Jaina Philosophy Historical Outline

Author(s): Narendra Nath Bhattacharya
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi

Page 154

The Sophisticated Stage 133 Walther Schübring on the basis of the Tandulaveyāliya, Paṇṇavanā and other canonical works has been able to reconstruct the following in regards to embryology and anatomy and to the functions of the body and sense organs. We are reproducing below the result of his researches which will appear highly interesting. The margin of fertility is 55 years with the women and 75 years with the man. The fruit remains in the womb for about 277 days. It has four stages of development, each of which has been characterised by the names Kalala, Abbuya, Pesi and Ghana. "Its weight amounts to 3 Karisa (Pala) in the first month, in the second it gets solid, in the third it rouses lust within the mother, in the fourth it makes the limbs swell, in the fifth its extremities and its head develop (pañca piṇḍiyão), in the sixth its gall and its blood, in the seventh its veins, muscles, vessels, nerves, pores, hairs and nails, and in the eighth the child is complete. The sex depends on the preponderance of either sperm or blood, in case neither prevails sexlessness will result. A sexless fruit lies in the centre of the mother, but a male on the right and a female on the left side. Its position and its condition are in accordance with the mother." From the Tandulaveyāliya (35B), we learn that the human being has 700 veins. "Starting from the naval 160 each extend upwards, downwards into the legs, downwards into the abdomen, and horizontally; 25 each contain mucus and gall, 10 contain sperm. Furthermore, there are 900 snews 500 muscles, 900 vessels, 9.9 millions hairpores, not counting the hair of the skull and the beard, and 33 million including the latter. Some figures concerning women and hermaphrodites slightly differ in giving them 670 and 680 veins respectively and 470 and 480 muscles respectively. Moreover, we learn that the male is furnished with 5 and the female with 6 inner organs (kodha) and with the former we find 9 and with the latter 11 apertures." From the same text (27b) we find that there are six different ways of joining the bones (samghayaṇa), but it is only the chevaṭṭha-joint which pertains to human beings. The shape of the body is also of six kinds.
As regards the bodily functions, breathing has been divided as inward and outward (Malayagiri's Prajñāpanāṭīkā 220b). The intervals of breathing vary from animal to animal (Paṇṇavanā 7). "As we
1DJ, pp. 141ff.
"Ibid, 142.
"Ibid, p. 143.