bhuvi bhaumÄni bhÅ«tÄni
yathÄ yÄnty apayÄnti ca
nÄyam ÄtmÄ tathaiteá¹£u
viparyeti yathaiva bhūḥ
bhuvi - on the surface of the world; bhaumÄni - all material products from earth, such as pots; bhÅ«tÄni - which are produced; yathÄ - as; yÄnti - appear (in form); apayÄnti - disappear (broken or mixed with the earth); ca - and; na - not; ayam ÄtmÄ - the soul or spiritual identity; tathÄ - similarly; eteá¹£u - among all these (products of material elements); viparyeti - is changed or broken; yathÄ - as; eva - certainly; bhūḥ - the earth.
In this world, we can see that pots, dolls and other products of the earth appear, break and then disappear, mixing with the earth. Similarly, the bodies of all conditioned living entities are annihilated, but the living entities, like the earth itself, are unchanging and never annihilated [na hanyate hanyamÄne Å›arÄ«re].
Although Kaá¹sa is described as a demon, he had good knowledge of the affairs of Ätma-tattva, the truth of the self. Five thousand years ago, there were kings like Kaá¹sa, who is described as an asura, but he was better than modern politicians and diplomats, who have no knowledge about Ätma-tattva. As stated in the Vedas, asaá¹…go hy ayaá¹ puruá¹£aḥ: the spirit soul has no connection with the changes of the material body. The body undergoes six changes — birth, growth, sustenance, by-products, dwindling and then annihilation — but the soul undergoes no such changes. Even after the annihilation of a particular bodily form, the original source of the bodily elements does not change. The living entity enjoys the material body, which appears and disappears, but the five elements earth, water, fire, air and ether remain the same. The example given here is that pots and dolls are produced from the earth, and when broken or destroyed they mingle with their original ingredients. In any case, the source of supply remains the same.
As already discussed, the body is made according to the desires of the soul. The soul desires, and thus the body is formed. Kṛṣṇa therefore says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.61):
Ä«Å›varaḥ sarva-bhÅ«tÄnÄá¹
há¹›d-deÅ›e ’rjuna tiá¹£á¹hati
bhrÄmayan sarva-bhÅ«tÄni
yantrÄrÅ«á¸hÄni mÄyayÄ
“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.†Neither the Supersoul, ParamÄtmÄ, nor the individual soul changes its original, spiritual identity. The ÄtmÄ does not undergo birth, death or changes like the body. Therefore a Vedic aphorism says, asaá¹…go hy ayaá¹ puruá¹£aḥ: although the soul is conditioned within this material world, he has no connections with the changes of the material body.
