Embryo

Expressions researched:
"embryo" |"embryonic" |"embryos"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 3.38, Translation:

As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust.

BG 3.38, Purport:

There are three degrees of covering of the living entity by which his pure consciousness is obscured. This covering is but lust under different manifestations like smoke in the fire, dust on the mirror, and the womb about the embryo. When lust is compared to smoke, it is understood that the fire of the living spark can be a little perceived.

BG 3.38, Purport:

Although fire is necessary where there is smoke, there is no overt manifestation of fire in the early stage. This stage is like the beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The dust on the mirror refers to a cleansing process of the mirror of the mind by so many spiritual methods. The best process is to chant the holy names of the Lord. The embryo covered by the womb is an analogy illustrating a helpless position, for the child in the womb is so helpless that he cannot even move. This stage of living condition can be compared to that of the trees.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.8.10, Translation:

O my Lord, You are all-powerful. A fiery iron arrow is coming towards me fast. My Lord, let it burn me personally, if You so desire, but please do not let it burn and abort my embryo. Please do me this favor, my Lord.

SB 1.8.10, Purport:

This incident took place after the death of Abhimanyu, the husband of Uttarā. Abhimanyu's widow, Uttarā, should have followed the path of her husband, but because she was pregnant, and Mahārāja Parīkṣit, a great devotee of the Lord, was lying in embryo, she was responsible for his protection. The mother of a child has a great responsibility in giving all protection to the child, and therefore Uttarā was not ashamed to express this frankly before Lord Kṛṣṇa.

SB 1.8.11, Purport:

The Lord is impartial in every respect, but still He is inclined towards His devotees because there is a great necessity of this for everyone's wellbeing. The Pāṇḍava family was a family of devotees, and therefore the Lord wanted them to rule the world. That was the reason He vanquished the rule of the company of Duryodhana and established the rule of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Therefore, He also wanted to protect Mahārāja Parīkṣit, who was lying in embryo. He did not like the idea that the world should be without the Pāṇḍavas, the ideal family of devotees.

SB 1.8.14, Translation:

The Lord of supreme mysticism, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, resides within everyone's heart as the Paramātmā. As such, just to protect the progeny of the Kuru dynasty, He covered the embryo of Uttarā by His personal energy.

SB 1.8.14, Purport:

The Lord of supreme mysticism can simultaneously reside within everyone's heart, or even within the atoms, by His Paramātmā feature, His plenary portion. Therefore, from within the body of Uttarā He covered the embryo to save Mahārāja Parīkṣit and protect the progeny of Mahārāja Kuru, of whom King Pāṇḍu was also a descendant. Both the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and those of Pāṇḍu belonged to the same dynasty of Mahārāja Kuru; therefore both of them were generally known as Kurus. But when there were differences between the two families, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra were known as Kurus whereas the sons of Pāṇḍu were known as Pāṇḍavas. Since the sons and grandsons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra were all killed in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, the last son of the dynasty is designated as the son of the Kurus.

SB 1.8.18, Purport:

Queen Kuntī experienced personally that Lord Kṛṣṇa was present before her, yet He entered within the womb of Uttarā to save her embryo from the attack of Aśvatthāmā's brahmāstra. Kuntī herself was puzzled about whether Śrī Kṛṣṇa is all-pervasive or localized. In fact, He is both, but He reserves the right of not being exposed to persons who are not surrendered souls. This checking curtain is called the māyā energy of the Supreme Lord, and it controls the limited vision of the rebellious soul. It is explained as follows.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.25, Purport:

As soon as Brahmā was born of the abdominal lotus petals of Viṣṇu, he was impregnated with Vedic knowledge, and therefore he is known as veda-garbha, or a Vedāntist from the embryo. Without Vedic knowledge, or perfect, infallible knowledge, no one can create anything. All scientific knowledge and perfect knowledge are Vedic. One can get all types of information from the Vedas, and as such, Brahmā was impregnated with all-perfect knowledge so that it was possible for him to create. Thus Brahmā knew the perfect description of creation, as it was exactly apprised to him by the Supreme Lord Hari. Brahmā, on being questioned by Nārada, told Nārada exactly what he had heard directly from the Lord. Nārada again told exactly the same thing to Vyāsa, and Vyāsa also told Śukadeva exactly what he heard from Nārada. And Śukadeva was going to repeat the same statements as he had heard them from Vyāsa. That is the way of Vedic understanding. The language of the Vedas can be revealed only by the above-mentioned disciplic succession, and not otherwise.

