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CHAPTER III
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person in the next birth, for cause and effect are different from each other....
But on the other hand the person who exists at present will be the same person in his next birth. From this point of view, therefore, the person in his present as well as future life is identical.
A man who is entangled in the meshes of worldly life, himself creates his future life. It is, therefore, proper to think that the person in his present life is different from that very person in his next life. For as we have already said cause and effect are different from each other. But as the same person assumes another form in his next birth the individual soul underlying is the same. From this point of view of the identity of a soul the person is one and the same.
Just as a lump and jar are also identical as much as earth is common to both of them. Similarly when a person is under the influence of passions such as anger and others, he becomes the cause of his future life which is shaped according to the effect of his passions and from this point of view the two persons in two lives (present and future) are different from each other. But as the same soul persists in both the lives of the person, the two persons are also identical. 7
The following verse states the discussion of the oneness or otherwise of a substance
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