| identified with a small limited physical body that it occupies. Through an upward evolutionary journey the soul passes through 8.4 million sub-human species before it receives a human body. It is through the medium of the human body that the soul regains its lost awareness. The involutionary journey and the subsequent evolutionary journey of the soul is part of an infinite sporting activity or "Lila" of God.
The Cosmic Being referred above is God in His manifested form and is generally given a feminine gender in Hindu mythology and is understood as the Divine Mother. Durga, Kali, Shakti, Maya, Prakriti, Gayatri, Jagadamba, Jagatjanani are some of the common names by which this aspect of God is referred to. God in His unmanifested aspect beyond the created universe is the Heavenly Father and is referred to as Para Brahman, Paramatman, Purusha, Shiva etc.
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