Riddle

Madhurakavi Alvar saw a bright light shining to the south, and followed it until he reached the tree where the boy was residing. Unable to elicit any reaction from the child, he asked him a riddle: 

"If the small is born in a dead's body (or stomach), what will it eat and where will it stay?" 

meaning, if the subtle soul is embodied in the gross body, what are its actions and thoughts? 

Nammalvar broke his lifelong silence and responded, "That it will eat, it will rest!" 

meaning that if the soul identifies with the body, it will be the body but if it serves the divine, it will stay in vaikunta and eat(think) of God