Chapter 49 - Dialogue between Kamaṭha and the Sun-God (Purāṇic Embryology)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Arjuna said:

1. The Tīrthas and the Liṅgas are very wonderful, O great sage. On hearing about them from your lotus-like mouth my mind is delighted very much.

2. O holy Lord, describe unto me those important holy spots installed by you at Mahīnagaraka.

Nārada said:

3. O Phālguna, I shall recount to you the holy spots and shrines that are in the glorious Mahīnagaraka. It is there that the holy Lord Sun-god Jayāditya abides.

4. One who glorifies the name of Jayāditya shall be rid of all ailments. He shall obtain whatever is desired in his mind.

5. Merely by visiting that (Lord), O son of Pṛthā, a man with great faith will be endowed to the full with all auspicious things and will be liberated from everything inauspicious.

6. O son of Pṛthā, listen to the origin of that Lord. I shall recount it to you. By listening to it or glorifying it one shall attain the grace of Bhāskara.

7. After establishing this holy place, I went to the world of the Sun-god some time later by chance, seeking a meeting with the Lord.

8. After bowing down to him, when I took my seat, Bhāskara greeted me with Arghya. The Lord then (slightly) laughingly said to me in sweet voice:

9. “O sage Nārada, O Brāhmaṇa, whence are you coming? Where are you going? Where have you been roaming all this while?”

Nārada said:

10. On being asked thus by Bhāskara, I spoke to him these words: “I was roaming in the sub-continent of Bhārata. O Lord Bhāskara, I am coming from Mahīnagaraka with a view to see you.”

The Sun-god said:

11. Tell me about the good qualities of those Brāhmaṇas who reside in the holy spot that has been established by you. What are the special characteristics of those Brāhmaṇas?

Nārada said:

12-15. On being asked thus by the Lord, I spoke these words again: “Oh! If I were to praise them, I shall be blamed thus, ‘This man praises his own people.’ How can I censure them because they do not deserve it? It is a painful job either way.

Or, while the greatness of those noble-souled ones is vast, if it is described minimisingly it will be a great defect and default of mine.

If you have the desire to hear (about the good qualities) of those leading Brāhmaṇas honoured by me, better go there yourself. They should be seen by yourself directly. This is my opinion, O Sun-god.”

16. On hearing these words of mine, Ravi became surprised much. The Lord of the day said repeatedly, “I shall see them myself.”

17-18. After bidding farewell to me, Bhāskara assumed the form of a Brāhmaṇa. The Lord who blazes in the firmament went to the seashore by his Yogic power.

Thereafter, an old Brāhmaṇa of great splendour was seen by my Brāhmaṇas. He was wearing matted hair that had become tawny in colour on account of the holy baths thrice a day.

19. Thereupon, those Brāhmaṇas, the chief of whom was Hārīta, became excessively delighted. Their eyes beamed like full-blown lotuses. They rose up from their Vedic sacrificial hall and rushed towards that Brāhmaṇa.

20-23. After bowing down to the excellent Brāhmaṇa, they joyfully spoke thus, “This day of ours is auspicious. This holy spot has become exceedingly excellent, since, O excellent Brāhmaṇa, you have come here of your own accord. Undoubtedly, it is because of their kindness towards blessed householders that excellent Brāhmaṇas come to them in the guise of guests, in order to sanctify them. Hence, sanctify our houses by stepping therein, meeting us and taking food and sitting along with us.”

The guest said:

24. Food is of two types, O Brāhmaṇas, viz. Prākṛta (pertaining to Prakṛti, natural) and Parama^[1] (the Supreme One). Therefore, I wish that Parama type of meal be given unto me in a proper manner.

25. On hearing this from the guest, Hārīta spoke to his eight year old son Kamaṭha, “Do you understand, dear son, what is spoken of by this Brāhmaṇa?

Kamaṭha said:

26. O dear father, after bowing down to you, I shall tell what Parama meal is like. I shall propitiate the Brāhmaṇa by offering him Parama meal.

27. It is said that a father becomes free from indebtedness (to Pitṛs) by the birth of a son. I shall make that statement true by propitiating the excellent guest.

28 Meal is of two types. Their division is thus. One is called Prākṛta and the other one is Parama.

29-30. The first one, Prākṛta, is said to be the propitiation of the group of the twenty-four Principles, the chief of whom is Prakṛti. They say that it is the (common) meal of six different tastes (such as sweet, salt, pungent, sour, astringent and bitter) and of five different kinds (such as eatable, drinkable, lickable etc.). When this is consumed, the Kṣetra characterized as the physical body, shall become contented.

31-32. The other one is called Parama Bhojana. It is the meal unto the Parama, i.e. the soul. It is listening to the discourse on piety and virtue of different types. That is called Anna (food). The person who enjoys the food is Kṣetrajña (the individual soul). The ears (do the work of) the mouth (in this case).

33. That I shall give to this excellent Brāhmaṇa. “O Brāhmaṇa, ask (me) what you wish. I shall propitiate you in accordance with my ability, in the midst of the assembly of these Brāhmaṇas.”

Nārada said:

34-35. On hearing these weighty words of Kamaṭha, that guest mentally praised him and put this question: “How is the living being, the creature, born? How does it die? After being reduced to ash where does it go?”

