The process of transmigration of the soul, and how we can become free

Nārada Muni, who offers a summary of the process of interaction of the soul with the subtle and gross bodies and how we can finally become free of all material desires.

Aug 04, 2025

In the fourth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, there is a discussion between Nārada Muni and King Prācīnabarhi, where Nārada reveals the real purpose of the Vedas, behind all the instructions about rituals and fruitive ceremonies. The king thus realizes how he had been cheated by priests who didn't really understand the purpose of the scriptures in being busy with so many fruitive activities. Purified, Prācīnabarhi immediately accepts the instructions of Nārada Muni, but he is still confused about the process of transmigration of the soul. From his previous teachers, he had heard that we enjoy or suffer the results of our current activities in the next life. It was, however, not clear to him how this happens, since after death, we change our bodies. How can we then enjoy or suffer the results of activities performed in a body that is already lost?

This leads to a very elaborate answer by Nārada Muni, who offers a summary of the process of interaction of the soul with the subtle and gross bodies and how we can finally become free of all material desires.

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The first point is how we can remain responsible for past actions if the body changes. Nārada answers that the gross body is just an instrument for the subtle body, composed of mind, intelligence, and ego. The root of all actions is the desires of the mind, and the mind moves from one body to the other. Thus, although the gross body changes from one life to the other, it ultimately doesn't matter because the mind that causes the actions is still there to suffer or enjoy. In fact, the mind is always active even without a gross body, such as when dreaming and in ghostly life.

The situation in which we live starts thus in the mind, intelligence, and ego, which, combined, create an atmosphere with desires and ambitions, which is enjoyed first in the subtle body, and later in a new gross body, created around it. Giving up a gross body thus doesn't change anything, nor prevents one from receiving the results of one's actions. Only when we finally give up the subtle body does our karma stop acting and we attain liberation. For this, we have to purify the mind, intelligence, and ego by our practice of Krsna Consciousness. When they are purified, their activities become spiritual.

How does this process of accepting a new body work, exactly?

As we accept a new gross body, created according to our previous actions and desires, the ego and the activities of the mind are molded around it, and we accept a new identity and different duties and ambitions connected with that. In this way, the Lord allows us to experience the situations we desire in the past, and these actions become another link in the chain of actions and reactions that keep us bound to this material world. As long as we continue desiring materially, the Lord keeps giving us new bodies to satisfy such desires.

How can we be sure this is true?

The activities of the mind guide the actions of the body. When a person is angry, this immediately shows in the face, in the words spoken, or even in direct physical actions such as fighting. In this way, by studying the actions of the body, we can understand the status of the mind, and by understanding the current status of the mind, we can understand what one's position was in the previous life, since the current mental state is a consequence of it. Similarly, the current activities allow us to understand what the next body is. If a person is now seriously practicing Krsna Consciousness, acting on the transcendental platform, we can understand that he will have a spiritual body in his next life.

The transmigration of the soul can be proved by the fact that we sometimes experience in dreams things that we never saw in this life, such as places and activities. Similarly, we also bring talents and inclinations with us. One who was a great scientist or poet in a past life may show these same inclinations since early childhood, and similarly, one who was practicing Krsna Consciousness will be born with the same inclination.

There is no possibility of thinking of anything we didn't experience in the past. All our previous experiences in millions of lives are stored in the mind, and new desires are constantly produced from it, just like a solution fermenting and producing bubbles.

What is the cause of this process?

All of this is caused by our original disease, which is our desire to imitate Krsna and become an imitation enjoyer in this material world. Krsna respects our free will and allows us to act as we please, but misusing our free will is the beginning of our downfall. Whatever our current situation, is however, the goal is the same. We should practice Krsna Consciousness using the body and mind given to us by the Lord and thus revive our original spiritual Consciousness. As Prabhupada explains: "If the mind is purified by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one will naturally in the future get a body that is spiritual and full of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Such a body is our original form, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirms: jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa.’ “Every living entity is constitutionally an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.” If a person is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, he is to be considered a liberated soul even in this life."

How is it that the practice of Krsna Consciousness can make us free?

There is a chain of desires, thoughts, and actions that goes from one life to another, coming from previous lives to this life, and from this life to future lives. According to one's current mentality, we can understand what he was in the previous life, since the current state is a result of the previous actions and experiences. If one is A criminal now, this means he was also a criminal in past lives, and similarly, if one is a devotee now, it means he was a devotee in the past. The consciousness gradually changes, but there is a general constant from one life to the other. Similarly, we can also understand what kind of body one will receive in the future, since the next body will be created from the current mental situation. This also explains why not everyone can immediately adopt Krsna Consciousness, since it is very difficult to advance to a stage of pure devotion without previous practice. However, even the greatest materialist can be induced to at least start, and by doing so, he will have the opportunity of continuing in the next life. Ultimately, our mission is to make everyone at least start their Krsna Consciousness, so they can become devotees in their next lives.

Just like a computer, the mind records images, thoughts, and experiences in different bodies. These appear later in different combinations, like the previous experience of seeing gold and seeing a mountain appearing as a golden mountain in a dream. The mind thus produces a constant stream of mental images, thoughts, and desires that make us act in different ways. This makes us continue to produce new material bodies, without an end. The only way to stop this process is to engage our mind in fixed meditation on the form, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord, according to devotional principles.

How can it be said that devotional service removes all the innumerable desires stored in the mind? How can this be possible? Nārada explains that just as Rāhu, which is normally invisible, sometimes becomes visible in the presence of the full moon, all the material desires stocked in the mind, which are normally invisible until manifested, become visible at once when the devotee attains the constant association of the Lord. One can thus see his entire stock of desires at once and, simultaneously, see the Lord present before him. In the presence of the Lord, all these material desires look insignificant, and a devotee completely loses interest in them. With all material desires destroyed, there is no more obstacle in one going back home, back to Godhead. Sometimes, these stored material desires can also be revealed in a dream, with the same result.

Prabhupada explains this process in more detail in his purport: "It has been explained in the previous verse that all desires on the mental platform become visible one after another. Sometimes, however, by the supreme will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the whole stockpile can be visible all at one time. In Brahma-saṁhitā (5.54) it is said, karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām: when a person is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his stockpile of material desires is minimized. Indeed, the desires no longer fructify in the form of gross bodies. Instead, the stockpile of desires becomes visible on the mental platform by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

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