SB 2.10.37-40, Translation:

O King, know from me that all living entities are created by the Supreme Lord according to their past deeds. This includes Brahmā and his sons like Dakṣa, the periodical heads like Vaivasvata Manu, the demigods like Indra, Candra and Varuṇa, the great sages like Bhṛgu, Vyāsa and Vasiṣṭha, the inhabitants of Pitṛloka and Siddhaloka, the Cāraṇas, Gandharvas, Vidyādharas, Asuras, Yakṣas, Kinnaras and angels, the serpentines, the monkey-shaped Kimpuruṣas, the human beings, the inhabitants of Mātṛloka, the demons, Piśācas, ghosts, spirits, lunatics and evil spirits, the good and evil stars, the goblins, the animals in the forest, the birds, the household animals, the reptiles, the mountains, the moving and standing living entities, the living entities born from embryos, from eggs, from perspiration and from seeds, and all others, whether they be in the water, land or sky, in happiness, in distress or in mixed happiness and distress. All of them, according to their past deeds, are created by the Supreme Lord.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.3.17, Translation:

The embryo of Pūru's descendant begotten by the great hero Abhimanyu in the womb of Uttarā, his wife, was burnt by the weapon of the son of Droṇa, but later he was again protected by the Lord.

SB 3.3.17, Purport:

The embryonic body of Parīkṣit which was in formation after Uttarā's pregnancy by Abhimanyu, the great hero, was burned by the brahmāstra of Aśvatthāmā, but a second body was given by the Lord within the womb, and thus the descendant of Pūru was saved. This incident is the direct proof that the body and the living entity, the spiritual spark, are different. When the living entity takes shelter in the womb of a woman through the injection of the semen of a man, there is an emulsification of the man's and woman's discharges, and thus a body is formed the size of a pea, gradually developing into a complete body. But if the developing embryo is destroyed in some way or other, the living entity has to take shelter in another body or in the womb of another woman. The particular living entity who was selected to be the descendant of Mahārāja Pūru, or the Pāṇḍavas, was not an ordinary living entity, and by the superior will of the Lord he was destined to be the successor to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Therefore, when Aśvatthāmā destroyed the embryo of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the Lord, by His own internal potency, entered into the womb of Uttarā by His plenary portion just to give audience to the would-be Mahārāja Parīkṣit, who was in great danger. By His appearance within the womb, the Lord encouraged the child and gave him complete protection in a new body by His omnipotency. By His power of omnipresence He was present both inside and outside of Uttarā and other members of the Pāṇḍava family.

SB 3.7.27, Translation:

Also please describe the living beings under different classifications: subhumans, humans, those born of the embryo, those born of perspiration, those who are twice-born (birds), and the plants and vegetables. Kindly describe their generations and subdivisions also.

SB 3.14.34, Translation:

The beautiful Diti said: My dear brāhmaṇa, kindly see that my embryo is not killed by Lord Śiva, the lord of all living entities, because of the great offense I have committed against him.

SB 3.15.10, Translation:

As fuel overloads a fire, so the embryo created by the semen of Kaśyapa in the womb of Diti has caused complete darkness throughout the universe.

SB 3.15.10, Purport:

The darkness throughout the universe is explained herewith as being caused by the embryo created in the womb of Diti by the semen of Kaśyapa.

SB 3.17.18, Purport:

There is an authoritative Vedic literature called Piṇḍa-siddhi in which the scientific understanding of pregnancy is very nicely described. It is stated that when the male secretion enters the menstrual flux in the uterus in two successive drops, the mother develops two embryos in her womb, and she brings forth twins in a reverse order to that in which they were first conceived; the child conceived first is born later, and the one conceived later is brought forth first. The first child conceived in the womb lives behind the second child, so when birth takes place the second child appears first, and the first child appears second. In this case it is understood that Hiraṇyākṣa, the second child conceived, was delivered first, whereas Hiraṇyakaśipu, the child who was behind him, having been conceived first, was born second.

SB 3.28.42, Purport:

The word sarva-bhūteṣu is to be understood as follows. There are four different divisions of species-living entities which sprout from the earth, living entities born of fermentation or germination, living entities which come from eggs and living entities which come from the embryo. These four divisions of living entities are expanded in 8,400,000 species of life. A person who is freed from material designations can see the same quality of spirit present everywhere or in every manifested living entity. Less intelligent men think that plants and grass grow out of the earth automatically, but one who is actually intelligent and has realized the self can see that this growth is not automatic; the cause is the soul, and the forms come out in material bodies under different conditions.

SB 3.28.42, Purport:

By fermentation in the laboratory many germs are born, but this is due to the presence of the soul. The material scientist thinks that eggs are lifeless, but that is not a fact. From Vedic scripture we can understand that living entities in different forms are generated under different conditions. Birds evolve from eggs, and beasts and human beings are born from the embryo. The perfect vision of the yogī or devotee is that he sees the presence of the living entity everywhere.

SB 3.31.2, Purport:

The body of the soul develops in four different ways according to its different sources. One kind of body, that of the trees and plants, sprouts from the earth; the second kind of body grows from perspiration, as with flies, germs and bugs; the third kind of body develops from eggs; and the fourth develops from an embryo. This verse indicates that after emulsification of the ovum and sperm, the body gradually develops either into a lump of flesh or into an egg, as the case may be. In the case of birds it develops into an egg, and in the case of animals and human beings it develops into a lump of flesh.

