BG2.20

In the second Chapter, Sri Krishna commends the greatness of the soul and importance of Karma yoga. On this day [13^th, April, 2007] we are under the Magizhampoo tree, in Thirukkannankudi. About this place, there is an old saying. The saying is ‘oorakinaru, kaya magizha maram, uranga puli, thola vazhakku Thirukkannankudi’. It is humorous one connected with Thirumangai Alwar. This Alwar was building the great boundary walls for the Srirangam temple. He collected gold from nearby Nagappattinam, and was passing by this place to go to Srirangam. Here, in the night he kept the gold buried under the ground and slept requesting the nearby tamarind tree to look after the gold from thieves till he got up in the morning. The tree obeyed Alwar's request and guarded the gold without sleeping. So, the tree got the name uranga puli [tamarind]. Afterwards, the Alwar felt tired and hungry and rested under the Magizhampoo maram. God sent food for him and both his hunger and mental desire were quenched by worshiping the Lord Sri Damodara Narayana Perumal. He was so happy that he blessed this tree to be ever alive without bearing any fruits. Was it a boon or a curse? Normally, when the tree starts bearing fruits, it means ageing and so this tree is always fresh and green. Similarly, our souls also, do not age and are always eternal. [The lecturer did not elaborate on the other two sayings]. In the last sloka we saw that just as a soul watches the various changes happening on the body it is residing, it changes its residence from one body to another. Arjuna then had a doubt. He could see the changes in the body like from childhood to youth to middle age and to old age. Similarly, if he were to see the soul going from one body to another, then there could not be any doubts about what Sri Krishna told and he could believe what He said. But this is not so and so all sorrow death. Sri Krishna told that though one does not see his rebirth, others are seeing and explains further. We see the Sun in the day and after it sets, we see it only in the next morning. Can we say the Sun disappeared during the nighttime? But everyone knows that because of the Earth’s revolution, though the Sun is not visible for a person at a place, the Sun is visible to persons on other parts of the world. So just because one did not see the Sun, one cannot conclude that there was no Sun in the night. Thus we believe others in the other part of the world saying that the Sun is still shining. So, He asks Arjuna, 'you believe others but why not what I said about the Atman?'. This is a difficult suggestion. But only when we have this unshakable faith in Him that what He told is the truth and correct, we can be regarded as Bhakthas. This appears to be illogical. There are many yogis and saints, who have seen the atman going from one body to another. They are able to tell what was the previous birth and what the future birth would be. If one cultivates one’s knowledge, one can also know all these abstract happenings. So Sri Krishna says that just because Arjuna did not know the traverse from one body to another, he cannot deny that phenomenon. We will now see the 14^th sloka. Arjuna says that granting what He said was accepted, why still one should fight and suffer? Even if the body and all matters are momentary, all feel the pain and why should we suffer? Sri Krishna says that when objectives are exalted, one has to bear these pains and says:

matra-sparshas tu kaunteya
sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah
agamapayino ’nityas
tams titiksasva bharata

"O son of Kunti, the cold and heat and happiness and distress, are transient. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."

Sri Krishna says ‘ Hey! Bharatha- one emerged in the Bharath dynasty- you should bear these’. Which? Cold and heat and happiness and sorrow should be tolerated. Which are responsible for these feelings? Sri Krishna mentions mathra and contact. Mathra denotes the pancha thanmathra or the five basic feelings related to the five basic elements. The five elements are earth, water, fire, air and space [prithvi, appu, agni, vayu and akasam]. Each of these has a unique characteristic. These characteristics are called the thanmathras. Smell or gandham is earth’s feature. Taste or rasam is of water. Appearance or roopam is of fire. Touch or sparsam is of air and sound or shabdam is of space. Each of these thanmathras are felt by specific organs in our body, nose for smell, tongue for taste, eyes for vision, ears for hearing and skin for touch.

ELEMENT**** THANMATHRA **** SENSING ORGAN

Earth *********smell or scent********* nose

Water********* taste***************** tongue

Fire************vision or sight ********eyes

Air ************touch****************skin

Space********** sound**************** ear

When there is a contact between the elements and the organs, we get that feeling which is responsible for happiness or sorrow. If this contact or connection was not there, we will not feel. So Sri Krishna says that this sparsam or connectivity between the organs and the matter [composed of the five elements] happiness, sorrow, heat and cold are felt. This cannot be avoided and inevitable. Similarly, in a fight such pains are inevitable and with that knowledge Arjuna is advised to bear the sufferings.

