Tag: spiritual scientist

Are there millions of souls living in my body?

How many souls live in a body? For example, there are millions of sperm in an average healthy man’s body, do they all contain souls? If there are millions of souls but only one or two get a chance then what happens to all the others?

Partha Das, 18 March 2020

Hare Krsna,

I understand that each sperm has a soul. Our body has millions of sperms. Does it mean there are millions of souls living in my body along with my soul at any time.

Sounds scary.

Dandavats

Partha Das

Rcard, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna!!!

I’ve been wondering the same query but multiplied even more.

I’ve included all the cells of our bodies including micro-organisms and so on. 

Which one is your soul? Is it the one dwelling in your heart?.

Do all these cells, sperms and micro-organisms transmigrate with your soul when change body?.

Rcard

Priya Sundari devi dasi, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna Prabhus. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I hope this finds you well. 

HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami has a seminar called ‘Dust to Dust’ – this is recorded and is available on Iskcondesiretree for devotees to listen to. 

In that Maharaja says that the soul goes into the body of the male first through grains (and again someone asks the question in the seminar that does that mean we avoid eating grains), before which it goes through the rain, into the ground and then into grains.  

Maharaja also explains very nicely that when the time is right then we attract a soul who comes into the male’s body through consumption of grains and then is transferred to the womb of the mother. It also answers other questions about the souls journey before birth and after death, hence the name Dust to dust. 

The seminar is quite extraordinary and I would highly recommend listening to it. 

I also read somewhere that the soul stays in the father’s body for 3 months and the mother’s body for 270 days (pregnancy). <– Apologies I cannot find a quote / reference for this. 

your servant 

Priya Sundari devi dasi. 

*Kṛṣṇe matir astu*

Bhakta Sanjay, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna,

Dandavat Pranam to all vaishnavas.

Soul is spiritual sparks from supreme soul i.e. Lord Krishna. Body is material which consists of 5 elements. Based on Karmic reactions from million births, soul transmigrate to the already built-in heart in the womb of a mother i.e. who will be father and mother is already pre-detinied based on KARMA. This is my personal understanding after going through the scriptures. Based on this understanding, each chromosome will not have spiritual sparks (soul) but material energy from the Lord with potency to fertilize an egg.

Haribol,

Jay Gurudev, 

Sanjay

Arnoldas Zdanevicius, 19 March 2020

Hare Krsna.

Dandavat pranam to all!

All glories to Srila Prabhupad and His faithful followers.

I wonder why we discuss things which we will never know completely? All the answers about the soul are hidden from us. Soul is not material. That’s it. 

Don’t waste your time trying to understand the soul. 

or better ask your Guru about it. Do not speculate about it.

better chant Hare Krsna – this is for me.

Please help me how to find taste in chanting again. I am loosing.

Perhaps I am done with Krsna consciousness for some time.

your eternal servant, anyway.

Arnoldas 🙂

Rasika Krishna Das, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna!

I once asked Srila Gurudev almost same question, he answered that there are many souls within our body like microbes & germs in air that we breathe, worms in our digestive tract and many more but you (the owner of this body) are the king of all souls, the king of this city of nine gates.

Regarding sperms, only potent sperms have souls. That’s the reason why many healthy aspiring mothers are never able to conceive because the aspiring fathers don’t have any potent sperms because of their karma. From purport of SB 11.5.41:

“Often the sexual act fails to produce pregnancy at all. So although all parents desire a beautiful, highly qualified child, this is often not the case. Thus it can be understood that ultimately it is by the mercy of the Supreme Lord that a man and woman are able to produce a child by the sexual act. It is by the Lord’s mercy that the man’s seminal injection is potent and the woman’s ovum is fertile. Similarly, it is only by the mercy of the Lord that the child is born in a healthy condition and reaches physical maturity to pursue his own life. If at any stage in the evolution of a human being the Lord’s mercy is withdrawn, sudden death or crippling disease occurs.”

your servant,

Rasika Krishna Das

Tapas Chakraborty, 19 March 2020

Hare Krishna 

Dandavat Pranam to all Krishna devotees

I too agree with your views. The subject of discussion which doesn’t lead us to absolute knowledge of truth and love for the supreme is simply a waste of time and energy. All our endeavor to be directed towards self realization through increasing our consciousness on the absolute. Lord in his manifestation in this material earth has enacted many a plays which carry a dual objective of his divine play as well teaching mankind his real purpose on this material earth. We need to dwell on this subject for a deeper understanding of its morals and following the same . 

