| *“When we look for the origin of the body, its beginning is not something pure. From the very substance that is called ‘impure’ arises the birth of a human being.”* |
The story of a human being truly begins at the moment of conception. In society, we usually consider a child’s life to begin only when it is born. A newborn, barely 1 to 1.5 feet long, gradually grows — like the phases of the moon — until adulthood, reaching about 5.5 to 6 feet in height. During the 15–20 years of this growth, people around the child continuously nurture and shape it. Yet no one ever sees the body actually “growing.” Growth remains invisible as it occurs; only the outcome becomes visible afterward.
A seedling grows in the same way — we do not see it grow, but we see that it *has* grown. Even when nourishment is offered, its effect is not visible immediately; the results appear slowly and subtly. Sant Tukaram Maharaj therefore said: *“Who moves this body under unseen authority? Who guides it except the Divine?”* This means that beyond the parents who give birth, deeper forces — divine laws and the cosmic order — sustain and develop human life.
Samarth Ramdas Swami explains in *Dasbodh* that the origin of the body lies in a natural biological process. A human comes into existence only when the seed is planted in the womb of a woman. If a woman does not menstruate, conception cannot occur. Thus, the very natural discharge that society often calls “impure” is in fact what renews the womb and prepares it for conception. This, too, is a divine mystery. The purity of the womb (the soil) and the purity of the seed determine the nature of the new life. Saint Dnyaneshwar says: *“From a pure seed comes sweet, nourishing fruit.”* Similarly, when parents — the seed-givers — are pure in thought, action and temperament, the child receives a higher, sattvic nature. The new life inherits the tendencies, strengths and karmic patterns of both parents.
Whatever karmas, joys, sorrows, strengths, weaknesses and tendencies the parents carry become part of the foundation of the new being. Likewise, whatever peace, clarity, virtue or good fortune the parents possess becomes established in the child. This is the natural law: “As the seed, so the fruit.”
In astrology, this idea is expressed through the relationship between the parents’ horoscopes and the child’s horoscope. The planetary influences (navagraha), their houses, signs and combinations form the language through which the story of many lifetimes is written. Through this chart one can understand the present life’s conditions, past-life karmic effects, ancestral or spiritual obstacles, unnatural or premature death tendencies, suffering caused by past actions and more. Thus, the shaping of a human being — physically, mentally and spiritually — is a subtle process influenced by biology, karma, cosmic principles and the unseen workings of the universe.