BG2.19

THE MAGIZHAMPOO TREE AT THIRUKKANNANKUDI

Today’s [12thApril, 2007] lecture is under the Magizham poo [flower] tree in the temple at Thirukkannankudi, one of the five Sri Krishna kshetrams. We have seen that Bramham, Chit and Achit as the thatvathrayam and their relationship and differences. Sri Krishna tries to clear the doubt in Arjuna’s mind and tells that Atman is eternal and cannot be destroyed. Body is required and we have to take care of it to the extent possible and the perishable nature of it has to be kept in mind. Atman is pure and superior to body. We are now in Thirukkannankudi and here the Moolavar is known as Sri Lokanathan[Shyamala Meni] Perumal and the Uthsavar is known as Damodara Narayanan. Sri Thayar is known as Sri Lokanayaki [uthsavar Sri Aravindavalli]. Legend says that Vasishta out of his yogic powers used to prepare a Sri Krishna idol out of butter and it would never melt till his meditation was over. Once Sri Krishna in the form of a child came and swallowed all the butter and Vasishta chased the child to reprimand. But the child ran away and came to this place. Here lots of yogis were meditating and they knew the Child was Sri Krishna and they bound Him out of their yogic power. Sri Krishna then granted their desire to remain here with the name Sri Damodara Narayana. This is yet another instance that God listens to bhakthas [devotees] and none else. Koorathalwar, a great Acharya, says He can be tied only by Bhakthi [devotion]. Near the Sravana Pushkarini [temple pond] we will see what He says in the 13^th sloka.

dehino ’smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati

"As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A brave person is not concerned by such a change."

Sri Krishna says a brave man will not brood and lament. We see deaths and births. The great philosopher Adi Sankara says ‘punarabi jananam punarabi maranam…’It is a cycle, with births and deaths repeating. A soul can get released from this cycle only by uttering Sri Govinda’s name, says Adi Sankara. Atman as such is not born. When it contacts and resides in a body we call it birth. When the same atman departs from the body it was residing, we call it death. But atman never dies. In this sloka, atman is referred as dehi. A person is born as a child; he becomes a boy, then a lad and then old man. These changes pertain to body only and not to the soul. Sri Krishna calls him who understands this true nature of the soul a dheera or brave man. When a person becomes a boy after being a child but never laments that he lost his childhood. Similarly an old man does not mourn for the lost youth. On the contrary, we celebrate every stage in our life, like marriages, fatherhood, etc. The soul in the body- I - has been watching all these changes happening on the body. It is able to remember when the body was of a child and then of youth, etc. We remember when we started learning cycling and similar details. Another great philosopher Madhavcharya, says, we should lament when child becomes youth. Whereas we are happy and celebrate. We should realize that we are going from one phase to another. A worm while moving from one leaf to another, clings to the new leaf and leaves the earlier one. Same thing happening to body also and so there should be no room for worry and concern. A person with such attitude is called dheera.

