Shanti Parva 218.37
Rahular Itihasa / M. N. Dutt · Shanti Parva Chapter 218 · Verse 37
Sanskrit Original
तथा हि मुसलैर्हन्युः शरीरं तत् पुनर्भवेत्। पृथग्ज्ञानं यदन्यच्च येनैतन्त्रोपपद्यते॥
The separate Consciousness that is the outcome of re-birth is different from the Consciousness that had preceded it in a pristine existence. The way, however, in which the appearance of that separate Consciousness is explained by that theory is not at all consistent or reasonable. The Consciousness was the very opposite of eternal, being only transitory, extending as it did till dissolution of the body. That which had an end cannot be considered as the cause for the production of a second Consciousness appearing after the end. If again, the very very loss of of the previous Consciousness be considered as the cause of the production of the second Consciousness, then when the death of a human body is caused by a heavy bludgeon, a second body would originate from the body that is thus deprived of animation.