Question 1: How is our soul a part of Krishna?
Answer by Romapada Swami: The analogy of a spark to a blazing fire is given to describe our relationship with Krishna. We are the energy of Krishna and are just like a small spark of the Infinite Absolute.
We have our individual identity and freewill, but we can never function independently of Krishna.
Question 2: What is the relation between soul and body; soul and mind; body and mind: sufferings of soul; suffering of body?
Answer by Romapada Swami: The body is like a vehicle or machine upon which the soul is seated. There is nice analogy in Katha Upanisad which describes the body as the chariot, the senses as the horses, the mind as the driving instrument, the intelligence as the driver of the chariot, and the soul is riding on this chariot. The soul actually experiences neither enjoyment or suffering in this material region, because it is spiritual by nature, and is full of eternity, knowledge and bliss. However, the soul experiences the pains and pleasures of the body, which are just material interactions, because he is thinking he is this body. The suffering or enjoyment of the soul is just like one’s suffering in a dream; it has no reality. Cf BG 13.21 and 13.22.
Question 3: I believe that the soul resides in the heart and it is the soul that keeps this body functional. How is it that when someone leaves their body, their organs can be transplanted into another body? When the soul leaves the body, does the heart and all other organ seize? When does the other person’s soul enter into this heart and what happens to the one that is replaced.
Answer by Romapada Swami: The material body is just like a machine. Prabhupada gives the example of a microphone. When electric energy passes through it, it transforms electronic impulses into sound, etc.; but when there is no electricity, nothing happens. Whether the microphone is working or not, it remains nothing more than an assembly of metal, plastic, and other inert material ingredients. Thus, you can take a component of it and replace it, or altogether replace it with another microphone. Organ transplant is just like that – it is just switching of “parts”.
Although the soul is said to reside in the region of the heart, it is very subtle. It is not that a different soul enters this body with the replacement of heart. Rather, the same soul remains in the region of the heart, as a replacement body part is inserted. Conversely, if the soul has departed, the patient is considered already dead, and thus replacing another component cannot bring the dead back to life.