BG2.18

On this day [11^th April, 2007] we start with a sloka in the Gita where Sri Krishna states that Arjuna had many births and the Lord also had many incarnations [avatars]. In all the soul has remained everlasting. In the 12^th sloka it was told that the entities are Iswara, Chit and Achit. Iswara is also referred to as Bramham in Upanishads. We saw the differences among all these. We have to imagine the soul without the perishable body. If we do that we can notice all souls or jeevatma are all the same. In that case, is the jeevatma one or are there many? Sri Krishna clarifies this by saying ‘ime jana..’ that is all these [Arjuna and others]are all eternal souls. There are some who believe that atman is only one and there are some others who believe that atman are many. Those who think that atman is only one argue that though there are many of us existing, the single soul is the only truth and all others are mere images, which the single soul has declared to be seen. If we can remove this seeming plurality of souls then it can be realized that atman is only one, they argue. Others who think that atmans are many say that though there are are many souls, there is no difference among them and so they can be grouped into a single category. In our daily life also, when, for example, we see jasmine flowers are heaped in the market or garden, we exclaim and say ‘only jasmine!’ [orey malligaipoo!]. Here, the observer does not mean a single jasmine flower. But, because they all look same and are white and spread the same fragrance, it was told ‘only jasmine’. Similarly, all souls are of same minute and same intelligence and are all slaves to the Paramatma and so they all come under the same category of jeevatma. Jeevatma is different from the Paramatma but among them, all jeevatmas are same with no difference whatsoever. Instead of saying ‘we’ to indicate Himself and Arjuna, He clearly makes a difference and says ‘I [Aham]’ and ‘you [tvam]’. Thus difference is there and we have to understand this. Because our philosophy is this difference. We should not believe if someone says ‘ I am God’. We are always His servants and He is the Proprietor, Commander and Leader. The One Who determines who should do what is God. We see a garden and we conclude there must be a gardener. We see ornaments and decide there must be a goldsmith. We see dress materials and infer there must have been a weaver. So for every creativity, we can definitely conclude that there must be a creator. This is logical, even if we do not see the architect of that creation by our sensual organs. This is similar to concluding there is fire by seeing only the smoke. This is inference or deduction. So by seeing all the various creations in the world, we can deduce that there must be a Creator and He is God. But our ancestors and learned men do not rely on inference or logic or deduction to conclude the existence of God. Philosophers classify the bedam or difference into three categories. We are in the garden of Thirukkannapuram temple and we will try to explain the bedam in Chit, Achit and Iswara, as conceived by our elders. There is a jasmine plant. There is another one at another place. The two are same but different. Same, as both are jasmine plants and different as they are physically apart. This is called sajatiya bedam or difference in the same class. There is a pillar. It is different from the jasmine plant in the group itself. This is called vijatiya bedam or difference in groupings. Within the jasmine plant, we find leaves and flowers. These constitute swagata bedam. Paramatma and jeevatma both have intelligence or gyana, but the jeevatma’s intelligence is limited by the body it resides. So, here we see sajatiya bedam. Bramham or Paramatma has wisdom and the objects and materials we see do not possess any intellect. This is vijatiya bedam. As God cannot be worshipped if there was no form or He did not possess qualities like mercy, Bramham has forms and qualities and so here the swagata bedam is exhibited. So Bramham has all the three types of bedam.

BG2.17

Alavandar, a great Acharya, in his Sthothra Rathnam, says that God can be realized only by bhakthi or devotion. With these opening remarks the lecture is started today [10^th April, 2007]. The intimacy between God and His devotees cannot be described. We are in Thirukkannapuram temple Muniyodharar sannidhi. Muniyodharar was a great devotee of Sri Sowri Perumal. He was serving the king of that locality. He used to take his food or any eatable only after offering them to Sri Sowri Perumal, in His sannidhi. One day, due to official work, he got delayed and so when he went to the temple to offer the pongal [a rice preparation], the temple doors were closed and so he offered the preparation mentally with utmost devotion and after eating he went asleep. What a wonder? When the temple doors were opened,next day, pongal that was prepared in Muniyodharar ’s house was scattered all over the temple giving the appearance the Lord had eaten the Pongal offering. What was offered from a devotee’s house was taken by the Lord to show His great love for the devotee. Even now this type of preparation called Muniyodharar pongal is offered to the Lord daily. This is prepared using rice, moong dal and ghee in the ratio of 5:3:2. This shows His concern for the devotee and He will resolve the doubts in the minds of devotee. That is the reason Sri Krishna preaches Arjuna that soul never perishes. We can see in Sri Vaishnava sanyasins carry tridhandam or three sticks bundled together. This is to indicate the thatvathrayam. We find that Chit is there to enjoy all Achits. ‘I ‘ is there to enjoy the sweet drink or the sandal fragrance. Then, where is the need for a third entity, Iswara or God? This doubt could have been haunting in many of our minds. We shall answer this logically. Let us assume A is a person and he has to take food exactly at 8am daily as per medical advice. So A who has procured the food materials and got the food prepared is at the dining table and food has already been served for A to eat. Just then, an outsider comes and starts conversation. He mentions so many relatives’ names and nothing is familiar to A. Nearly ten minutes are over and A asks the intruder as whom he wanted to say. He replies that he came in search of B. A says he was not B and after sending the intruder, A sits to eat. Just then a phone call comes and the person at the other end enquires so many things that are all strange to A and finally it is discovered it was a wrong number. Another ten minutes delayed and overall twenty minutes delay. When now A sits to eat, his wife refuses to serve and demands an explanation for the delay and A is unable to. One can call it accidental, incidental or coincidental, but it is an unexplained reason and some other force beyond one’s control is acting. This is the third entity we call Iswara. So in this world we have Achit and Chit, who enjoys Achit. Then there is the third force that controls both Chit and Achit, and we call that as Iswara or God. We will see the differences in these three entities. Achit is unintelligent and is subject to change in its form, though undestroyable. Chits are many in number and are not subject to changes and are very minute. Here, we all observe that everyone is happy sometimes and sorrow sometimes. Since it is the soul, which has the intelligence, it only can enjoy or suffer. Does it not mean that soul also is subject to changes? We should clearly note here that the contact between achit and chit brings about the feeling of happiness or sorrow. That is when the soul resides in a body, it feels sorry or delightful for various reasons. But if the soul is away from the body, then it is having an eternal bliss only. Therefore, the real nature of soul is happiness only and when in contact with a body, mixed feelings are felt. So, while change is natural to Achit, the changes felt when in contact with a body is unnatural to the soul or chit. Iswara or Paramathma on the other hand is never subject to any change, natural or artificial, temporary or permanent. That is why in Sri Vishnu sahasranama it is said “ avikaraya sudhdhaya nithyaya paramathmane..” This is a fundamental principle to be always kept in mind.

