Definition Of Garbha And Sárira

The combined semen and ovum (Sukra and Sonita) in the womb, mixed with (the eight categories known as) the Prakriti and (her sixteen modifications known as) Vikára, and ridden in by the Atmá (self-consicous self), is called the foetus. There is consciousness in the embryo. The Váyu (or the vital force) divides it into Dosha, Dhátu, Mala, etc., limbs, and organs, etc. The Teja (or the heat latent in the fecundated matter) gives rise to the metabolism of the tissues; the Apa (water) keeps it in a liquid state; the Kshiti (earth) is embodied in the shape of its species; and the Akasa (ether) contributes to its growth and development. A full) developed foetus with all its parts, such as the hands, feet, tongue, nose, ears, buttocks etc. and the sense-organs, is called Sáriram or body. The body is composed of six main parts, namely, the four extremities (upper and lower), the trunk or middle body, and the head. 2.

Different Members Of The Body

Now we shall describe the Pratyangas or members of the body. The head, the belly (Epigastrium), the back, the navel (umbilical region), the forehead, the nose, the chin, the bladder, and the throat (neck), occur singly; the ears, the eyes, the nostrils, the eye-brows, the temples, the shoulders, the cheek, the armpits, the breasts, the testes, the sides, the buttocks, the arms, the thighs, and the knee-joints, etc., occur in pairs. The fingers and toes which number twenty in all, and the interior channels (Srotas) of the body, to be presently described, are likewise included within the Pratyangas. These are the different Pratyangas or members. 3.

Enumeration Of The Different Limbs And Members Of The Body

The different layers of the skin, the Kalás, the Dhátus (root principles, such as blood, chyle, etc.), the Mala (excrements, the Doshas (morbific principles, such as the Váyu, Pittam, or Kapham, the spleen, the liver, the lungs, the colon and caecum (Unduka), the heart, the cavities or viscera (Asayas), the intestines (Antras), the Vrikkou (Kidneys) the Srotas (internal passages or ducts), the Kandará (nerve trunks;, the Jálas (membranes), the Kurchas, * the Rajjus (tendons) the Sevanis (sutures), the Sanghátas (facets), the Simanta, the bones, the joints, the Snáyu (ligament), the Pes'i (muscles), the Marmas (vital parts, such as anastomosis of veins and arteries, etc.), the Sira (veins), the Dhamani (arteries), and the Yogaváhini Srotas †, constitute what is collectively called the organism. 4.

Their Number

The layers (of skin (Tvaka) number seven in all. There are seven connective tissues or fascia (Kalás). The cavities or viscera (Asayas) are seven in all. The root principles (Dhátu) of the body are seven in number. There are seven hundred Sirá (veins), five hundred Pes'i (muscles), nine hundred Snáyu (ligaments), three hundred bones, two hundred and ten Sandhi (joints), one hundred and seven Marmas (vital parts), twenty-four Dhamanis (arteries etc.), three Doshas (morbific principle - such as the Váyu, Pittam, and Kapham), three kinds of Mala (excrements) and nine Srota (canals) in all in the human organism, which will be described in detail later on. 5.

* Meetings of muscles, ligments, veins, nerves and bones as at the annular ligament.

† Those, that are in connection with the Dhamani.

The skin, Kalá, the root principles of the body, (Dhátus) the morbific principles (Doshas) such as the Váyu etc., of the body, liver, spleen, lungs, Unduka (colons), heart and the Vrikkas (kidneys) have been already described (in the preceding chapter). 6.