VII. Nature of the Soul.
Now as the end and aim of Yoga is the emancipation of the Soul, it is necessary to give some account of the nature of the soul (átmatatwa) as far as it was known to the sages of India, and formed the primary subject of inquiry with the wise men of every country according to the sayings; “Gnothe seauton,”
“Nosce teipsum,” “Know thyself”, “Khodra bedan,” and Arabic
“Taalam Nafsaka,” आत्मानु सन्धीयताम् &c.
“The word Atman,” says Max Müller, “which in the Veda occurs as often as “twan,” meant life, particularly animal life” (Vide Rig Veda I. 63, 8.) Atmá in the sense of self occurs also in the Rig Veda (I. 162. 20), in the passage मात्वा-तपत् प्रिय आत्मापियन्तं. It is also found to be used in the higher sense of soul in the verse सूर्य्यो आत्मा जगतस्तष्टूषश्च “The sun is the soul of all that moves and rests (R. I. 115. 1). The highest soul is called paramátman (परमात्मा) of which all other souls partake, from which all reality in this created world emanates, and into which every thing will return.”
Atman originally meant air as the Greek atmos, Gothic ahma, Zend tmánam, Sanscrit त्मानं and आत्मानं, Cuniform adam, Persian dam, whence we derive Sans. अहं Hindi हम् Uria and Prakrit अमू and Bengali आमि, मुइ &c. The Greek and Latin ego and German ich are all derived from the same source. The Romance je and Hindi ji are corruptions of Sanskrit जीब meaning life and spirit. Again the Páli अत्ता and the Prakrit आप्पा is from the Sanscrit आत्मा, which is आप् in Hindi, आपन in Bengali and अप्पन in Uria &c. The Persian “man” is evidently the Sátman by elision of the initial syllable.
These meanings of átman = the self and ego form the basis of the knowledge of the Divine soul both of the Hindu as of any other people, who from the consciousness of their own selves rise to that of the Supreme. Thus says Max Müller on the subject, “A Hindu speaking of himself आत्मन् spoke also, though unconsciously of the soul of the universe परमात्मन्, and to know himself, was to him to know both his own self and the Universal soul, or to know himself in the Divine self.”
We give below the different lights in which the Divine soul was viewed by the different schools of Hindu philosophy, and adopted accordingly in their respective modes of Yoga meditation. The Upanishads called it Brahma of eternal and infinite wisdom नित्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म ।
The Vedantists;—A Being full of intelligence and blissfulness सच्चिदानन्द स्वरूपं ।
The Sánkaras;—A continued consciousness of one self. सनित्योपलब्धि स्वरूपोऽहमात्मा । The doctrine of Descartes and Malebranche.
The Materialists—convert the soul to all material forms देहमात्रमिति प्रकृत्यः ।
The Lokáyatas—take the body with intelligence to be the soul; चैतन्यबिशिष्टः देहमात्मां ।
The Chárvákas—call the organs and sensations as soul; इन्द्रियान्येबात्मेति ।
Do. Another sect—take the cognitive faculties as such; चेतनान्यात्मेत्यपरे चार्ब्बाकाः ।
Do. Others—Understand the mind as soul मनो एबात्मेत्यन्ये ।
Do. Others—call the vital breath as soul प्राण एबात्मा ।
Do. Others—understand the son as soul पुत्र एबात्मा ।
The Digambaras—say, the complete human body is the soul देहपरिमानमात्मा ।
The Mádhyamikas—take the vacuum for their soul शून्यमेबात्मेति ।
The Yogácháris—understand the soul to be a transient flash of knowledge in the spirit in meditation. क्षणं विज्ञाणं ।
The Sautrántas—call it a short inferior knowledge. ज्ञानाकारानुमेय क्षणिक बाह्यार्थः ।
The Vaibháshikas—take it to be a momentary perception क्षणिक बाह्यार्थमिति वैभाषिकाः ।
The Jainas—take their preceptor to be their soul अध्यापक आत्मा इति जैनाः ।
The Logicians—A bodiless active and passive agency देहाद्यतिरिक्त्त संसारी कर्त्ता भोक्त्तेति ।
The Naiyáyikas—understand the spirit to be self manifest प्रकाश्य इति नैयायिकाः ।
The Sánkhyas,—call the spirit to be passive, not active भोक्त्तेब नकर्त्तेति सांख्या ।
The Yogis—call Him a separate omnipotent Being अस्ति तद्ब्यतिरिक्त ईश्वरः सर्ब्बज्ञः सर्ब्बशक्तिरिति ।
The Saivas,—designate the spirit as knowledge itself अनुक्षेत्रज्ञादि पद बेदनीय इति शैबाः ।
The Mayávádis,—style Brahma as the soul ब्रह्मैबात्मेति मायाबादिनः ।
The Vaiseshikas,—acknowledge two souls—the Vital and Supreme जीबात्मा परमात्मा च प्रत्यक्ष एब ।
The Nyayá says—because the soul is immortal there is a future state आत्म नित्यत्वे प्रेत्यभाबसिद्धः ।
And thus there are many other theories about the nature of the soul.
The Atmávádis—spiritualists, consider the existence of the body as unnecessary to the existence of the soul.