BG2.16

On this day [9th April, 2007], the lecture was from the Thirukkannapuram temple. Normally, the Lord is decorated with Diamond studded Gold crowns. But here the Lord Sri Sowri Perumal is decorated with a wig. This has background story. There was an archaka [poojari] who performed poojas for the Lord. One night, his sweetheart came to the temple and after the pooja was over, the archaka gave the last remaining flower garland to the lady, who left for her home. Before he could draw shutters in the temple, the king of that place visited the temple. As per the tradition, the king was to be honoured with a garland of the Lord; but the garland was already given away to that lady. So the archaka, to avoid disappointment to the king, sent word and got back the garland from his sweetheart. Later, the king was garlanded with the same garland and the king also took the garland as a prasad [valuable gift] and went to his palace. There, the king found a long hair in the garland. Apparently, the archaka’s sweetheart’s hair got entangled in the garland. But the king was puzzled how hair could be found in a garland meant and used for the Lord and so he was angry and ordered the archaka be brought to him for enquiry. When archaka was asked by the king how hair was found in garland of the Lord, the Archaka to escape from the ordeal bluffed that in the Lord’s idol Itself, hair is there and so the same was found in the garland. The king could not believe it and wanted to satisfy himself by seeing the idol. So he got the temple opened and went to the idol. The Lord wanted to save His devotee from the wrath of the king and so there was really hair on the idol’s head and the king tested it to be true by pulling! From that time the Lord is called Sowri [Wig] Perumal. Such a devotee-caring Lord as Sri Krishna is preaching Arjuna. He says that all of us are eternal and we have been present now, then and in the future. A puzzled Arjuna says that while the perpetuality of Sri Krishna was not questioned, how Arjuna could have been eternal. Here Sri Krishna points to Arjuna that He meant the soul to be permanent and not the body. So in this sloka Sri Krishna postulates an important feature of the philosophy and is the foundation for all the remaining slokas in Gita. Everything in this universe could be grouped in three categories- Iswara, Chit and Achit. Achit are all those materials we see or hear or smell or taste or feel. Achit means without the intellect. The tombs of temples or the trees and plants or our limbs are all in this category as none of them have the intelligence. But all these are indestructible. One may wonder how this is true? We see tombs crumbling and trees are burnt. Here we should realize that only the form changes, but the matter remains in a different form. Gold might have become a ring or necklace but it remains as gold. Similarly, mud is made into a pot or plate etc. It can be made into mud again or in some other form but can never be annihilated. So an important point we should know about Achit is that it has no intelligence, but constantly changes its form and can never be drstroyed.
The second category is Chit, which means that which has the intelligence. It is also called Jeevatma or sometimes Atman. It is recognized by the ‘I’ in us. With that intelligence only we recognize various things around us. That is Chit recognizes Achit. So a Jeevatma using his intelligence understands Achit. This is the difference and relationship between the two. Apart from these two, a third is there and is called Iswara. Sri Krishna brings out all these three entities in the 12th sloka. He mentions about Him as “I” [aham] and Arjuna as “you’ and others by “they”. Sri Krishna represents Paramatma and He is unique. Jeevatma are many and are represented by Arjuna and all others. All materials are Achit. The Thatvatrayam is thus indicated in this sloka.

