[INDOLOGY] Upcoming online Science in Early South Asia talk, Nov 17

[Dagmar Wujastyk]

Dear colleagues,

Please join us online at our next session in the CHSTM HIstory of Science
in Early South Asia
<https://www.chstm.org/group/history-science-early-south-asia> group:
Monday, November 17, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EST

*Christèle Barois (CESAH)*

*Embryogenesis narratives and the history of ancient Indian medicine*

As part of my study of embryogenesis in Epic and Purāṇic literature, I have
established a specialized corpus of embryonic development narratives,
spanning the period from the first centuries of the Common Era to the first
centuries of the second millennium. Generally quite short (at most sixty
verses), these embryogenesis narratives represent a specific type of
narrative that shares a similar structure and invariably appears in the
context of teaching Sāṃkhya philosophy.

Embryology as expounded by classical Indian medicine (*āyurveda*)
constitutes the conceptual framework of reference, since these narratives
describe the development of the embryo in accordance with the processes and
temporality taught in the “Book of the Body” (*śārīrasthāna*) of the
ancient medical compendia, and share some of their technical terminology
with classical Indian medicine (Suneson 1991).

Bibliographical references:

Barois, C. (2022).    ‘Cette âme tombée dans un corps étranger’. Notes
introductives au *Bhāgavatapurāṇa* III 31. In: *Embryon, personne et
parenté*, Mathieu, Séverine, Enric Porqueres i Gené (eds). Paris: Éditions
de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, 54, 39-62.

Suneson, C. (1991). Remarks on some interrelated terms in the ancient
Indian embryology. *Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Südasiens / Vienna
Journal of South Asian Studies*, *35*, 109–121.

All the best,

Dagmar
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