A Query re the development of garbha

[Paolo Magnone]

Dear Arthur and List,
/
Śivadharmottara Purāṇ/a 8, 26-52 describes the different stages of the 
conception, formation and development of the embryo, up to the point 
when the /jīva /acquires consciousness and remembrance of his past 
sorrowful incarnations, pledging to put an end to such course in his 
life soon to begin through the study of /śivajñāna/! (a pledge, alas! 
soon to be forgotten because of the hellish tortures inflicted by the 
/yoniyantra /and of the agony of childbirth).

The relevant passage (28-29) apparently contemplates three main phases, 
marked by three different terms (which do not include /kaṭhina/): 
/kalala/, /arbuda /(/budbuda/ in another MS) and /peśī/.

/tac chukraṃ raktasaṁyuktam ekāhāt kalalaṃ bhavet
     pañcarātreṇa kalalam arbudākāratāṃ vrajet
arbudaṃ saptarātreṇa māṁsapeśī bhavet tataḥ
     dvisaptāhād bhavet peśī raktamāṁsacitā dṛḍhā/

Greetings from likewise snowy Milan,

Paolo Magnone
Sanskrit Language and Literature
Catholic University of Milan

Jambudvipa  - Indology and Sanskrit Studies (www.jambudvipa.net)



On 17/02/2012 14:49, Artur Karp wrote:
> Dear List,
>
> According to the Garbhopaniṣat  human embryos "solidify" one month
> after conception, they become kaṭhina. Turner (CDIAL 2650) informs the
> word is used in the Suśrutasaṃhitā and suggests it could be a
> Dravidian borrowing.
>
> [an embryo becomes] māsābhyantare kaṭhinaṃ: "in a month, it hardens".
> A quick check of the Suśrutasaṃhitā text doesn't show any phrase
> combining the two: garbha and kaṭhina.
>
> Are there any other words used to describe this stage of the embryo's
> 'hardening' or 'solidification'? Does also the Hiranyagarbha undergo
> this stage?
>
>
> Thanks in advance, and greetings from snowy Warsaw,
>
>
> Artur Karp
>
> Senior Lecturer in Sanskrit and Pali (ret.)
> South Asian Studies Dept.
> University of Warsaw
> Poland



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