SB 3.31.10, Translation:

Thus endowed with the development of consciousness from the seventh month after his conception, the child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo during the weeks preceding delivery. Like the worms born of the same filthy abdominal cavity, he cannot remain in one place.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.24.64, Purport:

Since the material world cannot work independently, the living entities enter into the material manifestation in four different types of bodies. The word catur-vidham is significant in this verse. There are four types of living entities born within this material world. Some are born by way of an embryo (jarāyu ja), by way of eggs (aṇḍa ja), perspiration (sveda ja) and, like the trees, by way of seeds (udbhijja). Regardless of how these living entities appear, they are all busy in the pursuit of sense enjoyment.

SB 4.24.64, Purport:

The materialistic scientists' contention that living entities other than human beings have no soul is nullified herein. Whether they are born through an embryo, eggs, perspiration or seeds, all living entities in the 8,400,000 species of life are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and each therefore is an individual spiritual spark and soul. The Supreme Personality of Godhead also remains within the heart of the living entity, regardless of whether the living entity is a man, animal, tree, germ or microbe. The Lord resides in everyone's heart, and because all living entities who come to this material world do so in order to fulfill their desire for sense enjoyment, the Lord directs the living entities to enjoy their senses. Thus the Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, knows everyone's desires.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.9.9, Translation:

In return for Lord Indra's benediction that they would be able to enjoy lusty desires continuously, even during pregnancy for as long as sex is not injurious to the embryo, women accepted one fourth of the sinful reactions. As a result of those reactions, women manifest the signs of menstruation every month.

SB 6.18.62, Translation:

After entering Diti's womb, Indra, with the help of his thunderbolt, cut into seven pieces her embryo, which appeared like glowing gold. In seven places, seven different living beings began crying. Indra told them, "Do not cry," and then he cut each of them into seven pieces again.

SB 6.18.65, Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King Parīkṣit, you were burned by the brahmāstra of Aśvatthāmā, but when Lord Kṛṣṇa entered the womb of your mother, you were saved. Similarly, although the one embryo was cut into forty-nine pieces by the thunderbolt of Indra, they were all saved by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 6.18.71, Translation:

Indra replied: My dear mother, because I was grossly blinded by selfish interests, I lost sight of religion. When I understood that you were observing a great vow in spiritual life, I wanted to find some fault in you. When I found such a fault, I entered your womb and cut the embryo to pieces.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.2.55, Purport:

Kali-yuga, however, is so degraded that a father and mother even kill their children in the womb on the plea of their scientific knowledge that within the womb the child has no life. Prestigious medical practitioners give this opinion, and therefore the father and mother of this day kill their children within the womb. How degraded human society has become! Their scientific knowledge is so advanced that they think that within the egg and the embryo there is no life. Now these so-called scientists are receiving Nobel Prizes for advancing the theory of chemical evolution. But if chemical combinations are the source of life, why don't the scientists manufacture something like an egg through chemistry and put it in an incubator so that a chicken will come out? What is their answer? With their scientific knowledge they are unable to create even an egg. Such scientists are described in Bhagavad-gītā as māyayāpahṛta jñānāḥ (BG 7.15), fools whose real knowledge has been taken away. They are not men of knowledge, but they pose as scientists and philosophers, although their so-called theoretical knowledge cannot produce practical results.

SB 7.7.1, Purport:

When he was in the womb of his mother, Prahlāda Mahārāja listened to the words of Nārada Muni. One cannot imagine how the baby in embryo could hear Nārada, but this is spiritual life; progress in spiritual life cannot be obstructed by any material condition. This is called ahaituky apratihatā. Reception of spiritual knowledge is never checked by any material condition. Thus Prahlāda Mahārāja, from his very childhood, spoke spiritual knowledge to his class friends, and certainly it was effective, although all of them were children.

SB 7.7.14, Translation:

My mother, being pregnant, desired the safety of her embryo and desired to give birth after her husband's arrival. Thus she stayed at Nārada Muni's āśrama, where she rendered service unto Nārada Muni with great devotion.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.5.21, Translation:

Lord Brahmā said: I, Lord Śiva, all of you demigods, the demons, the living entities born of perspiration, the living beings born of eggs, the trees and plants sprouting from the earth, and the living entities born from embryos—all come from the Supreme Lord, from His incarnation of rajo-guṇa (Lord Brahmā, the guṇa-avatāra) and from the great sages (ṛṣis) who are part of me. Let us therefore go to the Supreme Lord and take shelter of His lotus feet.

SB 8.5.21, Purport:

Some creatures are born from embryos, some from perspiration, and some from seeds. In this way, all living entities emanate from the guṇa-avatāra of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ultimately, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the shelter of all living entities.

