The Soul and Its Destiny: Vaishnava Perspectives: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

The Vaishnava understanding of the soul’s destiny may be conveyed by focusing the discussion on three topics: consciousness, salvation and the kingdom of God, of which salvation is perhaps the more inclusive term. To locate and frame this discussion in categories appropriate to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, we may label these three topics with the Sanskritic terms sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana. Sambandha refers to the conditioned soul’s relationship with God. (Here, our analysis of consciousness post-mortem
is meant to identify the soul as the one who survives death); abhidheya refers to the regulated activities of the conditioned soul for reviving its relationship with God; and prayojana indicates the ultimate goal of life for conditioned souls. These definitions suggest, at least for the present discussion, the following loose epistemological equation: sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana = consciousness,
salvation, and the kingdom of God.