4. Now we know that we are actually the whole universe. The whole creation. We are literally 'God'. But we have limited ourselves to this body. And we forgot our true self. So let's understand why did this happened. Why we have limited ourselves. We are the creator as well as the creation but we are considering ourselves only to a little fragment in the universe despite of being the whole universe. So the answer to this question is given in this video. See this. The video is very interesting. It has great editing and cinematic music effects. You will love to watch it. You will feel like if you are watching a movie.
Link - https://youtu.be/J8AadYvos3A?si=50scrNubBwgl22OV

5. Now some people may ask "How can we claim that we are god?" It's like increasing our ego. Ravan considered himself as God due to his ego. Even many rakshas claimed them as god in the past and you know the consequences. The answer to this question is simple. Ravan and other rakshas claimed only themselves as God. But here in Advait Vedant, Vedas (the topmost scriptures in Hinduism) claim everything is god. You and I everything even non living things all are Krishna. As lord Krishna says in the Bhagvat Gita 7.19 that after the spiritual practice of many births, tattvagyani sees everthing as Krishna (Vasudevam Sarvam iti). I would suggest you to watch this video to further know about this topic. As usual, the video is very interesting. It has great editing and cinematic music effects. You will love to watch it. You will feel like if you are watching a movie.

Link - https://youtu.be/-3fBb6xm8rM?si=YmuGlV7RkFdZKXQn

#Explainers@advaitikreference

श्रीमद्भागवत महापुराण ५.१०.११,१२

6. Now let's learn about some of the basic terminologies used in Hinduism.

7. Aatma/Soul
Atma is your true identification. You are not this body. You are Atma. You just don't know that you are Atma. So what is Aatma. A broader description of Aatma is given in the Bhagvat Gita Chapter 2.

Gita 2.17
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् |
विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ||
(O Arjuna!) Know that Atma by which the whole universe is pervaded is indestructible. No one can cause the destruction of the imperishable.
Translation by vivekavani.com
https://vivekavani.com/b2v17/

Gita 2.24
अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च |
नित्य: सर्वगत: स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातन: ||
The Atma cannot be cut, cannot be burnt, cannot be wetted, and also cannot be dried up. It is eternal, all-pervading, firm, immovable, and ancient.
Translation by vivekavani.com
https://vivekavani.com/b2v24/

In the above two verses you can see that there are not many Aatma. Some people think that in every body there is a unique aatma. No this is not correct. There is only one soul in this universe, which is everywhere. The size of Aatma is infinite. It is both inside the body as well as outside the body. It is in living things as well as in non-living things. It is pervading all the universe. I know this is a little tough to digest so for scriptural references please checkout this link https://t.me/advaitikreference/21

Now some people may think that in Hinduism it is said that when a person dies its soul never dies. It goes into another body known as reincarnation(punar janm) but here we are saying that the soul is omnipresent then how it can go in another body. Actually soul doesn't go to another body. How can soul goes to another body as it is present everywhere? We will get answer to this question in the next post.

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8. Types of bodies (Introduction)

So now the question arises, if the soul is omnipresent and everywhere, what leaves the body when someone dies? I will answer this below.

Our body is made up of three types of bodies:
1. Gross body (Sthul Sharir)
2. Subtle body (Sukshm Sharir)
3. Causal body (Karan Sharir)

When a person dies, the causal body and subtle body leave, but the soul does not go anywhere. Because the soul is everywhere and immovable, as mentioned in the Gita 2.24 and many other scriptures.

The soul merely imparts consciousness to the body.
The soul is present everywhere but we think that we are limited to only this body. How does this thinking arises. This arises due to the causal body. The causal body generates ignorance due to which the soul thinks that it is only limited to his body. At that time, it is called Jivatma. That is, when the soul resides with the body it is called Jivatma. Jivatma = Jiv (body/living beings with individual consciousness) + Atma (soul).

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9.

Gross Body (Sthul Sharir) - The body that we can see right now is the gross body. This is the body that dies.

