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According to Hindu Scriptures, from what stage of prenatal development is the human organism considered as being alive?

In particular, do the Vedas talk about this anywhere?

Note: The question here, in principle, asks for when the soul enters the body which is similar to my question since timing of pregnancy can be matched with stage of prenatal development. However, the body of the same question requests various different aspects of exact point of entry of the soul, metaphysics associated with selection of a particular body and point of entry, gender etc,. This vastly deviates from the fundamental point stressed in this question namely regarding which scriptural injunction details from when body is considered to be alive and whether the same is present in the Vedas. This is the point of interest in this question.

DirghaChintayanti
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    try thinking about it from the other side - the soul always exists/alive. it just starts taking a body on earth. panchagni vidya describes how a soul enters bhuloka, then into a man, then into a woman. – ram May 17 '17 at 10:16
  • @ram I fail to see the context of your comment with respect to the question at hand given how i'm interested in the timing of it all rather than the process of how a soul enters a body. Please explain further. – DirghaChintayanti May 17 '17 at 14:48
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    a soul never 'enters' a body - that would mean the body came first, and then a soul was put into it.. that's not how it works. The soul starts developing a material body around itself at conception. But it exists within the 'retas' of a man prior to that, and in food prior to that, and in water from rain prior to that. – ram May 17 '17 at 14:52
  • @ram Ok that makes sense, which scriptures discuss this idea that soul is present from conception? Thanks! Do the Vedas talk about this? – DirghaChintayanti May 17 '17 at 14:54
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    same as that duplicate question - https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/5489/4435 . soul is not 'present from conception'. soul is always present, it is never created nor destroyed. only 'body' is present from conception. – ram May 17 '17 at 14:56
  • @ram As i have explained in the note, it is not the "exact" same question. However, the answer you've linked serves the purpose of my question. Thanks! – DirghaChintayanti May 17 '17 at 15:03
  • @ram I think that given the emphasis of the two questions being very different, a recapitulation of the answer on this question once open would help in my perspective. – DirghaChintayanti May 17 '17 at 15:39
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    AFAIK, scripture does not make a distinction between dead flesh and living flesh after soul enters it. A foetus is always considered alive. –  May 18 '17 at 01:31
  • @brahmajijnasa please read the note in the question – DirghaChintayanti May 19 '17 at 00:39
  • Yes I read your note, but still I think it's basically the same question! The answer given there is also the answer to your question. So it's a duplicate. See there a quotation from the Chandogya Upanishad in the answer by Swami Vishwananda. – brahma jijnasa May 19 '17 at 01:05

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