After thus describing the true nature of the individual spirit souls, the author of the sutras proceeds to describe the renunciation of all unwanted things. He also describes the means to attain the highest goal in life. He says:
Sutra 16
The conscious spirit souls possess thinking and loving, for these two are part of their nature.
Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Thinking creates knowledge. Therefore knowledge is part of the soul's nature. Loving creates bliss. Therefore bliss is part of the soul's nature. These are part of the soul's nature.
In the Sruti-sastra it is said:
"Eternity, knowledge and bliss are part of the soul's nature."
In the Vedanta-sutra (4.1.3) it is said:
"The wise know and teach the science of the soul."
============ Siddhaswarupananda - Jagad Guru Speaks
Perfection means being in tune with reality. The first thing we must understand is reality—the reality of my identity, i.e., my essence, position and function. Who am I? Just as a person does not identify himself as being the shirt that he is wearing, he also should not identify himself with the body that he is wearing.
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In Srimad Bhagavatam (7.7.19), Sri Prahlada declares:
"Atma refers to the Supreme Lord or the living entities, Both of them are spiritual, free from birth and death, free from deterioration, and free from material contamination. They are individual, they are knowers of the external body, and they are the foundation or shelter of everything. They are free from material change, they are self-illuminated, they are the cause of all causes, and they are all-pervading. They have nothing to do with the material body, and therefore they are always uncovered."
In the Visnu Purana, Sri Prahlada declares:
"Fools fall in love with what the material senses see. I am not like them. O Supreme Lord, I have fallen in love with You. I always think of You. I pray that You will never leave my heart."
In Bhagavad-gita (2.24) the Supreme Personality of Godhead says:
"The individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable, and eternally the same."
In Srimad Bhagavatam (10.1.41-42), Vasudeva Maharaja says:
"Having experienced a situation by seeing or hearing about it, one contemplates and speculates about that situation. Similarly, by mental adjustments one dreams at night of living under different circumstances, in different bodies, and forgets his actual position. Under this same process, one gives up his present body and accepts another (tatha dehantara-praptih).
"At the time of death, according to the thinking, feeling and willing of the mind, which is involved in fruitive activities, one receives a particular body. In other words, the body develops according to the activities of the mind. Changes of body are due to the flickering of the mind, for otherwise the soul could remain in its original, spiritual body."
In the Katha Upanisad (2.3.10 and 2.3.6) it is said:
"When the five senses are peaceful, and when the mind and intelligence do not strive for material things, one attains the highest goal of life. This the wise say."
"In the course of life the senses rise and again they set. Aware that he, the soul is different from the senses, a wise person does not grieve."
