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Tag: Embryology in Vedas

  • Vedic Embryology Garbhopanishad

    The scriptures of the Hindus, Vedas speak of Embryology.

     

    There are references in the Puranas to Embryology.

     

    1.Dadisi’s Stemcell was taken from his backbone, when Dadisi gave his backbone to Indra, Chief of Devatas to enable him to create a Powerful weapon, Vajrayadudha.

     

    2.Sage Agasthya was born in Pot, with Semen being kept in it.

     

    3.Lord Krishna taught Abhimanyu the Chakravyuha., a Battle formation.

     

    There are more instances, I shall be posting on this in detail.

     

    I have published an article on Human Conception Embryology in The Vedas where I have dealt with references to Bhagavatham and Charaka Samhita.

     

    We have a Upanishad fully devoted to Embryology.

     

    It is Garbhopanishad by Paippalada.

     

    Here is the Translation.

     

    Garbhopanishad.

     

    Om ! May He protect us both together; may He nourish us both together; May we work conjointly with great energy, May our study be vigorous and effective; May we not mutually dispute (or may we not hate any). Om ! Let there be Peace in me ! Let there be Peace in my environment ! Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !
    The body is fivefold in nature (the five elements), existing in the five, depending on the six (tastes of food), connected with the six qualities (kama etc.,), seven Dhatus, three impurities, three Yonis (of excretion) and four kinds of food.
    Why say ‘Fivefold in nature ?’ The five elements Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Ether. In this body, whatever is hard is of Earth, liquid is water, warm is fire, whatever moves about is air and space-enclosed is ether. The function of the Earth is to support, water is to consolidate (digestion etc.,). Fire is to see, wind is for moving, Ether is to give space (for vital functions).
    The eyes are used in seeing form, ears for sound, tongue for taste, the skin and nose for touch and smell respectively; genital for pleasure, Apana is for evacuation (of bowels). The person cognises through the intellect, wills with the mind and speaks with the tongue.
    The six-fold support is the six tastes (of food): sweet, acid, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent.
    1-7. Sadja, Risabha, Gandhara, Panchama, Madhyama, Dhaivata, Nisadha – these are the seven agreeable and disagreeable sounds. White, Red, Black smoke-coloured, Yellow, Tawny and Pale-White – these are the colours of the seven Dhatus (primary Humours). Why ? For Devadatta (any person) there springs up in his mind desire for enjoyment of objects. From relish of food blood is born, from it is flesh, thence fat, bones, marrow, semen; by the combination of semen and blood the foetus is born.
    Vital warmth springs up in the womb and the belly. In the seat of the warmth bile, Prana flows – at the proper season ordained by the creator.
    8. The embryo lying (in the womb) for (a day) and night is a confused mass; after seven days it becomes a bubble; after a fortnight, a mass and in a month, it hardens. In two months develops the region of the head; in three months, the feet; in the fourth, belly and hip; in the fifth, the backbone; in the sixth, nose, eyes and ears; in the seventh the embryo quickens with life and in the eighth month, it becomes complete.
    9. By the dominance of the father’s semen, the child becomes male; the mother’s – female. When equal, a eunuch. If, at the time of impregnation, the parents are agitated, the child will be blind, crippled, hunch-backed or stunted in growth. If the couple have vital-air-trouble, the semen enters in two parts resulting in twins.
    10. In the eighth month, in conjunction with the five vital airs the Jiva gets the capacity to know its past affairs (of past births), conceives of the imperishable Atman as Om, through perfect knowledge and meditation. Having known Om he sees in the body the eight Prakritis derived from it the five elements, mind, intellect and ego and the sixteen changes [see Prasnopanishad].
    11. The body becomes complete in the ninth month and remembers the past birth. Actions done and not done flash to him and he recognises the good and bad nature of Karma.
    12-17. ‘I have seen thousands of wombs, eaten several kinds of food and sucked many breasts; born and dead often, I am immersed in grief but see no remedy. If I can get out of this, I will resort to Sankhya-Yoga which destroys misery and yields liberation; or I resort to Maheshvara who destroys misery. Or I resort to Narayana, who destroys misery. If I did good and bad deeds for the sake of my dependants, I shall myself be burnt for the deeds – the others who enjoyed the fruits go away (unaffected).
    18. The person being squeezed as it were by a machine is touched by all-pervading air and forgets previous births and deeds.
    19. Why is the body so called ? It has three fires: the Kosthagni ripens all that is eaten; the Darsanagni helps one see colour etc., the Jnanagni is the mind which helps perform good and bad deeds.
    20. The Daksinagni is in the heart; Garhapatya in the belly and Ahavaniya in the mouth; the intellect is the performer’s consort, contentment is Diksha, sense organs are the utensils, head is the jar, hair is the sacred grass, the mouth the interior of the altar etc.

    Here ends the Garbhopanishad belonging to the Krishna-Yajur-Veda.

    *Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier
    Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai.

     

    Date of Garbhopanishad.

    Moore hints at amazement with the Garbha Upanishad in almost the same breath. Regarding this text, he writes:
    A brief Sanskrit treatise on ancient Indian embryology is thought to have been written in 1416 B.C.

    This scripture of the Hindus, called Garbha Upanishad, describes ancient ideas concerning the embryo.

    It states:
    From the conjugation of blood and semen the embryo comes into existence.

    During the period favorable to conception, after the sexual intercourse, (it) becomes a Kalada (one-day-old embryo).

    After remaining seven nights it becomes a vesicle.

