Text 24] What Prahlada Learned in the Womb 71
yato va imani bhiitdni jayante. yena jdtani jivanti. yat prayanty
abhisarnvisanti. tad  vijijfdsasva. tad obrahmeti.  (Taittiriya
Upanisad 3.1.1)
Thus he can understand that the head, hands, legs and indeed the entire
body have grown on the basis of the soul. If the soul is within, the body,
head, hands and legs grow, but otherwise they do not. A dead child does
not grow up, for the soul is not present. If by a careful analysis of the
body one still cannot find the existence of the soul, this is due to his ig-
norance. How can a gross man fully engaged in materialistic activities
understand the soul, which is a small particle of spirit one ten-
thousandth the size of the tip of a hair? Such a person foolishly thinks
that the material body has grown from a combination of chemicals, al-
though he cannot find them. The Vedas inform us, however, that chemi-
cal combinations do not constitute the living force; the living force is the
Gtma and Paramatma, and the body grows on the basis of that living
force. The fruit of a tree grows and undergoes six kinds of change be-
cause of the presence of the tree. If there were no tree, there could be no
question of the growth and maturity of fruit. Therefore, beyond the exis-
tence of the body are the Paramatma and atmd within the body. This is
the first understanding of spiritual knowledge explained in Bhagavad-
gita. Dehino ’smin yatha dehe. The body exists because of the presence
of the Supreme Lord and the jiva, which is part of the Lord. This is
further explained by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gita (9.4):
maya tatam idam sarvarh
Jagad avyakta-mirtina
mat-sthani sarva-bhitani
na caham tesv avasthitah
“By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All
beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” The Supreme Soul exists every-
where. The Vedas enjoin, sarvam khalv idam brahma: everything is
Brahman or an expansion of Brahman’s energies. Siitre mani-ganda iva:
everything rests on the Lord, just like pearls strung together on a thread.
The thread is the principal Brahman. He is the supreme cause, the
