Of these (soul, not-soul, and the Lord), individual spirits, called souls, are different from the Supreme Spirit and eternal. Thus the text: Two birds, companions, friends, &c. (Rig-Veda, i. 164, 20). Accordingly it is stated (in the aphorisms of Kaṇáda, iii. 2, 20), Souls are diverse by reason of diversity of conditions. The eternity of souls is often spoken of in revelation—
"The soul is neither born, nor dies, nor having been shall it again cease to be;
"Unborn, unchanging, eternal, this ancient of days is not killed when the body is killed" (Bhagavad-gítá, ii. 20).
Otherwise (were the soul not eternal) there would follow a failure of requital and a fruition (of pleasures and pains) unmerited. It has accordingly been said (in the aphorisms of Gautaṃa, iii. 25): Because no birth is seen of one who is devoid of desire. That the soul is atomic is well known from revelation—
"If the hundredth part of a hair be imagined to be divided a hundred times,
"The soul may be supposed a part of that, and yet it is capable of infinity."
And again—
"Soul is of the size of the extremity of the spoke of a wheel. Spirit is to be recognised by the intelligence as atomic."
The visible, unsentient world, designated by the term not-soul, is divided into three, as the object, the instrument, or the site of fruition. Of this world the efficient and substantial cause is the Deity, known under the names Purushottama (best of spirits), Vásudeva (a patronymic of Kṛishṇa), and the like.