SB 8.5.32, Purport:

The word mahī refers to the five material elements—earth, water, air, fire and sky—which rest upon the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. The mahat-tattva, the total material energy, rests on His lotus feet, for the cosmic manifestation is but another opulence of the Lord. In this cosmic manifestation there are four kinds of living entities—jarāyu ja (those born from embryos), aṇḍa ja (those born from eggs), sveda ja (those born from perspiration), and udbhijja (those born from seeds). Everything is generated from the Lord, as confirmed in the Vedānta-sūtra (janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1)).

SB Canto 9

SB 9.9.31, Translation:

You are well known and worshiped in learned circles. How dare you kill this brāhmaṇa, who is a saintly, sinless person, well versed in Vedic knowledge? Killing him would be like destroying the embryo within the womb or killing a cow.

SB 9.9.31, Purport:

As stated in the Amara-kośa dictionary, bhrūṇo 'rbhake bāla-garbhe: the word bhrūṇa refers either to the cow or to the living entity in embryo. According to Vedic culture, destroying the undeveloped embryo of the soul in the womb is as sinful as killing a cow or a brāhmaṇa. In the embryo, the living entity is present in an undeveloped stage. The modern scientific theory that life is a combination of chemicals is nonsense; scientists cannot manufacture living beings, even like those born from eggs. The idea that scientists can develop a chemical situation resembling that of an egg and bring life from it is nonsensical. Their theory that a chemical combination can have life may be accepted, but these rascals cannot create such a combination. This verse refers to bhrūṇasya vadham—the killing of a bhrūṇa or destruction of the embryo. Here is a challenge from the Vedic literature. The crude, atheistic understanding that the living entity is a combination of matter belongs to the grossest ignorance.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.34, Purport:

The omen spoke of aṣṭamo garbhaḥ, referring to the eighth pregnancy, but did not clearly say whether the child was to be a son or a daughter. Even if Kaṁsa were to see that the eighth child of Devakī was a daughter, he should have no doubt that the eighth child was to kill him. According to the Viśva-kośa dictionary, the word garbha means "embryo" and also arbhaka, or "child." Kaṁsa was affectionate toward his sister, and therefore he had become the chariot driver to carry her and his brother-in-law to their home. The demigods, however, did not want Kaṁsa to be affectionate toward Devakī, and therefore, from an unseen position, they encouraged Kaṁsa to offend her. Moreover, the six sons of Marīci had been cursed to take birth from the womb of Devakī, and upon being killed by Kaṁsa they would be delivered. When Devakī understood that Kaṁsa would be killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who would appear from her womb, she felt great joy. The word vahase is also significant because it indicates that the ominous vibration condemned Kaṁsa for acting just like a beast of burden by carrying his enemy's mother.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 11.3.39, Translation:

The spirit soul is born in many different species of life within the material world. Some species are born from eggs, others from embryos, others from the seeds of plants and trees, and others from perspiration. But in all species of life the prāṇa, or vital air, remains unchanging and follows the spirit soul from one body to another. Similarly, the spirit soul is eternally the same despite its material condition of life. We have practical experience of this. When we are absorbed in deep sleep without dreaming, the material senses become inactive, and even the mind and false ego are merged into a dormant condition. But although the senses, mind and false ego are inactive, one remembers upon waking that he, the soul, was peacefully sleeping.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 6.14-15, Purport:

This does not mean, however, that the beds give birth to the bugs. It is the living soul that comes forth, taking advantage of the dirty condition of the bed. There are different kinds of living creatures. Some of them come from embryos, some from eggs and some from the fermentation of perspiration. Different living creatures have different sources of appearance, but one should not conclude that matter produces such living creatures.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 35, Purport:

When the kṛpaṇas have too many children, they suffer the scorching heat of family life, and then similar leaders advise them to undertake family planning. The idea of this family planning is that sense pleasure should not be curtailed, but birth control should be accomplished by artificial measures. Such methods of birth control are called bhrūṇa-hatyā, or killing the child in embryo. Such killing is a sinful act, and in the revealed scriptures a specific hell is designated for those who commit such sins.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 3.31-43 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1969:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Thirty-eight: "As fire is converted by smoke... As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, similarly the living entity is covered by different degrees of this... (BG 3.38)"

Prabhupāda: Lust. Different degrees of lust. Those who are in the modes of goodness, their lust is a different quality. Those who are in passion, their lust is in different quality. Those who are ignorance, their lust is different quality. It is the question...

Lecture on BG 3.31-43 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1969:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Purport: "There are three degrees of covering of the pure living entity, and thereby the pure consciousness of the living entity, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is embarrassed by nonmanifestation. This covering is but lust under different manifestations, like smoke in the fire, dust on the mirror, and the womb about the embryo. When lust is compared to smoke, it is understood that the fire of the living spark can be a little perceived. In other words, when the living entity exhibits his Kṛṣṇa consciousness slightly, he may be likened to the fire covered by smoke. Although fire is necessary when there is smoke, there is no overt manifestation of fire in the early stage. This stage can be compared with the beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The comparison of the dust of the mirror refers to the cleansing process of the mirror of the mind by so many spiritual methods. The best process is to chant the holy names of the Lord. The comparison of the embryo being covered by the womb is an analogy illustrating the most awkward position, for the child in the womb is so helpless that it cannot even move. This stage of living condition can be compared also to the trees. The trees are living entities, but they have been put into that condition of life by such a great exhibition of lust that they are almost devoid of all consciousness."

