Early Writings — Page 66
66 THE cease to exist within this period. The Arya Samaj also states that the permanent abode of all these souls is this very earth, which is a known and finite sphere, and that all souls are taught and imparted knowledge in this very school, as it were; in fact, all those souls which have so far been conferred the position of salva- tion passed through this small institute of learning. Hence, these admissions evidently show that the souls that exist today are not eternal; rather on account of their being confined to a particular time and age they are bound to a limited lifespan. Now, when this is the case, worthy readers should reflect as to how the statement of the honourable teacher, whereby he suggests that souls are eternal in their existence, can carry any weight. For when I have proved that souls are not infinite and rather fixed in number, we surely are bound to admit that their transmigration and salvation began at a particular time in history, i. e. at the time when one particular soul was born or granted salvation. Hence, when we believe that transmigration and salvation began at a spe- cific time, we also must believe that the souls are not eternal. The reason being that the term eternal is applied to a thing that has no beginning. Hence, it stands proven that the souls are not eternal. Quod erat demonstrandum. In response to this, some have sought to respond (so perhaps you too will continue to call the souls eternal) by saying: it is pos- sible that initially the souls were suspended in an idle state for a limitless period in time and then Parameshvara thought it inap- propriate for the souls to remain idle, so from the very day when Parameshvara arrived at this realisation, He turned the souls into human beings and different animals such as donkeys and horses, and subjected them to the pain of birth and death, and in this