Category:God and the Individual Souls
Theme Analysis
The relationship between God and the individual soul is one of the most profound subjects in Vedic philosophy. According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, the Upaniṣads beautifully illustrate this relationship with the analogy of two friendly birds sitting in the same tree. The tree represents the material body. One bird, the individual soul (jīva), is busy eating the fruits of the tree, experiencing the temporary happiness and distress of material activities. The other bird, the Supersoul (Paramātmā), sits quietly as an onlooker. He does not partake in the material fruits but acts as the eternal witness, guide, and supreme friend, patiently waiting for the individual soul to turn toward Him.
This analogy perfectly highlights the difference between the two souls. While both are spiritual in nature and thus qualitatively one, they are quantitatively vastly different. The individual soul is localized, knowing only the pains and pleasures of its specific body. In contrast, the Supersoul is all-pervading, possessing unlimited hands, legs, and eyes, and is fully conscious of all bodies simultaneously. The individual soul is prone to being conditioned by the material energy, whereas the Supreme Soul is the master of that energy and is never contaminated by it.
Understanding this distinction is the essence of real knowledge (jñānam) and completely defeats the Māyāvāda philosophy, which falsely asserts that God and the individual soul are absolutely equal in all respects. If the individual soul were truly equal to God, it could never be placed under the illusion of material nature. Therefore, true self-realization does not mean artificially claiming to be the Supreme; rather, it means recognizing one's subordinate, dependent position and voluntarily engaging in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The Lord is always present in the heart, ready to give direct instruction and liberation as soon as the individual soul purifies itself through unalloyed surrender.
- The Two Birds Analogy: The Upaniṣads compare the body to a tree where two birds sit: the individual soul who enjoys/suffers the fruits of karma, and the Supersoul who acts as the eternal witness.
- Qualitative Oneness, Quantitative Difference: God and the individual soul are both spiritual, but God is infinite and all-pervading, while the soul is minute and localized.
- Defeating Māyāvāda Philosophy: The fact that the individual soul can be covered by illusion proves it is not equal to the Supreme Lord, who is the master of illusion.
- The Goal of Self-Realization: Perfect knowledge means recognizing this eternal relationship and engaging the individual soul in the loving service of the Supreme Soul.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God and the Individual Souls - The Two Birds in the Tree.
Pages in category "God and the Individual Souls"
The following 59 pages are in this category, out of 59 total.
A
- According to the desire and karma of the individual soul, the Lord, through the agency of maya, creates another body for him. The heart of the body is a mechanical arrangement
- As a friend, the Lord is always anxious to get back His friend, the individual soul, and bring him back home, back to Godhead. As a witness He is the bestower of all benedictions, and He endows each individual with the result of his actions
- As stated in Bhagavad-gita (BG 13.3), ksetra-ksetrajnayor jnanam: understanding of the ksetra (the constitution of the body) and of the individual soul and the Supersoul constitutes real jnana, or knowledge
I
- If the living entity is put into the body of a demigod, he must act according to his body. This is the law of nature. But in all circumstances, the Supersoul is with the individual soul. BG 1972 purports
- Impersonalists and monists have misguided their followers because they incorrectly think that the Supreme Lord and the individual souls are equal in all respects
- In Upanisad also there is a verse that the two birds are sitting in one tree. One bird is eating the fruit of the tree and the other bird is simply observing. The observing bird is Krsna or the Supersoul, and the eating bird is the individual soul
- It is to be understood that both the Supersoul and the individual entity are different manifestations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. BG 1972 purports
S
- Self-realization does not mean that because the Supreme Soul and the individual soul are both souls they are equal in every respect. The individual soul is prone to be conditioned, and the Supreme Soul is never conditioned
- Self-realization means knowing one's constitutional position in relationship to the Supreme. The individual soul is part and parcel of the Supreme, and his position is to render transcendental service to the Lord. BG 1972 purports
- Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supersoul, is the master of all living entities; He is the ultimate center of all living entities. So there is no denying the fact that the Supreme Supersoul and the individual soul are always different. BG 1972 purports
T
- The distinction between the Supersoul and the conditioned individual soul is that the Supersoul, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, maintains His natural opulences, known as sad-aisvarya, asta-siddhi and asta-guna
- The God, He is also with me always as friend. So it is said in the Upanisad, there are two birds in one tree. The two birds means I, individual soul, and God, the Supreme Soul
- The individual atma becomes polluted by sin, but the Lord is never contaminated by sins. The Lord is compared to the powerful sun. The sun is never contaminated by anything infectious because it is so powerful
- The individual soul (jiva) accompanies the body. The Supersoul, a plenary representation of Lord Krsna, is called the Paramatma or adhiyajna and is situated in the heart. BG 1972 purports
- The individual soul and the Supreme Lord are not separated as in material differentiation
- The individual soul and the Supreme Soul live together within the body. This is confirmed in the Upanisads by the analogy that two friendly birds live in one tree - one bird eating the fruit of the tree and the other simply witnessing and directing
- The individual soul cannot claim that he is all-pervading. Therefore this verse describes the Supreme Soul, the Personality of Godhead, not the individual soul. BG 1972 purports
- The individual soul is also situated in the individual heart, but he is not present in all hearts. That is the distinction between the individual soul and the Supersoul. One who is not factually in the practice of yoga cannot see so clearly. BG 1972 pur
