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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE. maintain that it is so sure as not to miscarry in any case. Surely the Prophet could have used the word himself if that was the sense intended, for there is apparently no reason for not using the right word here. And, if any one objects that it was not used out of decency, we reply that religion is generally disregardful of any pretensions on that score. In almost all religions matters relating to sex are spoken of without the least reserve, and the Qur'an is no exception to the rule. What is the precise sense of the expression “sure receptacle" would become clear if we realize the nature of the fiuer sort of clay of which, it is stated, man was formerly made. This passage is susceptible of sense only on the supposition that there is a subtle body inside the gross encasement of physical matter, and that this body of finer clay, in some way, corresponds to the Karmana body, as described before. When this subtle body was made is not given in the Holy Qur'an, but the Teader is left to find it out for himself from the only clue which is furnished by the use of the word “formerly".
Thus there is nothing in the Qur'an to contradict the conclusion we have arrived at, in strict accordance with the rules of reason ; on the contrary, there is every agreement between our conclusions and the text of the sacred Book wherever it is explicit on the subject. The body of finer clay, thus, corresponds to the karına sarira of the Hindu scriptures, and the sure receptacle, which does not miscarry, like the female womb, is the sukshma sarira, which contains the essence or gist of indivi. duality, hence, character, in the form of seed, i.e., as a potency, and which by entering the mother's womb,
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