Does God control souls like robots or does He not control them?

[Śrī Durgaprasad asked: Padanamaskaram Swami! In an online forum, I posted one of Your discourses about souls being like robots at the beginning of creation. You have said in it that they were given free will later, which allows them to choose their action and enjoy the corresponding fruits. To this, one person replied quoting the Gītā, “Na kartṛtvaṃ na karmāṇi…”, which means that He does not control souls. Kindly enlighten me on how to reply to him. At Your lotus feet. Durgaprasad]

Swami replied: The souls referred to by Kṛṣṇa in that statement from the Gītā are the present souls and not the past souls at the beginning of creation. The souls at the beginning of creation (Kṛta Yuga) were completely under God’s control. But the present-day souls (Kali Yuga) are not controlled by God since He has granted them free-will. Whenever a divine preacher preaches spiritual knowledge, He always preaches with reference to the present generation of souls which surround Him. He preaches to them the path necessary for their progress. What is the use of referring to the past, when the soul to be reformed is the soul present before the Human Incarnation of God? Even Śaṅkara invented the theory of monism only to uplift the atheistic souls existing in His time. His theory was not meant for the ancient souls existing in the beginning of creation. When God comes in human form, His sole goal is only to reform the souls in that time by preaching the spiritual knowledge related to the existing state of souls. Referring to the past souls at the beginning of creation is only a waste of time. It is like telling a story about old history. Of course, the ancient souls can be referred to in order to show the changing trend of souls from the beginning to the present. But the preaching is always mainly related to the present time alone, because the past is past.

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