འཕགས་པ་ཆས་ཀྱ་ཕང་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.7

intro.7

Although the descriptions of the parasites that live specifically in the female body may be unique to this sūtra, descriptions of named parasites in the human body in general—some very detailed indeed—are found in several other works in the Kangyur,⁹ and the belief that parasites are the cause of various unpleasant physical conditions was already a well-established theory in Indian medical literature at the time of composition of this text. This notion, which perhaps developed from the observation of worms in decomposing corpses, was already present in the earliest Indic scripture dealing with cures and healing, the Atharvaveda, which was composed sometime between 1200–1000 bce and offers descriptions of various parasites, or, technically, “worms” (krimi) that invade the human body.¹⁰ Moreover, Jain and Kāmaśāstra literature, which are closer in temporal proximity to the present sūtra, both include theories of vaginal worms—in the Jain texts these are said to be killed through sexual intercourse, thus making sex an inherently non-virtuous act, and in the Kāmaśāstra literature they are described as causing the “itch” of a woman’s sexual desire.¹¹ The sūtra thus offers a presentation of the female physique that draws from a theory of parasites that must have been aligned with commonly accepted notions of the human constitution in India at that time. It should also be noted that this presentation is in some ways reminiscent of the radical early Buddhist practice, familiar to Buddhist ascetics, of contemplating the stages of decomposition of corpses. That practice is well described in Buddhaghoṣa’s Visuddhimagga (ch. 6.88), for example, and may have been current in Mahāyāna circles as well, as this sūtra suggests. Buddhaghoṣa’s closing statements on this practice in fact parallel the approach and aim of this sūtra when he addresses men’s unfounded lust for women’s bodies. He writes that “…a living body is just as foul as a dead one, only the characteristic of foulness is not evident in a living body, being hidden by adventitious embellishments.”¹²