Questioner: Which one goes through birth and death (the coming and going; avagaman), the Soul or the body?
Dadashri: Neither the body nor the Soul undergoes birth and death (avagaman). Only the ego does. This body comes with all its necessities, but it is mainly the ego that comes and goes. The cycles of birth and death come to an end, for the one whose ego has ended.

Questioner: What is a true definition of ego?
Dadashri: The world has not understood the real meaning of the ego. It is not how they understand it. Each understands it according to his own language (bhasha; interpretation). Isn’t everyone’s ‘language’ different? But it will not do, as far as the language of God goes. You will be put to the test, because ‘there’ (in matters of liberation), it will not work. Ego means that although one does not do anything, one asserts, ‘I am the doer’ (ahamkar). That is the false assertion (aropit bhaav; false imposition). It is called ego. The primary thing is the ego, and from it arises all kinds of words like: maan (pride), abhimaan (excessive pride due to material possessions), garva (ego of doership), ghemaraji (pompous display without any substance), etc. What kind of a thing is abhimaan? In it the aropit bhaav (false assertion) which is the ego, is there, but when someone shows off by saying: “I have four bungalows, and I have two cars,” it is called abhimaan. To claim to do something, when one is not the doer is called egoism (ahamkar).

Questioner: The Gita (The Bhagavad Gita, the sacred text of knowledge given by Lord Krishna to Arjun in the Mahabharata war) mentions that the ego is the principle thing; therefore, it must have existed before the origin of everything, right?
Dadashri: It is a thing before the utpatti (origin, beginning). What the Gita says is right. The ego does not come after utpatti. Primarily, it is the ego that comes first, and then comes the origination. You will realise the fruit of whatever karma you have done with the ego in this life in the next life. In truth, it is someone else that is the ‘doer’, but it is through your illusion (bhranti) that you believe you have ‘done’ it. If you yourself were the doer, then you would not allow yourself to die (nanami). No one has the independent power and energy (shakti) to evacuate his bowels. Nevertheless, he does have other powers, but they have not yet manifested. And he who says, ‘I am doing’, is outside of his ‘own’ (the Self’s) power (shakti). Don’t people say: “I ate, I drank, or I am hungry”? If you are hungry, then why don’t you put out that hunger? And he would say: ‘No, I cannot satisfy my hunger without putting some food in my stomach.’

The ego arises first, and then the body is formed; thereafter, all the other external results (parinam) eventuate. Karma is created by the ego, and this is the consequence of that. This mind, body and speech are the fruits (consequences). The ego is the ‘cause’ and the mind, body and speech are the ‘effect’. ‘Cause and effect’, ‘effect and cause’: this is how everything continues. The Gnani Purush can stop the causes, so only the effect is left. And so, there will never again be another effective body.

To be Continued…