CLASSIFICATION OF SOULS

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

CLASSIFICATION OF SOULS
There are three kinds of souls: (i) The pure (Suddha) Jivas. The divine qualities (Aisvarya)
are not obscured in these souls by ignorance. (ii) The worldly Jivas (Samsarin). These souls are
caught in the net or clutches of Avidya or ignorance. They experience births and deaths on account
of their connection with gross and subtle bodies. (iii) Mukta Jivas or liberated souls. These souls are
freed from the bonds of Samsara through Vidya or Knowledge. When the soul attains the final
emancipation, it recovers its suppressed qualities and becomes one with God or Brahman. The
world appears as Brahman to one who has realised the Truth or Brahman.
There is another classification of souls, viz., Pushti souls, Maryada souls and Pravahika
souls. All these are different from one another in their origin, nature and final end. They all issue
from God with their differences.
The Pushti souls are the highest, as they issue from the Ananda-Kaya or the bliss-body of
God. These souls are the Amsa (parts) of His body. God is the Amsi (the whole). These are the souls
of grace. They have the divine seed in them which bears fruit in the end. They ultimately reach the  goal through the grace of the Lord. They have communion and fellowship with Lord Krishna. They

develop Bhakti through the grace of the Lord. Bhakti is the means and the end in itself.
The Maryada souls are generated from the Vak or the Word of God. They are governed by
law, not by grace. They perform their ritualistic duties, at first with selfish interests. Later on, they
develop Nishkama-Bhava (unselfish attitude) and do their ritualistic routine without any
self-interest. This purifies their mind. They reach the Akshara, which is a kind of vestibule to the
abode of God. Afterwards they attain the supreme abode of God.
The Pravahika souls issue from the mind of God. They are the Samsaric Jivas. They are
souls neither of grace nor of law. They are in continuous motion (Pravaha).
These three kinds of souls have further sub-divisions and cross-divisions into Pushti-Pushti,
Pushti-Maryada, Pushti-Pravahika, Maryada-Maryada, Maryada-Pushti, Maryada-Pravahika,
Pravahika-Pravahika, Pravahika-Pushti and Pravahika-Maryada.