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Medical Sciences in Jaina Canons : (231)
46
mentions pregnancy through women copulation or by dreaming during menses alone.
The canons do not seem to give confirmed examples of such uncopulated births except in the case of mother of Keśī Kumāra in the second category*. All the first four categories are just accidental and not normal. Their mention gives us idea of keen thinking and observation power of our seers. The canons, however, mention the transfer of foetus of Mahāvīra through the miracle of a demigod from one uterus to another per chance a third method of pregnancy, Moreover, this is a case of transfer of foetus rather than conception. The mention of non-sexual method of human conception seems to be the influence of Hindu mythology where many such cases are described. However, there are no such cases through human skill in canons.
There is only one canon, which mentions that there may not be any .conception even when there is sexual copulation. Fifteen conditions have been described which are self-explanatory in this regardTM. Women may not conceive when (i) She may not be properly young. (ii) She may have gone aged. (iii) She may be barren.
(iv) She may be having disease. (v) She may be bereaved.
(vi) She may be always in menses. (vii) She may be always without (viii) She may not conceive due to menses.
weakness in uterus. (ix) She may have approached (x) She may have un-natural sex or menopause.
over sex. (xi) She may have under copulation. (xii) She may have destruction of
semen sperms. (xiii) She may have weakness in bilious (xiv) She may have demigod effect.
blood. (xv) She may have absence of Karmic
accumulation useful for reproduction
Most of these causes are still assumed as possible reasons for nonconception. However, the structural deficiency and quantitative compositional issues are also, now, involved in the process.
It seems strange that while on the one hand, pregnancy is described as a fortunate blessedness of a female life, there have always been some physical, mental or circumstantial compulsions when this was taken to be undesirable. As a result, methods of
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