Embryo transler

Michael J. Sweet msweet at facstaff.wisc.edu
Fri Aug 4 16:16:05 UTC 1995


>
>> In a footnote to his translation of the Abhidharmakosa, Louis de la
>>   Vallee Poussin, citing Samghabhadra refers to a sutra in which the
>>   events surrounding the birth of Kumara Kasyapa are described and in
>>   which a motif of embryo transplant plays a significant role.
>>   Samghabhadra notes that the Sthaviras deny the possibility of such an
>>   occurrence. And, indeed, the Pali versions of the story of Kumara
>>   Kassapa found in the Jataka and Dhammapada commentaries lack the
>>   transplant motif.
>>   Given the resources available to me in Buffalo, I have been unable to
>>   track down the version of the Kumara Kasyapa story to which la Vallee
>>   Poussin/Samghabhadra refer which includes the transplant motif. Can
>>   any kind soul provide me with a reference and, if possible, Sanskrit
>>   text of the relevant passage? Thanks.
>>
>>   --Jim McDermott


 Can't help you with the reference, but just thought I'd mention, in
 case you were not aware of it, the Jain tradition about the transfer of
 Mahavira's embryo from a brahman woman to his (ksatriya) mother--see
 Dundas's "The Jains" and Jaini's "The Jaina Path of Purification" for
 Details.
 Michael Sweet
 






More information about the INDOLOGY mailing list