Purifying the Soul

”Just as a bright jewel when covered with dirt seems filthy but when it is cleaned properly it starts shining again, similarly a spirit soul conditioned in a body realizes the Supreme Lord by washing the self through spiritual practice and they become free from all miseries of life and begin feeling ecstasy while alive.”

yathiva bimbammrdayopaliptam
tejo-mayam bhrajate tat sudhantam
tad va”tma tattvam prasamiksya dehi
ekah krtartho bhavate vita-sokah

PURPORT BY SRI KRSNA BALARAM SWAMIJI

According to the Bhagavad Gita (15.7) the spirit soul is an eternal fragmental part of the Supreme Lord. As the Lord is full of spiritual potency and brightness similarly the living entity is also, to some degree, bright by nature. Connection to material sense gratification makes the bright living entity become contaminated and sincere engage­ment in spiritual life causes the soul to become purified again. Just as muddy rainwater becomes fully pure again through a filtering process similarly a materially contaminated soul becomes pure again through the serious practice of spiritual life. The washing process of the conta­minated soul is called yoga in Sanskrit, which in English means to connect the self with the Lord. Every authentic spiritual function is addressed as yoga and the favorable devotional service performed to please the Lord is the culmination point of all yoga. The Vedic civilization rejects the sin and not the sinner therefore any sinner who takes to spiritual life becomes purified and meets the Lord face to face.

[Svetasvatara Upanisad, 2.13, KBS0019]