    After a fortnight it becomes a sperical mass. After a month it becomes a firm mass [12]

    Pre-2000 BCE
    The first question concerns the date of the Garbha Upanishad. Since it is ascribed to Pippalāda, we need to determine this sage’s place in the Vedic tradition, although it is believed that the text may not be as old as the sage. Pippalāda is also the instructing sage of the Praśna Upani¬ad and the author of the Atharvaveda śākhā named after him (Paippalāda śākhā). As a principal arranger of the Atharvaveda, he should be assigned to at least the middle of the second millennium BCE, if the ›gveda is to be taken to be no later than 2000 BCE, as is suggested by hydrological evidence related to the drying up of the Sarasvatī river around this time, and the fact that the ›gveda celebrates this river as the great river of its time, flowing from the mountains to the sea.
    According to the Purāªas, Pippalāda was the disciple of the ›¬i Vedasparśa, and he instructed Yudhi¬−hira in the significance of the A¡gāravrata, which is based on a dialogue between ˜ukra and Virocana.
    The physiological knowledge in the Garbha Upani¬ad is consistent with that found in the oldest Upani¬ads. Like the other texts, it speaks of recursion, but it doesn’t list as many channels (veins and nerves) as the other texts do. This indicates that this Upani¬ad may be older than what has been assumed.
    Pippalāda answers six questions in the Praśna Upani¬ad, a number that is reminiscent of the six darśanas. The six questions touch upon six different aspects of reality: forms (nyāya), basis of life (mīmā÷sā), origins (sā÷khya), devas within (yoga), next world (vedānta), and modifications (vaiśe¬ika). This is not an argument for the lateness of the Praśna Upani¬ad, but rather for the remote antiquity of six bases to reality, which mirroring the six directions..

    Citation.

    (http://www.geocities.com/freethoughtmecca/embryo.html)

    (Link does not seem to work)

     

    http://ramanisblog.in/2014/05/22/human-conception-embryology-in-the-vedas/

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  • Human Conception Embryology In The Vedas

     

    The Third Canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam, where Lord Kapila (An incarnation of Krishna who appeared in Satya-yuga as the son of Devahuti and Kardama Muni) instructs His mother at least two million years ago.

    Sage Kapila is the founder of Samkhya Pkilosophy.

    Interstingly Samkhya does not believe in God.

    He cursed and burnt to ashes  the children of Sakara,after whom the Oceans get the name, Sagara, for disturbing His Meditation.

    The descendant ,Bhagiratha brought the Ganges from Heavens , midst great difficulties to alleviate their suffering and have them granted Moksha.

    Vedic and Modern Embryology.Image.Jpg.
    Vedic and Modern Embryology.

     “Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body

    . On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case may be.

     

    “In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months the hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hair, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and the other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus.

    “Within four months from the date of conception, the seven essential ingredients of the body, namely chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen, come into existence. At the end of five months, hunger and thirst make themselves felt, and at the end of six months, the fetus, enclosed by the amnion, begins to move on the right side of the abdomen. Deriving its nutrition from the food and drink taken by the mother, the fetus grows and remains in that abominable residence of stools and urine, which is the breeding place of all kinds of worms.”

    The Fetus  in The Womb.

    “Placed within the amnion and covered outside by the intestines, the child remains lying on one side of the abdomen, his head turned towards his belly and his back and neck arched like a bow.

    The child thus remains just like a bird in a cage, without freedom of movement. At that time, if the child is fortunate, he can remember all the troubles of his past one hundred births, and he grieves wretchedly. What is the possibility of peace of mind in that condition?

    “Thus endowed with the development of consciousness from the seventh month after his conception, the child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo during the weeks preceding delivery. Like the worms born of the same filthy abdominal cavity, he cannot remain in one place. The living entity in this frightful condition of life, bound by seven layers of material ingredients, prays with folded hands, appealing to the Lord, who has put him in that condition.

     “The ten-month-old living entity has these desires even while in the womb. But while he thus extols the Lord, the wind that helps parturition propels him forth with his face turned downward so that he may be born. Pushed downward all of a sudden by the wind, the child comes out with great trouble, head downward, breathless and deprived of memory due to severe agony.

    “The child thus falls on the ground, smeared with stool and blood, and plays just like a worm germinated from the stool. He loses his superior knowledge and cries under the spell of  maya (“illusion” which deludes the living entity into forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord). Under illusion a man thinks he can be happy in this temporary material world.  After coming out of the abdomen, the child is given to the care of persons who are unable to understand what he wants, and thus he is nursed by such persons. Unable to refuse whatever is given to him, he falls into undesirable circumstances.

     

    kalalaḿ tv eka-rātreṇa pañca-rātreṇa budbudam 
    daśāhena tu karkandhūḥ peśy aṇḍaḿ vā tataḥ param 

    bhagavad purana 3-31-2

    On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case may be.

    māsena tu śiro dvābhyāḿ bāhv-ańghry-ādy-ańga-vigrahaḥ 
    nakha-lomāsthi-carmāṇi lińga-cchidrodbhavas tribhiḥ 

    bhagavad purana 3-31-3

    In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months the hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hair, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and the other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus.


    caturbhir dhātavaḥ sapta pañcabhiḥ kṣut-tṛḍ-udbhavaḥ
    ṣaḍbhir jarāyuṇā vītaḥ kukṣau bhrāmyati dakṣiṇe 

    bhagavad purana 3-31-4

    Within four months from the date of conception, the seven essential ingredients of the body, namely chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen, come into existence. At the end of five months, hunger and thirst make themselves felt, and at the end of six months, the fetus, enclosed by the amnion, begins to move on the right side of the abdomen.

     

    Citation.

     

    http://www.folknet.in/SS2008/html/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=240&Itemid=135&limitstart=5

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