Prabhupāda: Yes, these trees... We should know that the trees, they are also living entities, but they have been put in such awkward position that they are standing up in a position for thousands of years. They cannot move even. If somebody is cutting, it cannot protest. They have been put into such conditional life. If somebody is coming to do some harm, they cannot go away. So the most abominable condition of life is the trees. Go on.

Lecture on BG 3.31-43 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1969:

Madhudviṣa: "The comparison of the embryo being covered by the womb is an allegory illustrating the most awkward position of the child in the womb, who is so helpless that it cannot even move. This stage of living condition can be compared also to the trees. The trees are living entities, but they have been put into that condition of life by such a great exhibition of lust that they are almost devoid of consciousness."

Prabhupāda: Yes. So what is your question?

Madhudviṣa: People that are engaged in lusty acts during their life... I thought that Kṛṣṇa is merciful and He will provide them with the body which will have as much lust as they want. I can't see how a person could devolve into that body of a tree due to engaging himself in lusty activities during his lifetime.

Prabhupāda: I don't follow, what is...

Madhudviṣa: The Bhagavad-gītā has stated that whatever one's consciousness is during his lifetime will be at the time of his death, and that will determine his next body. Now, one who is living very lustily during his lifetime, his mind will be on that body.

Lecture on BG 4.3 -- Bombay, March 23, 1974:

The Kṛṣṇa impregnates the material nature, and we come out in different forms. Sveda-ja, pādapa-ja and jarāyu-ja, and aṇḍa-ja. Sveda-ja means by perspiration, through perspiration. Just like bed bugs. Bed bug... Because if you keep your bed nasty, do not keep it very clean, then by your perspiration, there is generation of these bed bugs. They are called sveda-ja, by perspiration. And aṇḍa-ja, through the eggs. Just like the birds, the living entity is coming through the eggs. That is called aṇḍa-ja. Sveda-ja, aṇḍa-ja, jarāyu-ja. Embryo. Just like we are coming from the embryo. Aṇḍa-ja, then jarāyu-ja. And pādapa-ja, coming from the seeds, the trees, plants. So within these four groups, all different living entities are coming.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.1 -- New Vrindaban, September 1, 1972:

This is also life. And some of the living entities are coming out of eggs. Aṇḍaja. Aṇḍa means egg. That you know. The birds, they first of all lay down eggs, and then, by fermentation, the life comes out. And some of the living entities are coming out from perspiration. You have got experience, so many bugs. If you keep your beds very unclean, by your perspiration the bugs are grown. It is called svedaja, coming out of perspiration. Svedaja, aṇḍaja, udbhijja, and jarāyuja, and embryo, just like we have come out. So there are different processes of begetting or, I mean to say, giving birth to a living entity. But God is origin, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So He must be cognizant, He must know everything. Otherwise how He can be creator, and He can be origin? But His knowledge is perfect.

Lecture on SB 1.2.31 -- Vrndavana, November 10, 1972:

So deha upapatti, development of this body, is possible when the spirit soul enters. The man, the male and female, they have sex life, and the two secretions, they mix up, becomes emulsified, and the spirit soul takes shelter within that matter. And then the matter develops gradually. That is the development within the embryo. And when it is fully developed, with hands and legs, consciousness, at seven months, then child wants to come out. Then, by the natural process, on the tenth month the child comes out. But medical science or physiologist, biologists, they do not know this. They do not know this. They cannot explain how the body is developing, how the body is being formed. They do not know. But it is the fact.

Lecture on SB 1.16.2 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1973:

The weapon is so powerful that simply by mantra, you release it, and it will kill your enemy, wherever he is. So one brahmāstra was released to kill this child, baby within the womb, embryo, to kill. And at that time Uttarā felt that her pregnancy is going to be, what is called, discharged. So immediately she approached Kṛṣṇa, that "I am feeling like that, miscarrying. Please save me." So at that time Kṛṣṇa entered the womb of Uttarā and saved the child from the brahmāstra. So Mahārāja Parīkṣit is such a devotee that he was protected from the embryo by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī addressed, mahā-paurika(?): "You are great personality." So this Mahārāja Parīkṣit was again cursed by a brāhmaṇa. He could retaliate that, but he did not do so, just to offer respect to the brāhmaṇas. He considered himself offender. That is last stage. And because he was cursed by a brāhmaṇa at the last stage of his life, seven days, he heard Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore we have got this book. This is the story.