BG2.15

In the 11^th sloka, Sri Krishna told Arjuna that Pundits or Learned, never worry about the soul or the body. They know the nature of both – the body is perishable and the soul never dies. They also know that the soul is superior to the body. With this sloka we can say the introductory part of the Gita is over and from the 12^th sloka the sermonizing starts. The 12^th sloka is:

na tv evaham jatu nasam
na tvam neme janadhipah
na caiva na bhavisyamah
sarve vayam atah param

"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be."

Sri Krishna wants to tell that the souls are permanent and everlasting. So He says that neither He was not there in the past, nor Arjuna was not there in the past nor these kings were not there in the past. He is here now, Arjuna is here now and all these kings are here now. Neither Sri Krishna will not be there tomorrow, nor Arjuna will not be there tomorrow, nor all these kings will not be there tomorrow. The words of Sri Krishna appear to be confusing. Instead of saying He is there, He says that it is not that He is not there. Double negative is used to bring home a point. Such use of two negatives gives unambiguousness. For example, in a village, if one asks who was educated there and if the reply was that so and so was educated, it can mean that there were many educated persons in that village and that the so and so also was educated. On the other hand, if the reply was that excepting the so and so, no other was educated, it means that the person in question alone was educated. The latter form of reply gives certainty and emphasizes the fact forcefully. So by saying that not that He was not there in the past, He emphasizes He was there in the past. Similarly, by saying that nor Arjuna was not there in the past, it is meant that Arjuna was there in the past. Similarly about all others. That is, Sri Krishna tells that all of them [Sri Krishna, Arjuna and all those kings and warriors] were there in the past, are there in the present and will be there in the future. In this, Arjuna appears to have no doubt about the present position as it is being felt. Only for the statements regarding the past and future proof was needed. Because the past and future are not perceivable. But Sri Krishna hints that when Arjuna feels he perceives the present, he is thinking of the body that is visible. Whereas, Sri Krishna is referring to the soul or atman. Therefore, Sri Krishna when mentions ‘I’, He is meaning His soul, which was, is and will be there. Similarly Arjuna’s soul was, is and will be there always. Equally true is the statement that all those, the innumerous souls, were, are and will be there always. So Sri Krishna’s words point to Atman only and not to the body, which cannot be told that it was, is and will be there. The body constantly changes and once the soul departs the body, it perishes. As a sort of example, when a person complains of chest pain, people enquire ‘was he taken to the hospital?’ But if unfortunately, the person dies in the hospital, people ask ‘is it [the body] taken to the cremation ground?’ That is suddenly there is a change in the value given to the body can be seen. Earlier people referred to the body as ‘he’ and after death, the same body is referred to as ‘it’. As long as soul is in the body, it is given due respect and after the soul departs, the body is treated like any other inanimate objects. This applies to all we so dearly love. So Sri Krishna refers only to atman and He makes Arjuna to infer that souls are permanent and they reside in various bodies at different times. Sri Krishna employs amazing words in this sloka. He refers to Himself as ‘aham’ or ‘I’. Normally, if we want to explain something by citing an example, the example should be easily understood. If the illustration itself is complicated or abstract, then we will not succeed in explaining. In Srimad Ramayana, at one place Lakshmana says to Sri Rama that just as Sri Sita cannot remain without Sri Rama, Lakshmana also cannot be separated from Him. Why should Lakshmana draw the analogy of Sri Sita? Because, entire world knows that Sri Sita will not remain if separated from Sri Rama and so this example is able to explain Lakshmana’s point that he cannot remain without serving Sri Rama. A well-known fact is used to explain. Here Arjuna is having a wrong concept that soul and body are same. To make him understand that soul is never perishable, He cites His soul as illustration. Because everyone knows that God is always there in the past, present and future. So when He says His soul and Arjuna's soul have the same nature of permanency, Arjuna is able to understand. There is no difference in the everlasting being of all souls, including that of God, though there are other differences between the Soul of God and our souls. Here, He also refers to all these people, which means all in both sides of the battlefield. So Arjuna is driven to understand that jus as his soul is imperishable so also the souls of the Kauravas. Arjuna will then conclude that with his arrows he can only destroy the bodies and not the souls. This way an abstact concept is explained using a well-known fact that Sri Krishna is God and He is everlasting. That is why in Sri Vishnu Sahasranama, at the beginning itself He is named as Bhootha Bavya Bhavath Prabhu. Here bhootha means past, bavya is present and bhavat means future. So He is the Lord [Prabhu] of all those in the past, present and future. Everything in this universe is subject to time or place or appearance. God is the Only One that is not limited by all these. God is beyond all past, present and future. He is omnipresent. And, He cannot be limited to a particular appearance only. We appear only as what we are, and we cannot appear as a third person. Whereas He cannot be comprehended in any particular form only. One more great concept is brought out here. He says, ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘they’. This brings out that the Soul of God, soul of Arjuna and the souls of all others are all different. That is God, Paramathman is One and He is different from the Jeevatman, which are many. This is called the thatvathraya or the triple entity philosophy, which will be explained later.

