 The Bhaṭṭa Mīmāṃsā, specifically Kumārila, argues that the self can undergo transformation even though it is eternal. Pleasure, pain etc. are qualities of the self, changes in these qualities entail a change in the self, but it is mere qualitative change. The self can be transformed but it remains numerically identical through the change in its qualities. Some aspects of the self are permanent, for example its consciousness, existence and substantiality, but other aspects such as pleasure, pain etc. undergo change. The self, Kumārila says, can be compared to a piece of gold that can be remoulded into a necklace or earrings or a gold coin. The stuff of which the self is composed is eternal, just like the eternal gold atoms. The self can change, but to count as the same self there can be no change in whatsoever in its essence, it must remain the very same substance. In this sense, the self remains a pure subject untainted by physicality. The Vedic assumption that the self is a separate soul substance is difficult to square with the conception of the self as cognizer, agent and the enjoyer. The Hindu philosophers who want to maintain this conception must reject the assumption of an eternal separate soul substance. An embodied self or person, by contrast, is a more suitable candidate for it can be the cognizer and characterized by agency and by enjoyment.