Lecture on SB 6.1.8 -- New York, July 22, 1971:

"Arjuna, all living entities in different species of life..." There are 8,400,000 species of life. They're all sons of God. Ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā. The Lord says, "I am the seed-giving father." Just like in ordinary birth, the father gives the seed, and the mother develops the body. Mother, by her blood, she supplies the ingredients of developing the child in the embryo. That is law's nature. Similarly, we living entities, we are part and parcel of the supreme father. We are very minute. The dimension is also given there in the śāstras: keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca (CC Madhya 19.140). Keśāgra, the tip of the hair. Agra means tip; keśa means hair. Just imagine—very small point. And you have to divide it into ten thousand parts. And that one part is the dimension of the living entity, spirit soul, spark.

Lecture on SB 6.1.8 -- New York, July 22, 1971:

So this is going on, but people do not know what is this science, how the spirit soul is transmigrating from one body to another, not only in one duration of life. In one duration of life, there are so many changes of body. The body first manufactured within the womb of the mother is very small, just like chick pea, small. And it develops. And there are holes. The holes develop into nine holes: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, one genital, one rectum. In this way the body develops. And so long it requires to develop within the embryo, within the mother's womb, it remains there. And when it is sufficiently developed to grow outside, it comes out. Then it grows, the body grows. Grows means changing the body. Growing, we..., we are imperceptibly, cannot understand, but it is actually changing the body. Just like in your childhood you had a small body. That is no longer existing. That means you have changed your body. Similarly, you'll have to change this body. When this body will not work anymore... Because it is material. Every material things deteriorate and it becomes useless at certain length of time. Any machine, any clock... Therefore it has been taken as dress: vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya (BG 2.22).

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.14 -- Mayapur, April 7, 1975:

It is simply suffering. There is no enjoyment. Where is enjoyment? To remain in the womb of the mother for ten months, is that enjoyment? Packed up in airtight bag? Just imagine, if you were put in airtight bag at the present moment, within three seconds you will die. You cannot live without air, even for three seconds. This is our position. And by māyā's arrangement, we have to remain at least for ten months within the airtight bag, embryo, within the abdomen of our mother. So if we cannot live for even three seconds without air, how it was possible to remain in that airtight bag for ten months? That is also Kṛṣṇa's mercy, to allow us to develop the body, so that coming out of the mother's womb we can live independently. To make us strong in the body. But the māyā is so strong that even within that position, the mother is also killing the child. This is Kali-yuga.

Festival Lectures

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, February 7, 1969:

Embryo cord. That embryo cord was like this. Yes. That means brāhmaṇa from the beginning. You see? So when he was a child... He appeared in February. Then... When the Ratha-yātrā takes place? In July. So February, March, April, May, June, July. So when he was six months old, the Ratha-yātrā festival was held. And by chance the big cart stopped in front of that house. That is generally in the Jagannātha car stops. Just like our car also stops somewhere. And you have some difficulty to push it again? That's nice. That also happens in Jagannātha Purī. It was stopped, and some people were... Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to push with His head. So that was wonderful. So anyway the car stopped, and mother of our Guru Mahārāja, the child Guru Mahārāja, so she took the opportunity, and because she was manager's wife, so everyone respected with the child. So she put the child on the leg of Jagannātha. And as there are so many garlands, one garland immediately fell on the child. Yes. Automatically.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Address -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975:

So long the soul is there, the bodily changes are there. From the womb of the mother, the embryo, the child, grows daily. Why? Because the soul is there. So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to understand this fact first of all, that body is superficial. Just like you are dressed with your shirt and coat. The shirt and coat is not important, but the person who is putting on the shirt and coat, he is important. Unfortunately, modern education is giving stress on the outward, external body or to the dress and not to... They do not understand who is the person who is dressed or who has got this body.

General Lectures

Press Release -- Los Angeles, December 22, 1968:

Seasonal and diurnal changes are attributed to the change of the position of the earth planet. Similarly, we experience bodily changes from embryo to child to youth to maturity to old age and to death. The less intelligent mentality presumes that at the death the spirit soul's existence is forever finished, just like primitive tribes who believe that the sun dies at sunset. Actually, the sun is rising in another part of the world. Similarly, the soul is accepting another type of body. When the body gets old like the old garments and is no longer usable, then the soul accepts another body just like we accept a new suit of clothes. The modern civilization is practically unaware of this truth. They do not care about the constitutional position of the soul. There are different departments of knowledge in different universities and many technological institutions to study and understand the subtle laws of material nature—medical research laboratories to study the physiological condition of the material body—but there is no institution to study the constitutional position of the soul.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:

Śyāmasundara: Yes. That's twenty-eight years from now. They say that they will be able to deep-freeze embryos, that means unborn babies, as insurance against nuclear holocaust and for interplanetary colonization. In other words, they can send these unborn babies in frozen form to other planets and have an arrangement for them to be born and grow in the spaceship and then go out.

Prabhupāda: Don't waste your time with these rascals.

