When does the soul enter the baby in the womb? Is the time of birth, when the baby's head is first seen or when the baby comes out fully?

[Smt. Priyanka asked: Padanamaskaram Swami! When does a soul enter a mother’s womb? And does that soul in a foetus remember its past life throughout the 9 months, until it is born? Does it remember all the previous births or only the previous one? And do they forget the moment they are born and have their first cry?

Also, I keep hearing different things about when to record the time of the birth of a baby. Some say it is the moment when you see the top of the head itself. Some say it is when the head fully comes out, while others say it is when the whole body comes out. What should we note as the time of birth of a baby? At Your feet, Priyanka.]

Swami replied: You must concentrate on the points that are very much needed for your spiritual efforts and you can neglect the points which are not useful for the spiritual effort. One person asked Śaṅkara about the number of years that have passed after the first creation. Śaṅkara replied that there is no use of knowing it and that instead, he should concentrate on the effort needed to get rid of the life cycles entangled in the fascinations of worldly bonds. Scholars say that the world is beginningless (anādi). Beginningless means that its beginning is not known (Jñāta ādirna yasya saḥ anādiḥ). This word has this meaning also apart from its original meaning. The original meaning of beginingless (anādi), is of course, that which has no beginning (Ādirna yasya saḥ anādiḥ). The first meaning applies to the world and the second meaning applies to God.

As per the Brahma Sūtrams, the soul enters the womb through the sperm of the male. The soul comes down from the upper worlds and enters the plant through rain and enters the male through the food obtained from plants. The baby remembers the previous birth as long as it is in the womb of the mother and this memory is called the sub-conscious state. The ideas of past births remain in the unconscious state, which are not remembered in the womb of the mother. When the baby comes out, the sub-conscious state also vanishes from the memory, except for a very few cases, in which the children continue to remember the previous birth. These few cases, which we come across, are arranged by God to serve as the practical perception-proof for the rebirth of the soul (Mriyate janmanepunaḥ—Gītā). However, only the extremely strong, condensed brief ideas, of the previous birth remain in the brain of the child.

The states of the person’s sub-conscious as well as the unconscious, together are called saṃskāra. This saṃskāra is very very powerful and guides the decisions of the soul. This is the reason why some people are very stubborn and do not listen even to the good advice of elders. As mentioned by you, there is a debate in the astrological scriptures about which time should be treated as the time of birth of the baby. The finally accepted version is that when the baby comes out fully, that time alone should be taken as the time of birth.

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| Shri Datta Swami | When does the soul enter the baby in the womb? Is the time of birth, when the baby's head is first seen or when the baby comes out fully? | Shankara Anaadi Jnaata aadirna yasya sah anaadih Aadirna yasya sah anaadih Brahma suutrams Mriyate janmanepunah Samskaara

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