Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

The fetus, furnished with juices agreeable to it, and nour¬ ished by proper nourishment, freed from diseases, begins to grow.

Then when mature, it becomes equipt with all the organs of sense, and its whole body becomes fully formed ; then, endued with wealth of strength, of complexion, of vigour in respect of some particular element, and of compactness, it easily issues out (of the uterus) through manifestation of the following conditions.8

The fetus is born- of the mother, the father, the Self, and the juice (which enters into it from the- body of the mother). That which is called Sattwa (or Mind) brings about a union of these (four),4

Thus said the illustrious son of Atri,4

Bharadwaja said — This is not so. What is the reason (for my assertion) ? Since neither mother, nor father, nor Self, nor the capacity of the fetus to assimilate (juice From the mother) nor the supply of food and drink and edibles and lickables, begets conception. Nor is it true that that which is called Sattwa (mind) coming from the next world descends into the germ in the uterus.

Since if mother and father could beget conception, there are many women and many men who are desious of offspring. All of them, purposing to have sons, would betake themselves to

* Yoni ’ is the generative organ. It sometimes includes the uterus. Here, as the uterus is separately mentioned, it does not include it.

* RitukSla ’ means the menstrual period. Manu as also the medical sages limit this period to sixteen days after the first appearance of blood. The first three days are laid down as improper for sexual congress. The several diseases of ‘ yoni’, blood, and ‘ garbha^aya ’ or the region where the foetus lies and grows, i. e., the uterus or womb, have been separately laid down hereafter.

‘ Sattwasampraysga ’ means the urion of the mind with, or its attachment to, the acts of previous lives. These acts impart to the mind a distinct force or tendency in consequence of which the mind is impelled to enter a particular womb. In fact, it is that force which actermines the order or kind of body which the being assumes — T.

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CHAR A KA SA M V/ TA.

sexual congress and actually beget sons ; those amongst them that are desirous of having daughters would beget daughters. There would then be no women, and no men, entirely childless. In fact, no women and men woul indulged in sorrow for nonfulfilment of their desise for offspring.

Nor does Self beget Self, since if Self begets Self, the question arises, — whether the Self that is already born begets Self or the Self that is unborn begets Self.

Each of these views would be erroneous.

That which is born cannot beget (itself', for it is already in enistence.

Nor can that which is not born beget (itself), for it is not existent.

Hence neither view is logical.

Leave this for the present. (There is another consideration which comes in).

If, indeed, Self be really capable of begetting Self, why is it that it does not beget itself in an auspicious order of being, since Self desires itself to be Ruler of uncontrolled motion, capable of assuming any form at will, shining with energy and strength and (fair) complexion and (superior) mind and body, without decrepitude, without disease, and deathless, and endued with other attributes of a similar or superior kind. 6*

* Punarvasu says (in aphorism 4) that the foetus is born of mother, father, Self, assimilation (by mother and father) of proper or suitable food and drink, and the juices derived from the food taken by the mother and communicated to it, the mind being the uniting agent. The theory is that there is a tendency in every mind, caused by the acts of previous lives, to take, after the dissolution of the body, a particular form or admission into a particular order of being. Hence the mind is spoken of as the uniting agency with respect to the constituents of a re-born being, which, as already said, are derived from mother, father Self, and the juices.

Bharadwaja impeaches this theory. His arguments are simple. The mother, the father, the Self, assimilation of simple food, and the juices

CHAR AKA SAM HIT A.

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Conception is also not due to assimilation (by mother and father) of proper (or suitable) food and drink. For if it were so, it is evident that only those who take such food and drink would have offspring ; while all those who do not take such food and drink would be childless. The fact, however, is that the reverse is seen of both these propositions.*.

Conception, again, is not born of the juices. If it were born of the juices, there would be none among men and women that would be childless, since there is none among them that does not take (what produces) the juices.

If it be intended to affim that oniy those who take food that is of superior quality hare conceptions, in that case only those would have conceptions who- subsist upon the meat of goat, of shup of deer, and of peacocks, as also the milk of the cow, curds ghee, honey, oils, and rock-salt, the juice of the sugarcane, Phoseolus Mungo and Qili-rice. On the other hand,