Two souls dwell within each body: the conditioned enjoyer and the eternal witness who awards all results of karma.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Bhagavad-gītā 13.23 — October 22, 1973, Bombay 731022BG-BOMBAY [25:58 Minutes] Bg-13.23_731022BG-BOMBAY Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ paramātmeti cāpy ukto dehe 'smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ [Bg. 13.23] [break] [00:52] Translation: "Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul." Prabhupāda: Hm. So there are two puruṣas. One puruṣa is already explained. Puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi...
[aside:] You can go. Puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān [Bg. 13.22]. So one puruṣa, the living entity, ātmā, and another puruṣa is Paramātmā. Sometimes the Māyāvādī philosophers, they do not distinguish between ātmā and Paramātmā.
But here it is distinctly explained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead that one puruṣa is enjoying the fruits of his activities, prakṛti-sthaḥ. Being influenced by the quality of the prakṛti, material nature, he is sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu [Bg. 13.22], he is taking birth in different types and species of life. And another puruṣa is there who is upadraṣṭā. Upadraṣṭā means He is overseer.
He is simply seeing how the other puruṣa is working. And according to his karma, work, He is giving the result. He is the witness. If the living entity puruṣa is working piously, then he is getting a different type of body. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī [SB 1.8.26].
A nice body, born in rich man's family or brāhmaṇa's family, scholar's family, janma; opulence, aiśvarya; beauty, beautiful body; and very good education—these distinctions are there because the paramātma-puruṣa is observing the activities of the jīvātma-puruṣa. And according to his karma, according to his desire, He is giving a different type of body. Īśvaraḥ sarva... Another place it is said, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg. 18.61]: "That Supreme Personality of Godhead as Paramātmā, Antaryāmī, is situated in everyone's heart." Bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [Bg. 18.61]: "And He is directing māyā to give him a particular type of body, and he is moving with that body." Yantra. Just like if you get a car, according to the price, you can get car.
You can get a Rolls-Royce car, Chevrolet car, Cadillac car or a Ford car or Ambassador car or a Jeep. So as you can pay for it, you get a different type of car, and you can travel, similarly, according to your karma, good and bad, you are getting a type of body. There are 8,400,000 species of body. You can get one of them and suffer and enjoy. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg. 2.13].
You have to change your body. Next body you can get a cat's body or dog's body, a tree's body or a demigod's body or a Brahmā's body or a Indra's body, Indian body, American body, serpent body, insect body, bird's body, aquatic—any, any. There is no guarantee. That will be awarded to you according to your karma.