For your losing taste in chanting, I request the elevated souls of this group to enlighten on how to persevere with the endless love towards Supreme. 

Hare Krishna 

your ever endearing servant 

Tapas 

Partha Das, 20 March 2020

Thanks for the explanation. 

Partha Das

Partha Das, 20 March 2020

Hare Krsna, Dandavats,

We are all devotees of Krsna.Also we are sincere students of the great Vedic literature.

As students we get many doubts as we study. These have to be answered before we move on further. Hence the queries.

your servant

Partha Das

Tapas Chakraborty, 21 March 2020

Hare Krishna 

Dear Partha

You are on the right path as well with divine association of illumined souls to guide you in the path of Krishna consciousness. It is true , in the beginning our inquisitive mind plays an active role in trying to know all at a go . But as we go along through perseverance in search of absolute knowledge keeping aside temporary distractions, all answers unfold before you slowly. 

yours all endearing servant 

Tapas

Mahabhagavat Das, 25 March 2020

Hare Krishna Everyone!

Thank you for a lively discussion on this important subject matter. Actually it is important to know that semen contains millions of jivas, not all jivas have the good fortune of getting a womb and a body… leave alone a human body! We all have got that good fortune, and the chance at a human life. So when someone says “human life is rare” they are not joking!

This means we need to take responsibility – this is the reason why illicit sex is a sinful activity, because we are denying any of those souls a chance to lead a human life.

Also, to the followup question whether other cells in the body are souls also, the answer is given in the Bhagavad Gita…

“

यथा प्रकाशयत्येक: कृत्स्‍नं लोकमिमं रवि: ।

क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्‍नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥ ३४ ॥

yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ

kṛtsnaṁ lokam imaṁ raviḥ

kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ

prakāśayati bhārata

O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.” https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/34/ (please read the purport, very very wonderful!)

We can realize that if we cut off the hand, or drain some blood from the body, or be badly burned, or have brain damage or a faulty heart, as long as the soul doesn’t leave the body, the body stays alive. When the soul leaves, then even if the body had perfectly good cells at the time of death, it is a dead body. No one can clearly explain medically or analytically exactly why one body in the same circumstances lives and another one in the same circumstances dies – the only possible explanation is “the soul stayed or left depending on his karma and the decision of higher authorities”.

I am Mahabhagavat Das, eternal servant of Sankarshan Das Adhikari, grand-disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, now writing this email, that tiny particle living within my body which is known in this world by various temporary material designations. My absence from this body will make my body a dead body. As long as I am here, this body will be at least somewhat valuable. Once I am gone, useless.

Srila Gurudeva’s answer also makes it clear by extension, that other living entities live in/on our body too, they are all individual souls as they don’t necessarily die when we leave the body, but in fact can even thrive and flourish – which is why the body begins to decay.

This is a moderated group. All questions are welcome. Anything that is not according to group guidelines or not helpful to broadcast will not be posted or will be answered privately. If you are asking or answering a question, please be kind, respectful, and encouraging.

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Editor’s note: Also the verses BG 3.14, and 3.15 discuss this subject matter. Also this article answers this question also: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2012/01/do-all-sperms-have-soul/

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The Sun, The Moon, Distances, and The Universal Arrangement

How is it that the statements of the Vedic Scriptures in the matter of dimensions of the sun, moon, and the distances between them don’t match with the modern scientific theories?

Partha Das, 28 October 2019

Hare Krsna, Dandavats,

Could you throw some light on the shloka from the 5th canto of Bhagavatam 5.25.2.

The sun globe, which is a source of heat, extends for 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles]. The moon extends for 20,000 yojanas [160,000 miles], and Rāhu extends for 30,000 yojanas [240,000 miles].

Thanks

Partha Das

Subodh, 29 October 2019

Cosmic and materials knowledge can only affirmed the belief of Krishna’s expansion but can’t get rid of from birth and death cycles, without yug mantras given by mahaprabhu, hence chant hare krishna simply be happy, 

Subodh

Partha Das, 29 October 2019

Very true Prabhuji. But a foundation made of solid knowledge will make us very good devotees of the Lord

Partha Das

Manoj Tripathi, 29th October 2019

Hare Krishna Partha Prabhu.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada,

All glories to Guru Maharaja.

