Q. What happens to our spiritual bodies once we take on a material body?
A. The spiritual body (or spirit soul) is described as being situated in the region of the heart and is covered by the subtle and gross material coverings. Prabhupada compares this to a man wearing a shirt and coat. It is the spirit soul (or spiritual body) which is activating the material body, just as when the man’s hands move, the arms of coat also move. In other words, the spiritual body is present, but covered and existing in a dormant state.