Is a pregnant woman a two-soul system?

[Smt. Bindiya: When does a soul enter the baby who is in mother’s womb? Does it enter after birth or before its birth? If the soul enters before birth, it means two souls exist in the single body of the mother. How does the baby’s soul affect mother’s soul?]

Swami replied: Some say that the soul of the baby enters mother’s womb in third month of pregnancy and some say it enters in the fifth month through the food grains consumed by the mother. Sage Vyaasa says in the Brahma Sutras that the soul enters into the sperm of the father through the food grains consumed by him and it enters the womb of the mother at the time of the fertilization of the ovum by the sperm. The baby’s soul comes down to earth, covered in an energetic body and it enters the physical embryo, which is the initial mass that gradually develops into the body of the baby. The soul always has its own separate body even while staying in the body of the mother. The soul of the baby has its own qualities (samskaaras), which may undergo some change after birth due to the influence of people and external conditions. The genes of the mother and the father only impart certain physical mannerisms to the baby. They do not determine the qualities of the soul. The qualities either come from the soul’s previous births or from the external atmosphere in which the child grows or with which it comes in contact.

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