24 Apr 2014
[Shri Anil asked for clarification about the vision of the soul as mentioned in the Veda and the Gita. Given below is Shri Swami’s response.]
In Sanskrit, the verb ‘seeing’ can be taken in the meaning of ‘knowing’. Therefore, the soul is imaginable or knowable item and forms a part of the imaginable or knowable creation. Only the creator is unimaginable or unknowable. The process of seeing is generally sensed with reference to the naked eye. Apart from the naked eye, the vision is possible through the modern intricate equipment used by the present scientists. The ancient sages could also see the items invisible to naked eye through special divine power. Such item is invisible with reference to the naked eye, but visible with reference to the scientific equipment or special divine power. Therefore, all the items of the creation are imaginable or knowable and visible directly or indirectly. The sharp and deep analysis is considered to be the eye of knowledge (Jnana netram). Even without the scientific equipment or the special divine power, a scholar can imagine the soul through sharp analysis and such imagination is also considered as vision of the intelligence. Hence, the scholars also could visualize the soul through sharp analysis of intelligence, which is considered as the eye of knowledge. Imagination obtained through conclusions of analysis is indirect vision since the naked eye is not involved but the mind sees it as an object of imagination as seen in the dream. This is said in the Gita (Pashyanti Jnaanachakshushah).
The vision of God becomes impossible in anyway. No sage can see God through any special divine power. No scientist can see God through any powerful equipment. Even no scholar can imagine God through sharp analysis of the third eye of knowledge. All these three possibilities of vision of knowledge apply only to the creation and utterly fail in the case of God. The soul is the most subtle and precious item of the creation. It is the awareness, which is a specific work form of inert energy functioning in a specific system called as brain and nervous system. Any work form of energy is invisible but imaginable. Therefore, the soul can be visualized as special work form of energy through sharp analysis of intelligence, called as the third eye of knowledge. It can be also seen by the naked eye through special divine power. It can be seen through equipments as waves of the inert energy through conversion of work into wave form of inert energy. This means that the work form cannot be seen directly through equipment unless it is again converted back into inert energy. However, the special divine power can see straightly the work form of energy. In this way, always the special divine power is superior to the scientific equipment. In the ancient days, this scientific equipment was absent. Hence, the soul was either directly seen by the sages through divine power or indirectly seen by scholars through sharp analysis. The word ‘unimaginable’ was forcibly applied to this soul with reference to the ordinary human being. The ordinary human being should become a scholar to see the soul through sharp analysis. The conversion of ordinary human being to a scholar is a difficult process. Therefore, the word ‘unimaginable’ is explained as the unimaginable to normal human being but imaginable to a scholar through great difficulty in doing sharp analysis. The word ‘unimaginable’ does not stand in its strict sense that it is unknowable to anybody at any time through any effort. By such modification of the sense of the word ‘unimaginable’, the soul is thought to be unimaginable God. But, in the view of strict reality, no imaginable item of the creation can ever be called as the original unimaginable God. Later on, the scientists could see the soul through equipments in the form of its basic inert energy and declared that really there is no unimaginable God at all since the so called unimaginable soul becomes imaginable through sharp analysis and visible through advanced equipments. This led to further strengthening of the atheism.
Actually, the unimaginable God can be also seen even by the naked eye as in the case of contemporary Human incarnation. The specific human being possessed by God can be seen as God for all the practical purposes like the electrified wire can be viewed as electricity for all practical purposes. Hence, the Veda says that one fortunate fellow has seen God through naked eye (Kashchit dheerah...). You may say that the specific human being is seen by all the human beings and hence, how is it said that one alone saw the God? Even though all the human beings see the specific human being through the naked eye, none realized Him as God and hence, did not see Him as God. Hence, they could see only the medium, i.e., human being. In their case, you cannot say that they have seen God. Only very few devotees can identify the contemporary Human incarnation as God and hence, can be said as the very few spectators of God.
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