Krishna , Let my soul melt in your arms...

 The consciousness within the individual soul has been provided by God.  The individual soul is always connected to God.

The Vedas declare that it is God Himself who gives consciousness to all living beings.  Moreover, God is the one who powers the intellect.

 

The Upanishads reiterate this message.  God empowers the sense organs, the mind and the intellect.  Equipped with God's power, these three faculties perform their respective functions.

 

The Vedas say that there are two kinds of doers.  One is the Prayojya Karta (actual doer) and the other is the Prayojak Karta (motivating doer).  God is the motivator, and the individual being is the actual doer.  In other words, God gives power to the senses, mind and intellect to perform actions.  But what use will the individual make of that power?

The individual soul possesses a certain degree of freedom; it is free to perform actions. God has given us powers. However, there are limitations on these powers.  He does not disturb us as we perform actions, nor does He disclose that He is observing us and making notes of these actions.  Had the Vedas not told us this truth, we would never have found out!

 

We are free to use our senses, mind and intellect in the right direction or in the wrong one.  So, when it is said that God is the doer, it means that He has given us the power.  How can  we think or act if He does not provide us with the power to do so?  Since we are the actual "doers", we are also punished at times for our sinful deeds.

God and the individual soul.  God is Omnipotent; He has all powers, and the individual soul has very few.  There are hundreds of such differences between Him and the soul.

It is true that there is no difference between the individual soul and God, and it is also true that there are differences between them.  This is the marginal characteristic.  Why is it called the marginal power?  One of God's own powers is the individual soul.  Two are two more powers: one is para shakti, and another one is maya shakti.  In between these two is the individual soul.  

 

The individual soul, which is conscious, cannot be a part of maya, which is devoid of consciousness.  Thus, the individual soul is neither a part of maya shakti, nor is it a part of svaroop shakti.  It is between both these powers, like trishanku.  This is why it is called tatastha shakti, i.e. Marginal power.

The Geeta says that God is our 'everything'.  This is why we are His fractions.

 

The Ramayan also says the same.  Why is the individual soul called a fraction?  Fraction means a piece.  Let us take a cloth and rip it up.  What we get is a piece of that cloth.  Now, can God be divided into pieces?  Can anyone in the world prove that God is divisible?

 

How can God be divided?  It would mean that God is limited.  God cannot be divided.  He is called 'Akhand'.  He is indivisible.  Every saint has said that God cannot be divided.  The individual soul is not a piece of God.  If it were, it would not be eternal.  It would mean that it became a piece of God one day.  Moreover, the Vedas say that God is indivisible; this is a definition of God.  Therefore, there is no question of the individual soul being a piece of God.  Then, what is it?

It is a power of God.  Jeev Shakti.  A Power called jeev, individual soul.  This is why it is called a fraction.  It is called a fraction from the point of view of being a power, not a piece.  If the soul were a piece of God, it would be just like God.  Drink ten glasses of nectar or a little drop; you will surely attain the benefits of drinking nectar.  If we were direct pieces of God, we would have in our possession the bliss and knowledge that God has.  We would then have all the properties that God possesses.  What difference does it make whether a touchstone weighs twenty pounds or ten grams? As long as the touchstone makes contact with iron, it will surely turn into gold.

So, it is from the point of view of being a power of God that we are called fractions of God.

 

You can refer to the soul as a fraction of God, or a power of God.  The question is, why is it called as a marginal power of God?  Where does this power live?  Because, para shakti lives inside of God.  And maya is the external power, which lives outside of God.  No, that is not true.  None of God's powers can live outside of God.   No power can live outside of the powerful.  What power does fire have?  It has the power to burn and to enlighten.  Now, try to remove this property away from fire.  Try taking the power of enlightening out of fire.  Impossible; you would not be able to do it.  Both these powers will always be inside fire.  The power of burning cannot do its work when it is separated from fire.  In the same way, no power of God can live outside of God.  Not even maya.  But maya has created such a big world.