Is the soul conscious in the period between death and the next birth?
From GaneshPandian
Is the soul aware of time period in between death and the next birth or is he just in the Susupti(deep sleep) stage?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.
Question from Ganesh Prabhu. Is the soul aware of the time period in between death and the next birth or is it just in the deep sleep stage? Answer. No, the soul is aware.
In the third canto, as well as the canto of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, when the results of adverse fruitive activities are described, at that time it is mentioned that the soul does undergo suffering when the soul is taken from one place to another to get the reactions. Now, that is, of course, for souls who are aware, who are going for sinful, for consequences of their sinful actions towards hellish conditions. But apart from that also, the soul is conscious.
There are many people who have had near-death experiences. At that time also the soul was conscious, is conscious. And if the soul is not conscious, then actually the pain that is there when a soul dies, when a person dies, the loss of everything that is real, that pain comes because the soul is conscious.
Consciousness may not be visible to us when a person dies. We no longer perceive the consciousness. But the soul is conscious.
So, shupti stage is the deep sleep stage only, which is generally at the time of the universal pralaya, when all the souls are taken back into the body of Mahavishnu after the whole universe is destroyed. At other times, the soul may be in different levels of consciousness, but the soul is in swapna when it is sleeping. At other times, it is in jakruti.
So, during the transition, the soul is conscious, and that’s how the soul undergoes various kinds of sufferings, if the sufferings are due. And of course, the soul may not be conscious clearly of everything that is happening, but the soul has a general awareness. And especially from the point that when the soul is going towards hellish sufferings, the sufferings come upon the soul and the soul feels them.
And that indicates that actually the consciousness is not lost at that time. Thank you. Hare Krishna.