Soul or Atman is none other than consciousness, which is ultimate truth or Brahman and as such is always free, eternal, immutable, the Existence-Knowledge.

Soul or Atman  is none other than consciousness, which is ultimate truth or Brahman and as such is always free, eternal, immutable, the Existence-Knowledge.   Ignorant   does not know he is not the self but the self is formless substance and witness of the three states. Ignorant thinks himself bound. This ignorance vanishes with the dawn of Knowledge. When this happens he re-discovers his formless non-dual true identity. As a matter of fact, such terms as bondage and liberation cannot be used regarding one which is always free.

The idea of “Liberation” in relation to bondage exists only in the realm of duality, which is mere illusion from ultimate standpoint.  

If one thinks: "I know soul or Atman well," then surely he knows but little of its form; he knows only its form as conditioned by man or by the concept of gods. Therefore soul or  Atman has to be grasped through inquiry, analysis and reasoning on the true base.

Soul or Atman is not known by those who know it; it is known by those who do not know it.  That is when one says he knows soul or Atman; he is saying it as a person. The  soul Atman cannot be applied only to the individuality but to the whole experience [three states]. But in reality the person and world created out of  soul  or Atman, thus nothing exits other then soul or Atman. Thus if one says he knows soul or  Atman as a person, he is making a wrong statement. One must know soul or  Atman as the formless clay of the three states (whole).

Soul or Atman  is known when it is realized in every state of mind; for by such Knowledge one attains Immortality. By Atman one obtains strength; by Knowledge, Immortality

If a man knows soul or  Atman here, he then attains the non dual goal of his mission. If he does not know it here, he remains ignorance experiencing the cycle of birth, life and death as reality. Having realized the Self in every being, the wise relinquish the world and become immortal.