Kamaṭha said:

36. After bowing down to the preceptor at the outset and to Dharma thereafter, O Brāhmaṇa, I shall reply your question sung about in the Chandas (Vedas).

37-39. It is reported that three types of Karmas are the cause of the birth of a creature, viz. merit, demerit and a mixture of the two. They (Karmas) are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas (types). The creature of Sattva nature passes on to heaven. After some time he falls down from heaven but shall be wealthy, virtuous and happy.

The creature of Tamas nature falls into hell. After undergoing many tortures, he becomes an immobile being.

40. After meeting with and getting into touch with great men, after enjoying in their company, after sharing seats with them in the course of a long time, he undergoes great many transmigrations and ultimately becomes a human being.

41. While a man, he will undergo miseries of poverty etc. or he will be deficient in limbs or sense-organs. This is manifestly clear to all the people as the characteristic sign of sin.

42-43. A creature of mixed Karma becomes an animal. Undergoing transmigrations and due to the contact with great men, he shall become a man. He who has greater merit and less demerit, becomes miserable in the (first earlier) part of life and afterwards becomes endowed with happiness.

44. He who has greater sins and less merits becomes happy in the earlier part of life and miserable later. This is the characteristic feature of the mixed Karma.

45-47. Listen to the birth of a human being.^[2] When the male semen virile and the female blood come into contact, the soul that is free from all defects, transmigrates (therein) clearly. Equipped and endowed with the Guṇas, the mind, the intellect, auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, the soul enters the womb and remains as an embryo. It being stupefied remains in that state of embryo for a month.

48. In the second month it becomes solidified. Different limbs are developed in the third month.

49. Bones are formed in the fourth month (the Fetus stage). The growth of skin is in the fifth month and hair grows in the sixth month.

50. The fetus is endowed with the faculty of understanding in the seventh month. In the seventh month itself it takes in the food and drink of its mother.

51-52. It undergoes great anguish in the eighth and ninth months with the fingers covering its face and the Jarāyu (outer skin of the embryo) enveloping its limbs. If the child is a eunuch, it lies in the middle; if it is a female, it lies on the leftside; and if it is a male, it lies on the right side. It lies in the middle of the back facing the (gastric) fire.

53. Undoubtedly it knows the species in which it is to be born. It remembers the details of many (previous) births.

54. It is not able to see anything in the blinding darkness. It may become fascinated by smell. It feels chillness when cold water is drunk by the mother. It is conscious of heat when hot water is drunk by her.

55-56. It undergoes great distress when the mother takes exercise (moves about etc.) and acute pain on account of her sickness. Other ailments too occur unobserved by the mother or father. Those ailments cause acute pain and distress to the child (in the womb) due to the tenderness (of the body). It finds even a short period as long as a hundred years.

57. It undergoes great torture within the womb on account of the previous Karmas. Every now and then it indulges in wishful thinking about (performing) merits and good actions (in future).

58. (It thinks thus) ‘If I were to take birth and live among human beings, I will do all those things whereby I will certainly get salvation.’

59-61. After the Sīmantonnayana ceremony,^[3] the fetus begins to think thus. It undergoes great pain and distress and these two months pass on as though they were three Yugas. When the period of gestation is complete, pressed and moved by the wind of delivery, the creature remains with its face turned downwards. It experiences great pain. The child with its face down comes out through the vaginal passage with great difficulty. It feels as though its skin is being cut and pared.

62. For the period of a month (after birth) the child just feels the touch of the hands (of others) as though it is being sawn with a saw. It remains so deluded.

63. Coming under the control of the previous Karmas, it loses the experience that it had while in the womb. Thereafter, it begins to do all sorts of actions white, red and black (i.e. of the nature of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas).

64-69. The physical body is like an abode^[4] unto the man. The bones and the skeleton act like the sloping beam or timber in the roof. The sinews and the nerves are the tying cords. Blood and flesh are the plaster of clay for smearing. Faeces and urine are held in this vessel. It is well-fitted with seven walls (the seven Dhātus or constituents of the body). It is covered with hair as though with grass. The mouth is the single main door. It is decorated with eight windows (the eight pores). The two lips are the panels of the door; the teeth act as the bolts with which they are closed and sealed. The vessel of sweat is the drain. Phlegm and bile flow in it. It is overwhelmed with old age and sorrow. It is stationed in the fire of the jaws of death. It is destroyed by attachment, hatred etc. It is born with six sheaths. It is thus, O Brāhmaṇa, that this house of a body is produced. The individual soul is the householder who dwells here. Intellect is his wife. He achieves salvation, heaven and hell.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

This classification of food is explained vv 28-32.

[2]:

A crude Purāṇic Embryology is given in vv 45-61.

[3]:

One of the purificatory ceremonies observed by women in the 4th, 6th or 8th month of their pregnancy; it appears to be of the 8th month here.

[4]:

The author seems to like the analogy between the body and a house.

Other Purana Concepts:

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Kshetrajna, Living Being, Great sage, Individual soul, Preceptor, Long time, Great splendour, Excellent Brahmana, Holy Lord, Human being, Personal suffering, Physical body, Previous birth, Holy bath, Transmigration, Good qualities, Holy spot, Great distress, Great faith, Vaginal passage, Seven Dhatus, Mixed Karma, Yoga power, Different limbs, Yogic power, Holy place, Previous Karma, Sacred Brahmana, Transmigration of soul, Auspicious thing.