Please accept my humble respects. Request you to please clarify below question:
It is explained that Jivas are expansion of lord Krishna. Does this mean that Jivas source is the lord? If so, does this contradict with my understanding that ‘Aatma’ is eternal and does not have a beginning OR end.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Your Servant.
Replies
All souls orginate from the supreme being as krsna says in BG that he is the source of everything.. EVERYTHING.
With that understanding, the jiva's source is also krsna. All the 8.4 millions species also originate from krsna. One problem I have with your post is that jivas are not expansions, jivas have the source as krsna. However, the soul in each jiva has its origination from Krsna (I hope I am not confusing you here).
The jiva is made up of material elements but the soul is not. Soul is subtle, and eternal. Jiva however is limited and temporary. The soul migrate between different species of jivas. So, atma being part of krsna is also eternal (no beginning or end) but this is not to be confused with jiva which has a beginning and end. if we identify ourselves as jivas then we have birth and death. If we identify ourselves as a spirit soul, then we are eternal and permanent. We are just transmigrating between bodies (between jivas).
Hope that cleared some of your doubts. Feel free to come back with follow up questions or inbox me directly.
All glories to Srila Prabhupad
Hare krsna.
Sri Krishna was talking here about creation, maintenance and destruction of material bodies of living beings, not about souls :
Bg 2.20 — For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
Paramatma and atma are both same eternal qualities with no limit.
The Lord is like unlimited ocean and jivas are like the drops of that ocean. But because the such transcendental drops came from such unlimited transcendental ocean, they are also unlimited.
Its very difficult to understand Jiva, as same as the Lord, but by mercy of those who have seen the truth its possible.
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