Philosophy Discussion on Karl Marx:

Hayagrīva: Marx felt that religion stood between man and happiness. He said, "The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. The demand to abandon the illusions about their condition is the demand to give up a condition that requires illusion. Hence criticism of religion is an embryo, or a beginning of a criticism of this vale of tears whose halo is religion." So religion was like a millstone around the neck of man, and that man must free himself of this illusion.

Prabhupāda: Religious system deteriorates, and without any understanding on philosophical basis. Then, if he is apt to, rejects that religion. But we understand that is fact that there is God on the top of all cosmic manifestation activities, and the law given by the supreme head of the cosmic manifestation, that is religion. And if we create our religious system on sentiments only, that will create troubles only and there will be misunderstandings.

Philosophy Discussion on Plotinus:

Prabhupāda: This gross and doggish mentality, animal mentality, is killing the human civilization. Now they have degraded so much that they think that the embryo has no soul. In this way man is being put into darker and darkest region of ignorance. Everyone has soul. That is real. We get it from Kṛṣṇa: sarva-yoniṣu. In different forms of life the soul is there, undoubtedly. That is real conception of soul. Evolution means he is evolving from one lower grade of body to another, higher grade of body, and in this way by evolution he comes to the human form of life. And in this human form of life he can understand the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā, that if he likes, he can surrender to the Supreme Lord and go back to home, back to Godhead, and if he does not, then he remains in this material world, undergoing the tribulations of the repetition of birth, death, old age, and disease. Corporal body.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- December 2, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: They also see that the original seed the embryo is, remains dormant.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. How it is made? That they do not know, how subtle things are being done... (aside) We can go this way. That is their ignorance. They do not know subtle things. Simply gross manifestation attracts their attention. That's all. Jaḍā-dṛṣṭi. It is called jaḍā-dṛṣṭi, material vision. No sukhā-dṛṣṭi. Every, every field, they have no finer introspection. Simply gross. They deal with gross things. Just like the same example: Here is a tree, but it is a fact, this tree has grown from a small seed. So what do they know about the seed, how it is manufactured, how it has got the potency of bringing out such a big tree? Not only that, in that seed there will be millions of fruits, and each fruit there will be millions of seeds, and each seed contains again millions of trees.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 22, 1974, Hawaii:

Nitāi: One experiment that they've come up with is that they study the embryo within the womb.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Nitāi: They study the embryo within the womb.

Prabhupāda: No, that is your experience, but I have not seen. Why shall I believe you? I have not seen. Why will I believe you? What is the answer? You say so many rascaldom, but I have not seen. Why shall I believe you?

Morning Walk -- March 23, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Why there is separate name, "This is head, this is hand, this is leg."

Dr. Patel: When this thing, whole body, was in the embryo...

Prabhupāda: Then it is called "unity in varieties." That is called.

Dr. Patel: And I will... Shall I speak?

Prabhupāda: Yes. But you cannot say the head and the leg is the same!

Dr. Patel: Let me talk now.

Prabhupāda: You cannot say that!

Dr. Patel: Shall I talk it now?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Dr. Patel: When this body was being manufactured in the embryo, in the womb.

Prabhupāda: No, I know that you don't require this! I know that.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- February 28, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: There are life manifestation, according to Vedic literature, that some of the life, they are coming from eggs, some of the life, they are coming from perspiration, some of the lives come from a seed, and some of the life comes from embryo. This is all stated there. Sveda-ja, udbi-ja, aṇḍa-ja, jarayu-ja. They already there. Jarayu means embryo, and sveda means perspiration. Life is everywhere. When they take little advantage, they come out, manifest. You will find even on the pavement, footpath, as soon as there is crack, some grass is coming out. So life is everywhere, it is struggling, and as soon as there is favorable circumstances, they come in a form. That's it. Life is not created, na jāyate. Read Bhagavad-gītā. Na jāyate: "Life is never created." It is existing eternally. Therefore it is said, na jāyate. So unfortunate rascals, they do not take advantage of Bhagavad-gītā and making research.

Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- March 1, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: Simply in the material world it becomes manifest in four ways. Some of them are coming like trees, plants. And some of them are coming from perspiration... not coming, being manifested through fermentation, perception. And some of them are being manifested through eggs. And some of them are being manifested through embryo. The living entity were already there. Their struggle is going on, and they become manifest in the material world in four sources. In the spiritual world there is no such... They are eternally existing. There is no question of manifestation. So this is the science of living entities. What do they know? Therefore I say they are rascals. They do not know anything, simply trying to create. What is the creation? It is already there. But they do not know what is this, and still, they are scientists, they are advanced education. All rascal.