BG2.14

Today’s lecture also is on the 11^th sloka and from the Thirukkannamangai temple in Tanjore district. Arjuna requests Sri Krishna for guidance. Because He is the protector as declared in the Vedas. Sri Devi sametha Sri Bhaktharaavi Perumal protects all souls and with this thought we can remain without fear. In this sacred place, there lived an Acharya called Thirukkannamangai Aandan. He lived in the 9^th century and was a disciple of Sri Nathamunigal, another great Acharya of Sri Vaishnava Parampara [lineage]. There is a garden where his statue is erected. He used to serve the Divine couple in this Kshetram. The Thayar was daily performed Abhishekam [Holy Bath] with the water brought from the Dharsana Pushkarini [temple tank] and so the name Sri Abhishekavalli Thayar. Once, he saw two dogs fighting and after sometime the masters of the dogs came. When they saw their dogs were fighting, they started quarrelling among them and it became severe with each drawing swords to finish off the other. Thirukkannamangai Aandan, watching this became thoughtful. When the owners of the dogs could care so much for their dependent dogs, the truth dawned on him as to how much care will the God take on us who are all His dependents. So he surrendered at the Lord’s feet and became fearless. Exactly with that attitude Arjuna also took shelter at the Feet of Sri Krishna as evident from the 11^th sloka. Deha and Atman are different entities. But who actually enjoys or suffers? We should clearly understand that the body with its organs as such does not feel the pain when one is hurt. Our bodies and other materials like trees, etc. do not possess the intelligence or gyana and only the souls are having this property. Here also, depending on the karma [performance] in the previous births, the extent of intellect varies. This is similar to the Sun’s brightness on earth varying according to the clouds covering the rays. Karma covers the intelligence of the souls and full gyana is not understood. When the clouds are cleared the full brightness of the Sun is felt and so also when karma is removed Atman’s full Gyana can be felt. We see with our eyes and hear with the ears and so on. If atman is the one that understands seeing or hearing, etc., where does the atman reside to realize these feelings? Does it reside in the eyes to realize seeing? Does it reside in the ears to feel hearing? If we are hurt at any part of the body, we feel the pain. Does it mean the soul or atman is present through out the body to feel the pain? Similarly, when one is smeared with sandalwood paste, the cool comfort is felt wherever the paste was applied. So, where is the atman to feel these pains and pleasures? We have already mentioned that soul or atman is resident as a very minute entity in the heart. So, how residing at a remote place, does a soul understands all these feelings? If we ignite a lamp at a corner the light rays reach all over the room. Similarly, the soul’s intelligence is spread all over the body. This is called dharma bhootha gyanam. We can compare the body to a mobile phone. One purchases this at Rs.2000 or pays even Rs.35, 000. As such this electronic marvel does not work and remains a mere showpiece. But if we equip it with a Rs.100 or so priced SIM card, it is activated and used. Same thing happens with a microscopic soul activating the body. Without soul this body is nothing. That is why Thondaradipodi Alwar in his collection Thirumalai tells that this body is a building with lots of holes. Thirumalai is a collection of 45 verses and it is told that ‘Thirumalai ariyadhar Thirumalai ariyadhar’. This means that a person not knowing these poems in Thirumalai will not understand Thirumal [Sriman Narayana]. If we list the properties of the soul, we can say it understands, it is minute, it is intelligent, it has no organs and enjoys [or suffers] the effect of karma. Body, on the other hand, is having the opposite properties. It does not understand, it is big, it is dumb, it has organs and it does not realize the effects of karma.