An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, Vol. II — trans. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (1911)

The conduct and character of a child and its inclination to particular dietary are determined by those of its parents during the act of fecundation. A boneless (/. e. with cartilaginous bones) monstrosity is the outcome of the sexual act in which both the parties are female and their Sukra (sexual secretion) unite some how or other in the womb of one of them. Fecundation may take place in the womb of a woman, dreaming of sexual intercourse in the night of her menstrual ablution. The local Vayu carries the dislodged ovum into the uterus and exhibits symptoms of pregnancy, which develop month after month till the full period of gestation. The offspring of such a conception is a Kalala (a thin boneless jelly-like mass) on account of the absence of the paternal elements* in its development. Such monstrosities as serpents, scorpions, or gourd shaped fcetus delivered from the womb of a woman should be ascribed as the effects of deadly sins. 46-49.

The child of a mother whose wishes are not honoured and gratified during pregnancy stands in danger of being born palmless, hunchbacked, lame, dumb or nasal voiced through the deranged condition of the Vayu of its mother's body. The malformation of a child in the womb; should be ascribed to the atheism of its parents, or to the effects of their misdeeds in a prior existence, orp. 133 to the aggravated condition of the Vayu, Pittam and Kapham. 50 — 5r.

* Hair, beard, nails, leeth, arteries, veins, ligaments and semen are called paternal elements inasmuch as these are said to be inherited by the child irom its father

A fcetus in uterus does not excrete faeces or urine, owing to the scantiness of the fecal matter, etc , in its intestines and also to the obstruction and consequently lessened admission of the Vayu into its lower bowels. A child in the womb does not cry inasmuch as its mouth remains covered with the sheath of the placenta i.e.fcetalinemhrams (Yarau) and its throat is stuffed with Kapham. The processes of respiration, sleeping and movement of the foetus in the womb are effected through those of its mother. 52 — 53.

The adjustment of the different limbs and organs of the body of a child in the womb at their proper places, the non-development of hair on its palms and soles and the subsequent cutting and falling off of its teeth are spontaneously effected according to the laws of nature after the model of its own species. An honest, pious, erudite man, who has acquired a vast knowledge of the Sastras in his prior existence, becomes largely possessed of mental traits of the Sattvika stamp in this life too and also remembers his prior births (Jatismara). Acts similar to those, which a man performs in a prior existence, overtake him also in the next. Similarly the traits and the temperament which he had developed in a previous existence are likewise sure to be patent in the next. 54 — 55.

Thus ends ihe second Chapter of the S'arira Sthanam in the Sus'ruta Samhita which treats of the purification of sperm and ovum.

CHAPTER III.

Now we shall discourse on the Sariram which treats of pregnancy, etc. (Garbha Vakranti Sariram .i.

The male reproductive clement (Sukra) is endowed with Soma-guna (i.e , thermolytic properties) the female element Artava) presents the opposite property and is therefore Agni-guna (i e., thermogcnetic properties). The principles of earth, water, fire, air and ether are also present in men in their subtile forms and contribute to the formation of the material parts by their molecular adjustment in the way of supplying nutrition and in way of the adding to their bulk. 2.

Combination of Self with the impregnated matter :— The local Vayu (nerveforce) heightens or aggravates the heat generated b}' the friction of the sexual organs in an act of copulation. The Vayu and heat thus aggravated tend to dislodge the semen from its sac or receptacle in a man which enters into the uterus of a woman through the vaginal canal and there it mixes with the ovum (Artavam) dislodged and secreted by similar causes. The combined ovum and semen are subsequently confined in the uterus (Garbhas'aya). After that, He who is known by the epithet; of Self-conscious, impressioner (creator of sensations and perceptions), toucher, smeller, seer, hearer, taster, Self or Ego, creator, wanderer, witness, ordainer, speaker, though eternal, unmanifested and incomprehensible in his real nature, takes hold of the five subtile or essential material principles contributed by the united impregnating matter, assumes a subtile .shape throughout, marked by the three fundamentalp. 135 qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, and led away by the Vayu, lies confined in the uterus to be subsequently evolved out in the shape of a god, animal, or monster, as determined by his acts in the former existence. 3.

Factors which determine sex :— The