Interview with a German Girl and Assorted Devotees -- March 30, 1975, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: It is an itching sensation. And after satisfying the itching sensation, there are so many responsibilities and trouble. But tṛpyanti neha kṛpanāḥ. Those who are kṛpanāḥ, does not know how to utilize this life... So once I have taken to sex life and I am suffering so many after... Of course, now to stop the suffering, the have invented this contraceptive method. He knows there is suffering, but they, in order to avoid this suffering, they're taking this contraceptive method. And that is also suffering. That he does not know. Bhrun hatyā. Contraceptive method means killing the embryo. So that is also another sinful. He's taking so much responsibilities. So either you take contraceptive method or do not take contraceptive method... If you do not take, then the child is born. Then you have to take responsibility. Now they're killing the child, in this way becoming implicated. But if one is trained up to remain a rigid brahmacārī, there is no trouble.

Morning Walk -- June 10, 1975, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: Amoebas, that is automatically... By perspiration it comes out. There are four sources of life: udbija, jarayuja, svedaja, and, what is other? Andaja. Andaja means life comes from the egg. That is called andaja. And life comes from, under certain circumstances... Just like trees, grass. It is called udbija. And then jarayaja, just like we human beings or animals, they come from the embryo. And svedaja. And some living entities come out from perspiration.

Room Conversation with Dr. John Mize -- June 23, 1975, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Not necessarily. They have got that potency. There are four kinds of birth: from the egg, from the vegetable, from fermentation, and from embryo. So from any of these four kinds of sources the living entity come out. Aṇḍa-ja, udbij-ja, jaraya-ja, and sveda-ja, the Sanskrit name. Sveda-ja, simply by perspiration. Just like unclean bed they produce bugs. The man gets perspiration, bad perspiration, and in contact with air, with this perspiration, the living entity comes. That is bug. This is called sveda-ja, "out of perspiration." Your coat, shirt, if you don't cleanse, or your body is unclean, you will find so many moths within the shirt. How it is coming? From the perspiration, bad perspiration, bad smell. Not that every time the male female combination required. There are other sources also.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- May 12, 1976, Honolulu:

Rādhāvallabha: They did an experiment where they took an embryo of a child, and they put it in a test tube, large bottle, and they were growing it by feeding it, and it just turned into a shapeless blob.

Prabhupāda: So why did you take embryo from the child? You make embryo. You cannot make even an egg which can be..., give a chicken. So to waste time with these rascals is very difficult.

Morning Walk -- June 8, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Just like embryo. The living entity comes of the two secretions of father and mother emulsified. It creates a situation so that he can stay there and develop a body.

Rādhāvallabha: But it requires some emanation from a cockroach body in order to create another cockroach body. So how can a cockroach body be created from vapors without contact of another cockroach?

Prabhupāda: No, no. Vapor does not create. The individual soul comes there according to his karma and, in that condition, he develops his body. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur dehopapattaye (SB 3.31.1).

Room Conversation With Scientists -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Rūpānuga: All right, so then in an embryo stage...

Prabhupāda: Any stage, it is, the whole thing is complicated.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: But you are saying that the soul is actually by nature very simple.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: At least compared to the material world.

Prabhupāda: Yes. The soul is not complicated.

Morning Walk -- July 20, 1976, New York:

Rāmeśvara: ...for one display of the different stages of the embryo growing. So to have this display they used actual dead aborted babies. They have them mounted in the display case, the dead babies that they have killed.

Prabhupāda: Killed?

Rāmeśvara: Aborted babies. They have taken their tiny little bodies and put them in a display, so you can see the baby at two months, at four months, at six months, at eight months. Like that.

Prabhupāda: How it is growing.

Rāmeśvara: Yes, the different...

Prabhupāda: No, no, how it is growing? When it was put into the bottle, why it did not grow? It remained as it is.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- November 6, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's womb.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Embryo.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, embryo.

Prabhupāda: So science means to know everything, not only theoretically. They say "automatically."

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Their knowledge is so unscientific, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: The knowledge that they propose, chance, is so unscientific. Sometimes I wonder. In the name of science they make the most unscientific remarks.

Prabhupāda: The answer is there: "Here is my father." They'll not accept. Without father, how there can be son? You do not know who is the father. Why the particular tree is giving particular fruit, particular flower, and this is exactly like...? What do they answer?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: They actually have no answer.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Janardana -- Los Angeles 2 March, 1969:

If a Christian believes in God let him love God prominently rather than loving matter. If we wish to criticize Christian faith we can do so, and we can prove that hardly there are any sincere Christians. In the ten commandments we see Lord Jesus Christ advised "Thou shalt not kill," but this killing process is still prominent among Christians as well as any other religious group. So much so that it is simply horrible. Recently, the head of the Christian people, the Pope, declined to sanction the killing process in the embryo, namely contraceptive methods. We can see that so many Christians revolted. Apart from this killing process within the embryo, there is also killing process in the slaughterhouse and in so many ways. I do not know how a Christian can violate this important commandment of the Bible, "Thou shalt not kill." So in this way, if we want to criticize we can, but it will simply increase our enemies. Better let us try to invoke the dormant transcendental emotion by chanting and dancing.