Welcome to Adiyen Sri Ramanuja Dasan !
" Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha !"
113) You say that Ramanuja perfected our system of philosophy and body/soul relationship. Then were there earlier acharyas who propounded this?
Yes. There were earlier acharyas like Bodhayana, Dramida and Tanka. But unfortunately their works have been lost and are not available now.
114) Have the Alwars mentioned about the body/soul relationship?
Nammalwar has explicitly mentioned this. He says that the Lord is present everywhere, as the soul in the body.
The Eternal Jivatma
115) how you say that the soul is different from the body?
When I say “this is my book”, I mean the book belongs to me. The book is obviously something different from myself.
Similarly, I say “this is my body”. So, the body is different from myself. Here, the word “myself refers to the soul. Thus, we can see that the body is different from the soul. Otherwise, we will not say that “this is my body.”
116) What is the relationship between the soul and senses, mind, knowledge?
Here again, the soul is different from all these. We say “I see through my eyes”. Hence I or the soul is different from the eyes. We say “I hear through my ears.” So I or soul is different from the ears. We say that “my leg is paining or my hand is paining.” So, it is clear that the leg is different from the ‘I’ or soul. Thus, the five senses of action or karma (Karma Indriyas) and the five senses of knowledge (Jnana Indriyas) are all different from the soul. Similarly, we say that “my mind is clear.” From this also, it can be seen that T or the soul is different from the mind.
117) Please explain this with an analogy?
The child which comes out of the mother’s womb is very small in size. Then it becomes a boy or a girl and then a young man or woman and then finally he or she becomes old and then passes away.Thus, the body varies in size. It starts at the time of birth as a very small baby and then grows up. The body becomes ill, the body becomes well and is thus subject to so many changes, whereas the soul is not affected. Thus the body changes in size. The body becomes old, weak. The body shrinks in old age.The body is that of a male or female or animal. Thus the bodies are different for different persons. But the souls are all similar and are not subject to any change.
Jai Srimannaryana !
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