Lord Krishna Forum - Krishna Talk

sridatta1 · Joined: 03 Aug 2005 Posts: 637 Location: india

Jiva cannot exist without Atman
Apruthak karanam tayorna kaamya atmaa.

(Jiva and Atman cannot be isolated from each other. Though Atman can exist without Jiva, it is not desirable).

Jiva cannot exist without Atman as the wave cannot exist without water. Hence, when Jiva is mentioned, Atman is simultaneously mentioned. According to Advaita, in a realized soul, the Atman can exist without Jiva. But here also, the qualities of the world are subsided and the water (soul) is without worldly qualities (waves). However, the divine qualities (waves) must exist in the realized soul also. A soul without any quality is not the real salvation and such salvation of monism (Advaita) is only useless inert state of a stone that is obtained in deep sleep every day. Hence, though the soul without any quality can be achieved by effort, such a state is meaningless and hence the soul also should not exist without any quality in salvation. Salvation is only liberation from the worldly qualities and simultaneous achievement of divine qualities.