- The individual soul is part and parcel of the Supreme, and his position is to render transcendental service to the Lord. This transcendental contact with the Supreme is called brahma-samsparsa. BG 1972 purports
- The individual soul, having become conditioned by material nature, is not supreme. The Supreme is different from the individual soul. The Supreme Lord can extend His hand without limit; the individual soul cannot. BG 1972 purports
- The jivas (individual souls) remain compact in the body of Visnu and again and again are manifest at the arrival of Brahma's day. BG 1972 purports
- The Lord also says: "I am also the knower." This means that He is the superknower; the individual soul knows only his particular body. BG 1972 purports
- The Lord instructs His friend, the individual soul, who is also His son, to give up all other engagements and simply surrender unto Him for perpetual bliss and an eternal life full of knowledge
- The Lord is the constant companion of the living entity as Paramatma, or the Supersoul, and therefore He can understand the desires of the individual soul, as one can smell the flavor of a flower by being near it. BG 1972 purports
- The Lord, or the Supersoul, can expand Himself into millions of different forms, whereas the individual soul cannot do so
- The material energy is a manifestation of His external potency, and since the potency is identical with the potent, it appears that the Lord and individual soul are one; but actually the individual soul is under the influence of material energy
- The Mayavadi philosophers are again and again defeated by the illusory energy because they think that there is no separation between the Supersoul and the individual soul or that there is no Supersoul
- The Mayavadi philosophers' thesis that God and the individual soul are one and the same cannot be accepted because the individual soul has to develop his power according to the development of different types of bodies
- The personified Vedas continued, "Dear Lord, if saintly persons do not take care to eradicate completely the roots of sinful desires, they cannot experience the Supersoul, although He is sitting side by side with the individual soul"
- The superior position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the subordinate position of the individual soul are definitely defined in these chapters. BG 1972 purports
- The Supersoul exists in His all-pervading form, & in Him exist all the living entities, beginning from the first great teacher, Brahma, down to the small ants. There are unlimited heads, legs, hands & eyes, & unlimited living entities. BG 1972 purports
- The Supersoul is called Hrsikesa, and the individual soul is advised by the direction of the Supersoul to surrender to Him and thus be happy
- The Supersoul, being seated in everyone's heart, can witness everyone's activities - past, present and future. In the Upanisads the Supersoul is described as being seated with the individual soul as friend and witness
- The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of consciousness. BG 1972 purports
- The supreme atma, or soul, is the Lord Himself, and the minute atma is the living entity. The supreme atma, or Paramatma, alone maintains all the individual minute beings, for the Supreme Lord wants to derive pleasure out of their affection
- The Supreme has legs and hands distributed everywhere, and this cannot be said of the individual soul. Therefore that there are two knowers of the field of activity, the individual soul and the Supersoul, must be admitted. BG 1972 purports
- The Supreme is one, and the individual soul is one, but the individual soul is understood to be the master of the individual combination of material energy, whereas the Supreme Lord is the controller of the total material energy
- The Supreme Lord is so kind upon the living entity that He always accompanies the individual soul and in all circumstances is present as the Supersoul or Paramatma. BG 1972 purports
- The Supreme Lord is within the atom as Paramatma, and therefore He is also within the individual soul. Being within everything, He knows everything. Since He knows everything, we have to take lessons from Him
- The Supreme Lord never creates the actions and reactions of an individual soul
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly lives with the individual soul as Paramatma
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always merciful and full of transcendental qualities, but certain individual souls have forgotten their relationship with Krsna and have endeavored to lord it over material nature
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead speaks directly to the individual soul when the devotee has completely purified himself by rendering devotional service to the Lord
- The Vedic information says that the Supreme Lord as Supersoul is sitting with you in the same tree. The individual soul and the Supersoul is sitting in the heart, and this body is considered as tree, and He is seeing your . . . my activities
- The yoga system which relates to the Lord and the individual soul, which is meant for the ultimate benefit of the living entity, and which causes detachment from all happiness and distress in the material world, is the highest yoga system
- There are two souls within this body. That is stated in the Vedic literature. Just like two birds on one tree. So the living entity, the individual soul, is there. He is also one bird. And the Supersoul, or God, is also there
- This one tree is this whole body, and the two birds - one the individual soul and the other is the Supersoul - both of them are sitting as friends. One bird is eating the fruits of the tree, and the other bird is simply onlooker
- This realization (since the Supreme Lord spreads throughout one's body and since the individual soul is a part of the Supreme Lord) was achieved by Lord Brahma after he was purified, and it is possible for everyone
- Those who are kavayah, learned scholars, actually know the facts. They do not commit such mistakes (thinking that everything is the Supersoul). They know that God and the individual soul are one in quality
- True, the individual souls are equal in quality with the Supreme Lord, but not in quantity. If the individual soul were quantitatively equal to the Supreme Lord, he would have never been subjected to the laws of material nature
- Two birds, namely the Supersoul, Krsna, and the living entity, individual soul, they are sitting together. And one is eating the fruit of the tree and the other is simply witnessing. This is our position