The verse number is 5.24.2. 

Here, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī is talking about the sizes of Sun, Moon, and Rahu. Before this verse, he talked about the distance of Rahu from the Sun. 

To adherents of modern science, it may all sound very confusing, or even laughable. However, it should be noted that the Jyotisha Shastras deal with planetary orbits and sizes, and they have been predicting eclipses, seasons etc. very well [1]. Modern measurements on size of the planets and distances (including Sun and moon!) match well with the data given in Surya Siddhanta [2]. Bhagavatam’s picture of the universe may seem to contradict Jyotisha Shastras at some points; however, a detailed study would reveal that everything is in order. And Srila Prabhupada wanted his PhDs to go through these details and construct a model of the universe presented in Bhagavatam and display it in Mayapur [3].   

[1] http://richardlthompson.com/book/vedic-cosmography-and-astronomy

[2] https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/adi/3/8/

[3] https://vanisource.org/w/index.php?title=760427_-_Letter_to_Svarupa_Damodara_written_from_Auckland&t=hl#terms=Ph.D

Manoj Tripathi

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 30 October 2019

Dear Sriman Partha,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudeva.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

All gratitude to all the group members for participating in this worldwide group…

Srimad Bhagavatam is Amala Purana, the spotless Purana, is the literary incarnation of Krishna Himself. Everything mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam is the Supreme Absolute Truth, even if we may struggle to understand how. Verses and purports that I read in the Bhagavatam say ten years ago sometimes make sense to me now, after all the additional context, or in a class, or somehow by Guru’s and Krishna’s mercy.

What is your actual concern with SB 5.25.2?

ŚB 5.25.2

yasyedaṁ kṣiti-maṇḍalaṁ bhagavato ’nanta-mūrteḥ sahasra-śirasa ekasminn eva śīrṣaṇi dhriyamāṇaṁ siddhārtha iva lakṣyate.

yasyedaṁ kṣiti-maṇḍalaṁ bhagavato ’nanta-mūrteḥ sahasra-śirasa ekasminn eva śīrṣaṇi dhriyamāṇaṁ siddhārtha iva lakṣyate.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: This great universe, situated on one of Lord Anantadeva’s thousands of hoods, appears just like a white mustard seed. It is infinitesimal compared to the hood of Lord Ananta.

There is no purport.

Did you mean some other statement?

Mahabhagavat Das

Partha Das, 31 October 2019

Hare Krsna, Dandavats,

Apologies for mentioning the wrong shloka number.

The correct shloka is 5.24.2

The sun globe, which is a source of heat, extends for 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles]. The moon extends for 20,000 yojanas [160,000 miles], and Rāhu extends for 30,000 yojanas [240,000 miles].

your Servant

Partha Das

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 12 November 2019

Dear Sriman Partha,

Hare Krishna!

Yes, as I stated before, the Srimad Bhagavatam is spotless, faultless. Everything mentioned in the Bhagavatam is the Supreme Absolute Truth. We may not be able to understand it, just as sometimes ordinary people cannot understand the words of a great genius…That being known, what exactly is your question?

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Partha Das, 12 November 2019

Hare Krsna,

My question is that the shloka is not clear wrt what we learned in school about the sizes of these planets and the distance between them.

Dandavats

Partha Das

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 13 November 2019

Dear Sriman Partha,

Hare Krishna!

Yes, there are 2 ways of receiving knowledge – one is called the “arohapanthi” or the “ascending process”. The other is called “avarohapanthi” or “descending process”. The material scientists follow the ascending process (base one fact upon another that is proven), we follow the descending process. Our process is that there is the Creator and we get all our information from Him. In theory, both processes should reach the same conclusions, but in the ascending process, there are a lot of pitfalls, mistakes, etc., and the ascending process cannot discover information that is spiritual in nature.

It is important not to position the scripture and material science as competitors… Chaitanya Charan Prabhu makes that clear that both deal with different subject matters and have totally different perspectives, and he goes on to show how both are correct.

