Question: When transmigrating, souls travel to the next gross material body, carried by the subtle body.
When souls travel to Vaikuntha, commonly they are carried there by a Vaikuntha vimana, or “airplane.”
What is the method of conveyance of souls who travel to the brahmajyoti, especially considering they have no subtle body within the brahmajyoti?
See SB 4.23.15 purport for evidence of the fact that souls within the brahmajyoti have no subtle body. [e.g. “When a living entity gives up the material coverings, he remains a spirit soul. This spirit soul must enter into the spiritual sky to merge into the Brahman effulgence.”]
Answer by Romapada Swami: The following paragraph from Baladeva’s Govinda Bhasya, commenting on Vedanta Sutra 4.2.16 which deals with the topic of liberation, gives some idea of the process.
“The meaning is this. When the jiva leaves the gross body, the subtle body of the person in knowledge follows the jiva, but withered away by vidya, like a pile of burned dung. When the jiva surpasses the shell of the universe, he merges that withered subtle body into prakrti, the eighth layer (sakti of the Lord). Pure, the jiva, having attained a body of Brahman, joins with Brahman which is the shelter of prakrti.”
This understanding is supported by Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta 2.3.13-14; in the section that follows, Gopa Kumar passes through the coverings of the universe by the power of his mantra, before entering the brahmajyoti or Mahakala-pura.
After being explicitly empowered by his guru to achieve all knowledge simply from faithful chanting of his mantra [2.3.6], Gopa-kumara saw his own body change from a product of the material elements into a transcendental body [2.3.9].
After passing through the seven coverings of the universe, upon entering the brahmajyoti, Gopa Kumara is saved from merging with the Brahman by the grace of his guru, Lord Mahakala Himself, and, to some extent by the grace of Lord Siva. Thus, it is clear that souls in the brahmajyoti have thinking, feeling, and willing capacity, although they are without a subtle body.
