My question to you, your holiness is: At what stage of the nine month pregnancy does the soul enter the baby?
(Naida Glavish: Māori Party president from New Zealand)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well, I don’t know! But I can tell you, the ancient scriptures say there are three occasions when the soul enters the body; during conception, or in the fifth month of pregnancy, or at the time of birth.
Among scholars there are differences in opinions; sometimes it also happens that at the time of birth, when the child starts breathing, the soul enters the body. This is what I can tell you.