Spiritual FAQs

Q. The soul is like God but it is not God. The soul is eternal – it has not birth and death. How does the soul come into being from God? What happens to the soul after ‘complete destruction’ i.e. after the death of Lord Brahma? What happens to the ‘unused’ karma?

A. The soul is co-eternal with God, just as a spark of a blazing fire exists with the fire, although not independent of it. At the time of total annihilation all the conditioned souls enter into the body of Maha Visnu and remain there in a dormant state for eons. ‘Unused karma’ is held in a dormant or suspended state, awaiting the next creation. Each soul gets another material body in one of the 8,400,000 species of life during the next creation, according to his residual karma. If he becomes a pure devotee, all his karma is finished and he can go back to Godhead.

Q. What is the relation between soul and body; soul and mind; body and mind: sufferings of soul; suffering of body?

A. The body is like a vehicle or machine upon which the soul is seated. There is nice analogy in Katha Upanisad which describes the body as the chariot, the senses as the horses, the mind as the driving instrument, the intelligence as the driver of the chariot, and the soul is riding on this chariot. The soul actually experiences neither enjoyment or suffering in this material region, because it is spiritual by nature, and is full of eternity, knowledge and bliss. However, the soul experiences the pains and pleasures of the body, which are just material interactions, because he is thinking he is this body. The suffering or enjoyment of the soul is just like one’s suffering in a dream; it has no reality. Cf BG 13.21 and 22.

Q. How is our soul a part of Krishna?

A. The analogy of a spark to a blazing fire is given to describe our relationship with Krsna. We are the energy of Krsna and are just like a small spark of the Infinite Absolute.

We have our individual identity and freewill, but we can never function independently of Krsna.

Q. Does Ksriyodakashayi Vishnu also have a spiritual body? Does He exist in Lord Brahma also?

A. Yes. He enters as the Supersoul within the heart of every embodied living entity, including Brahmaji and is unaffected by material nature.

Q. What happens to our spiritual bodies once we take on a material body?

A. The spiritual body (or spirit soul) is described as being situated in the region of the heart and is covered by the subtle and gross material coverings. Prabhupada compares this to a man wearing a shirt and coat. It is the spirit soul (or spiritual body) which is activating the material body, just as when the man’s hands move, the arms of coat also move. In other words, the spiritual body is present, but covered and existing in a dormant state.

Q. As we are part and parcel of Krishna, we were already there in different bodies maybe spiritual or material bodies depending upon our karma and wandering between the universes, What exactly does Lord Brahmaji create at the inception of the universe? Is it the new spirit, or new body or new form?

A. Lord Brahma creates the material bodies of all the different species of life out of the total material ingredients. Before creation the living entities are lying dormant in the body of Maha Visnu. The material ingredients are present in an undifferentiated, aggregate form, called pradhana. Maha Visnu is the original creator, and by His glancing over the material energy the living entities are impregnated into the material energy, or pradhana. Also, from the body of Maha Visnu, the universes are generated. Brahmaji is the secondary creator and he simply executes the details of sub-creation, by following the ‘blue print’ supplied to him by the Purusa Avatar Garbhodaksayi Visnu. Brahma then creates the various planetary systems within the universe and the various species of life; in turn the living entities take are awarded their respective life forms, according to their karma and their previous association with the modes of nature.

Q. Can a devotee of Lord Krsna who has not been initiated yet but has been following all the instruction from HDG Prabhupada is allowed to worship Lord Krsna’s Archa Vigraha form in his house?

A. Yes. Yet that devotee should know that, in course of time, the injunctions of scripture indicate that each sincere devotee should become initiated in the line of disciplic succession. Certainly Srila Prabhupada’s teachings reflect this fact. Historically, Srila Prabhupada authorized that his traveling sankirtan devotees in India could take Gaura Nitai deities with them for distribution to newcomers; non-initiated devotees were expected to become Their worshipers. For a sincere follower of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings, aspiring to achieve the standards for initiation is essential, particularly for one who has taken to the arcana process. Worship of Gaura Nitai would be the preferable initial deity forms to be worshiped by uninitiated devotees, because Gaura Nitai are so merciful.

Q. In BG Chapter 4,beginning Krishna says that he instructed the imperishable science of yoga to sun god Vivasavan. I am curious as to which Avatar does this happened.

A. Each time Krsna appears to deliver Bhagavad-gita, it is as Vasudeva Krsna.

Q. In BG AS IT IS Krishna says I know past, present and future. Knowing past and present is ok, if Krishna knows exactly (means every single moment of us) that means our future is well defined then where is the free will for us. If there is free will then how Krishna knows what will we do in future. I already asked Maharaja same question, he explained that there is free will, Krishna will not interfere in that, but at the same time He knows what will we choose from that free will. I have not satisfied with that answer, can you elaborate that.

A. father may know that his son likes ice-cream better than anything else. Still, out of love he might ask his son, “My dear son, would you like to have ice-cream or cake?” The father knows the son will choose ice-cream but the choice is still there and the boy can still choose either of the two. This is just a very crude example; Krsna’s ‘knowing’ is much more than that. He is omniscient, beyond just the present circumstances of time and He exactly knows our innermost desires, propensities etc. Even if we were going to choose ‘cake’ this time, He would know it! Yet as the Supreme loving father, He gives us the choice every moment, ‘Choose Me or choose maya’, and we can choose as we like! Krsna’s knowing ‘future time’ does not diminish our freedom of will to choose

Q. Both in spiritual life and also in material life people speak of attitude. What should be the approach of a spiritual aspirants towards other spiritual aspirants and with materialists?

A. The answer to this can be found in a number of places, where qualifications of a madhyama adhikari are described. Amongst spiritual aspirants, there are those more advanced, those who are peers and those who are less advanced. In all cases, we should try to render service to the vaisnavas. Those who are more advanced, we should hear from them and serve them favorably. Amongst those who are peers, we should exchange realizations in the matter of spiritual understanding. With regard to those who are less advanced, we should try to extend ourselves in a helpful and compassionate way. As far as the materialists are concerned, their individual attitude should be carefully determined. It should first be determined whether the materialist is simply innocent and requires good association or is adamant and opposed to the supremacy of God. If the non-devotee is simply innocent, then we should carefully try to give some association to help that individual progress in his spiritual life. Those who are overt atheists, we should carefully guard against taking confidential association with them.