Subtle Body (Sukshm Sharir) - Inside the gross body of all beings, there is a subtle body. This body is destroyed during the great dissolution (Maha Pralay). Through this body, we experience happiness, sorrow, and emotions. All the karmas and impressions (sanskar) from our past lives are stored in this body.

The subtle body (sūkṣma śarīra) is composed of 19 elements, which are derived from the five subtle elements (tanmātras). These 19 elements are:

I. Five Organs of Perception (Jñānendriyas) – Related to acquiring knowledge

1. Śrotra (Ear) – Hearing
2. Tvak (Skin) – Touch
3. Chakṣus (Eye) – Sight
4. Jihvā (Tongue) – Taste
5. Ghrāṇa (Nose) – Smell

II. Five Organs of Action (Karmendriyas) – Related to performing actions

6. Vāk (Speech) – Speaking
7. Pāṇi (Hands) – Grasping, working
8. Pāda (Feet) – Movement
9. Upastha (Genitals) – Reproduction, pleasure
10. Guda (Anus) – Excretion

III. Five Prāṇas (Vital Energies) – Govern physiological functions

11. Prāṇa – Controls breathing, circulation
12. Apāna – Governs excretion
13. Vyāna – Circulates energy throughout the body
14. Udāna – Governs upward movement, speech, and departure of the soul at death
15. Samāna – Aids digestion and assimilation

IV. Four Antaḥkaraṇas (Inner Instruments) – Mind-related faculties

16. Manas (Mind) – Doubt, thoughts, emotions
17. Buddhi (Intellect) – Discrimination, decision-making
18. Ahaṅkāra (Ego) – Sense of individuality (thinking yourself different from others)
19. Chitta (Memory) – Retentive power, impressions (saṃskāras)

These 19 elements function together to form the subtle body, which carries karma and saṃskāras (past impressions) from one life to another.

Causal Body (Karan Sharir) - As the name suggests, this body is the cause of our entanglement in this world. This body binds beings in ignorance (avidya). If this body is destroyed, we attain liberation (mukti) and are freed from the cycle of birth and death. The existence of this body ensures the existence of the other two bodies. If this body is destroyed, the other two bodies will also be destroyed. This body can be destroyed through knowledge (Vidya/Gyan), which can be attained through practices like devotion (Bhakti), knowledge (Gyan), Ashtanga Yoga, and Karma Yoga.

These are the three bodies.

Note
Gross body is made up of 5 gross elements; Akash, Air, Fire, Water, Earth while subtle body is made up of 5 subtle elements; subtle akash, subtle air, subtle fire, subtle water. That's why we can't be able to see this body. While Casual body is Avyakt (Non manifested).

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The Seven Limbs of Vaiśvānara

The idea of seven limbs comes from the Vedic cosmology where the universe itself is seen as the body of Vaiśvānara (the universal being, cosmic form of consciousness). The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (2.5.11) and Chāndogya Upaniṣad (5.18.2) elaborate on this, identifying the seven limbs as:

1. The heavens (Dyuloka) – as the head

2. The sun (Sūrya) – as the eyes

3. The air (Vāyu) – as the breath (prāṇa)

4. The sky (Ākāśa) – as the middle body (trunk)

5. The water (Āpaḥ) – as the bladder (urinary organ or blood system)

6. The earth (Pṛthvī) – as the feet

7. The fire (Agni) – as the mouth

These seven elements symbolically represent the cosmic form of consciousness in its waking state.

Srimad Bhagvatam (Bhagvat Puran) 11.28.4
Bhagvan krishna kah rhe hain ki dvait nam ki koi vastu hi nahi h. Aur vishva ki sabhi vastu mithya hai.

If you have habit of reading and want to know about the sanatan dharm. Then I am sending you some PDFs.

Study in this sequence
1. Sadhna panchakam
2. Tattva bodh
3. Atma bodh
4. Bhaja govindam
5. Manisha panchakam
6. Vivek Chudamani
7. Understanding Advait Vedant