Originally, as pure spiritual souls, we have a spiritual body. This spiritual body is identical to our real Self [in other words, there is no distinction between our real Self and our spiritual body] while the actual material body is quite distinct and different from our real identity. When we talk about a material body, we are actually talking about two material bodies; the dense, palpable body of matter, and the ethereal body in which the soul is located.
The first is made up of material elements such as earth, water, fire, air and ether, and the second of subtle elements such as mind, intelligence and false ego. It is this second which, in reality, transports us from one bodily envelope to another, constantly going from one species to another, among the 8,400,000 species of material bodies, human, animal and plant.
Originally our identity is to be a tiny eternal part of Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, filled with knowledge, bliss and eternity, free from the taint and yoke of material energy. But for rejecting the service of the Lord, we had to immediately fall into the prison of this material world and accept a material body. This is why we had to put on our prisoner's costume, our costume of flesh and bone.
God reveals to us the splendor of the soul.
The Lord said : Some see the soul and it is an astonishing wonder for them. So also others talk about it and still others hear about it. However, there are some who, even after having heard of it, cannot conceive of it. Whether the infinitesimal soul occupies the body of a gigantic or tiny animal, or that of a large banyan tree or a blade of grass, as well as those of the billions of germs contained in every cubic centimeter of space, is undoubtedly something extraordinary.
He [the soul] who sits in the body is eternal, he can never be killed.
The Lord shows us that the soul is eternal, and the body ephemeral. Thus enlightened, let us continue to fulfill our duty to be human according to the social class to which we belong, without letting ourselves be stopped by the fear that a member of our family or acquaintance dies, because it is the body that dies, not the soul that each of us is.
Likewise, enlightened by the Lord, we must accept that there is without a shadow of a doubt a soul distinct from the material body and refuse to believe that the signs life appear at a certain stage in the evolution of matter, by a simple combination of chemical elements.
However, although the soul is immortal, violence need not be encouraged except in time of war, when it is really necessary. And when we say “really necessary”, it implies that it is applied with the sanction or consent of the Supreme Lord, Krishna, and not in a capricious manner. Nothing can take place if God has not given his consent first.