In the Samvat year 1876, on the first day of the dark half of the month of Margashirsh at night, Shreeji Maharaj was seated on a wooden bedstead laid on a platform under the neem tree near the temple of Shree Vasudev Narayan in the Darbar of Dada Khachar in Gadhada. He had put on red trousers and a red jacket. He had wrapped a rich garment with golden borders round His head, and an equally ric9 garment round His waist. Pearl necklaces adorned His neck and tassels of pearls were hanging from His turban. Saints and devotees from various places had gathered before Him in an assembly.
Then Nityanand Swami asked a question, “Is there one soul residing in different bodies, or is there as many souls as there are bodies? When we cut a branch of a tree like a banyan tree,
Or a peeper tree and plant it somewhere else it grows into an equally big tree. Now if you say that there is only one soul, is he divided into two, or has another soul entered the new tree? And if you say that it is the same soul, how can a soul be divided? The soul is said to be indivisible and indestructible.”
Shreeji Maharaj said, “I will explain that phenomenon. Lord Shree Krishna possesses two faculties: Purush and Prakruti. They are the cause of creation, sustenance and dissolution of this universe. With the help of these two faculties the Lord assumed the form of virat in the beginning, and during the period of Brahrnakalpa created everything from Brahma upto the tiniest blade of grass from His own body.
Again during the period of Padmakalpa the Lord assumed the form of Brahma and created sage Mareechi and other sages. Then He assumed the forms of Kashyap and Dakshaand created the gods, and the demons, and the human beings and animals and birds, and all the animate and inanimate things. Lord Shree Krishna along with His twin faculties: Purush and Prakruti reside within every soul and associates each soul with a body which the soul deserved according to his past deeds. The soul in his previous life may have committed some deeds, good or bad under the influence of sattuagun, some deeds under the influence of rajogun and some under the influence of tamogun. The Lord, according to the past deeds of the soul, associates him with an Udbhij body [born out of seeds], or a jarayuj body [born out of another body], or an undaj body [born out of an eal, or a swedej body [born out of dirt] and makes him under go the fruits of his past deeds in the form of happiness or misery. And also according to his past
deeds he creates another body from the original body of the soul. The Lord has created innumerable forms of bodies from the body of Prajapati like Kashyap. In the same manner, God being immanent in all the souls, may create other bodies from I the original body in the appropriate manner. It is not that the soul assumes many forms of different bodies. The soul is destined only for a particular body as per his past deeds.”
