How can an inert birth be a punishment for a soul and how can it get reformed after that punishment?

[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on November 14, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]

[Śrī Durgaprasad asked:  Swāmi, it is said in the Gītā that inert births of being born as a stone or tree are given to some souls as a punishment for severe sins. How is the reformation of such soul possible in such inert birth when they do not even have awareness?

Śrī Ganesh asked: We say that a soul exists only when there is awareness in it. In an inert body there is no awareness. So, how can we say that there is any soul there?]

Swāmi replied: Such inert births are granted to certain souls as prior steps before the soul can be reformed in subsequent births. When a mad man gets into a very wild mood, some anaesthesia or sleeping tablets are given to him, before the actual treatment can be started. The basic soul (ātman) is actually inert energy. The inert energy (soul) is the cause of the awareness, which is called the individual soul (jīva). The inert ‘information chip’, which is the qualities of the individual soul, also exists in that stone, but it cannot be detected by us. Due to the absence of awareness, the qualities (hidden information chip) are not displayed on the screen of the mind since the mind too is absent in the stone. If such a soul gets a future birth as a human being, he will be advised to get reformed.

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