it the form of earrings. Thus, in every case of transformation, the old form disappears and the new form comes into being, but the matter, hydrogen and oxygen in the case of water, and gold in the case of jewelry, remains constant.
Changes occur every moment, but many changes become obvious after some time. The sea waves provide the example of the changes occurring every moment. The waves continue to rise and fall every moment, but the water remains the same. The waves merely present its changing states. In spiritual terminology this phenomenon of ever changing states is termed as Paryäy, and to consider anything from that point of view is called the Paryäyärthic viewpoint.
This stanza states that the soul stays constant like the water in the sea, but its states go on changing like the sea waves. Ignorance and enlightenment, for instance, represent two different states of the soul. Similarly, childhood, youth, old age, etc. are the changing states of an embodied soul. If one views the soul from that angle, it can be termed as transitory and ephemeral. Since, however, the soul knows all such changing states, it can safely be stated that the soul itself remains constant; it stays forever.
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