Here is an example from Chaitanya Charan Prabhu… if you mix charcoal powder with white chalk powder, you get a grey substance. Everyone can see that it is a grey substance. But when you look at the powder under the microscope there is no grey substance to be found, it is either white particles or black particles, no grey. The person looking with the naked eye says grey, the person with the microscope says black and white, and both argue – but both are right. He has numerous examples where the scripture and material science say different things but both are correct…

There is also a BBT book called “The Scientific Basis of Krishna Consciousness” by Bhakti Swarup Damodar Maharaja who was also a scientist before he took Sannyas and even after that he founded the Bhaktivedanta Institute. That book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in these sorts of subjects.

The structure of the Universe is vast, but still material, and yes, the ascending process could possibly discover the entire material truth, but it may take a long time, if at all.

Our mundane material textbooks are presently based on a big fat lie – that this Universe came from nothing. The Big Bang theory is just a theory with no conclusive evidence to support it, it is a fairy tale. Something cannot come from nothing, not even one little electron, or one nanometer of space can be created from nothing. So, the fact that we learned that in our textbooks means that the knowledge we studied there is imperfect.

When I was in school and university, I saw that with Maths and Physics, one little mistake in a proof or derivation can lead us to the wrong conclusion… in those cases, my mistakes were caught by my more expert classmates, seniors, or teachers. But in the realm of theoretical physics, as the field gets more and more specialized and sub-specialized, the reviewer pool gets very very small, to the extent that on a certain topic maybe 3 people in the world understand enough to be able to review the papers. Then, what those three people do is, collude and write papers that they each other review and approve – thus getting tenures and grants from various agencies. No one else can possibly know that they are making a mistake – the fields are too arcane. This was revealed to Srila Gurudeva when he was spreading Krishna consciousness in a small University town in America by a Post-doc researcher who was coming to the temple. I have also met many researchers who said the same thing… basically it is a closed club where nepotism and corruption exists. Sometimes the researcher does research and publishes it knowing it to be wrong, and then the following year, they just publish another paper saying they were wrong.

Our mundane material textbooks are consequently revised many times… this is true of medical texts, and many other fields of material knowledge.

But the Vedic scriptures are coming from Krishna, perfect, constant, not revised, no additions or subtractions, no errata, no addenda.

With regard to astronomy and so on, one of the disciples of Srila Prabhupada, Sadaputa Dasa (Richard Thompson) (who passed away recently) has written many books that help to understand the Vedic astronomy better. And also, the Temple of the Vedic Planetariaum being built in Mayapur will help with that. Also, books and writings by Drutakarma Prabhu (Michael Cremo) are helpful.

For example, Sadaputa Prabhu said that the “islands of earth” mentioned in the Bhagavatam are different planet in the earthly system of planets… and that the “flatness of the earth” describes “planetary rings”… To be honest the writings are so intricate that I didn’t invest my time and effort into understanding them.

Until then, we say what we need to say to pass exams, get jobs, etc., and it is also possible we don’t fully understand how the Bhagavatam could be correct. But, after reflecting on all these types of questions which I also had many of, I can decide how important this is to our spiritual progress to know the distance of the sun and moon etc.

Does this help?

Sincerely,

Mahabhagavat Das

Sundar Gopal Das, 13 November 2019

Dear Bhakta Partha,

In addition to the wonderful reflection by HG Mahabhagavat Prabhuji, you can hear the answer from HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhuji by clicking the following link:

How do we understand the Puranic statements about the distances of earth moon and sun?

With regards,

Sundar Gopal Das 

Partha Das, 13 November 2019

Yes Prabhuji. I guess Krsna will keep on revealing more things to us, as we progress in Krsna consciousness.

Thanks

Partha Das

Jayakrishna, 25 November 2019

Hare Krishna!

I think The following conversation is really addressing this question

“Dr. Singh. Because the scientists haven’t detected any water on the surface of the moon, they’ve concluded that no life could survive there.

Śrīla Prabhupāda. They haven’t seen the whole surface of the moon. Suppose someone were to come here from another planet, drop into the Arabian Desert and then return home. Could he come to a complete conclusion about the nature of the whole earth? His knowledge would not be complete”

(The First Morning Walk: April 18, 1973)

It is only recently the science  proved the presence of water in moon surface!! 

With humble obeisances,

Jayakrishna Ramanuja dasa

Partha Das, 26 November 2019

Yes. It seems scientists keep changing their statements too often. Difficult to believe their theories like big bang , Darwin theory etc.

Partha Das

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