24. The Person the Size of a Thumb

Adhyaya 1 - Pada 3 AdhikaraNa 6

The Person the Size of a Thumb is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead


Introduction by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa



ViShaya: In the KaTha UpaniShad (2.1.12) the following words are read:

a~NguShTha-mAtraH puruSho
madhya Atmani tiShThati
IshAno bhUta-bhavyaysya
tato na vijugupsate


"A person the size of a thumb stands in the heart. He is the master of the past and future. He does not fear."


SaMshaya: Is this person the size of a thumb the jIva or Lord ViShNu?

PUrvapakSha: The person here is the jIva because the shvetAzvatara UpaniShad (5.7-8) says prANAdhipaH sa~ncarati sva-karmabhir a~NguShTa-mAtroravi-tulya-rUpaH (The ruler of breath moves about, impelled by his karma. He is the size of a thumb. He is splendid as the sun).

SiddhAnta: The conclusion follows.


SUtra 24


shabdAd eva pramitaH


shabdAt - because of the word; eva - even; pramitaH - limited.


Even though (He is) very small (this person is the Supreme Lord) because of the words (in the text).


Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa



The person here the size of a thumb is Lord ViShNu. Why? The sUtra says shabdAt (because of the words in the text). The UpaniShad text referred to here is IshAno bhUta-bhavyaysa (He is the master of the past and future). It is not possible for the jIva , who is controlled by his karma, to possess this power.

Now it may be asked: How is it possible for the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead to become limited to this very small form?

To answer this question he says:


SUtra 25


hR^idy upekShayA tu manuShyAdhikAratvAt


hR^idi - in the heart; upekShayA - with relation; tu - indeed; manuShya - of human beings; adhikAratvAt - because of the qualification.



This is so because the Supreme Personality of Godhead indeed appears in the hearts of men.


Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa



The word tu (indeed) is used here for emphasis. The all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes the size of a thumb because He is meditated on as being the size of thumb within the heart. Another interpretation is that because He appears, by His inconceivable potency, in such a small form in the heart He is meditated on in that way, as has been already described.


"Because the different species have bodies of different sizes and hearts of different sizes it is not possible that the Lord can appear in all of them in this size." If this objection is raised, to answer it he says mAnuShyAdhikAratvAt (the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in the hearts of men). Although the scriptures do not specify, he (VyAsa) singles out human beings. He does this because it is human beings who are able to meditate and therefore the measurement is given here according to the human body. For this reason there is no contradiction here. In the same way in the hearts of elephants, horses, and all other creatures the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in a form the size of the thumb of each creature. In this way there is no contradiction. It is not possible for the jIva, however, to be present within the heart in a form the size of a thumb because the original form of the jIva is atomic in size, as explained in the shvetAshvatara UpaniShad (5.9) in the words bAlAgra-shata-bhAgasya (When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred arts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the jIva soul). For all these reasons, therefore, the person the size of a thumb is Lord ViShNu.