Soul in the Body: Lamp in a Hall

by Acharya Harish Chandra

January 2016

YajurVeda 40.15 states that we are a composite of matter and spirit:
                                                                 वायुरनिलममृतमथेदम् भस्मान्तं शरीरम्
Our tiny soul is the inherent force (of consciousness), non-material, and immortal, enveloped by the body made of matter that will end (die) becoming ash.
 
Think of the soul in the body as a lamp in a large hall. Entering into a hall in a dark night, you switch on the lamp – a small lamp in a corner of the hall. Its filament glows, making the entire hall lit up. That’s the way our body looks when we are awake. Our body is quite unconscious when we sleep as if the lamp has been switched off. Upon death, the body is permanently in sleep as if the lamp has been physically removed from its holder. It is the soul that makes the difference between life and death. A soul-less body is a dead body.