Skandapurana 1.4.48: adhyāyaḥ 50

The guest said:

"O boy of mature intellect, O Kamaṭha, this which is spoken by you is well spoken.

I desire to hear further the characteristics of the body; tell of that!"

Kamaṭha said:

"Know this cosmic egg, and hear how the body is likewise:

The soles of the feet are Pātāla, and the forefeet are Rasātala;

likewise the ankles are Talātala, and his shanks are Mahātala;

the knees are Sutala, the thighs Vitala, and the hips Atala.

They declare the navel to be the earth's surface, and the belly Bhuvarloka;

the chest Svarloka, the neck Maharloka, the mouth Janaloka;

the two eyes Tapas, and they say the region of the head is Satyaloka.

Just as there are seven continents situated on the earth,

so there are seven bodily tissues here; learn them by name from me:

skin, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, and semen are the tissues.

In this [body] there are three hundred and sixty bones,

and three million channels are spoken of,

and fifty-six thousand and nine others.

They carry bodily fluid in the body, just as rivers carry water on the earth.

It is covered on all sides with thirty-five million body hairs,

gross and subtle; for they are traditionally considered visible and invisible.

Hear from me the six principal limbs being declared:

two arms, two thighs, the head, and the belly.

Here the intestines measure three fathoms and a half,

and three fathoms for women, so declare the twice-born knowers of the Veda.

The lotus in the heart is renowned as having its stalk above and its face downward;

to the left of the heart-lotus is the spleen, and on the right is the liver.

Of marrow, fat, and lipid, O twice-born,

and of urine, bile, phlegm, and feces,

and of the final blood, the receptacles here are said to hold two handfuls;

flowing forth, they sustain the body.

Likewise there are seven sutures, five located in the head,

one extending to the penis, and one extending to the tongue, O twice-born.

All the channels proceed from the navel-lotus here;

the best among them, going to the head, are the suṣumnā, the iḍā, and the piṅgalā.

Reaching the aperture of the nostrils, they abide in sustaining the body.

Wind, fire, and the moon are each fivefold here.

Prāṇa, apāna, samāna, udāna, and vyāna:

these are declared to be the five divisions of the wind; and they describe their functions.

Inhalation, exhalation, and the ingestion of food and drink,

residing from the throat to the head—this is celebrated as the function of prāṇa.

The expulsion of feces, urine, and semen, and the delivery of the fetus:

this is specified as the function of apāna; its abode is above the anus.

Samāna holds the food and separates it;

and assimilating it, it moves unimpeded through all the hip-joints.

Bestowing the arising of speech, in belching, and in exertion in all actions,

the location of udāna is proclaimed as extending up to the throat and chest.

Vyāna is constantly situated in the heart and moves through the whole body;

it causes the growth of tissues and produces sweat, saliva, and the opening and closing of the eyes.

Pācaka (digestive), rañjaka (coloring), sādhaka (accomplishing), ālocaka (illuminating),

and bhrājaka (radiating): thus fire is stationed in the body in a fivefold manner.

Pācaka digests food, constantly residing in the lower stomach;

and residing in the upper stomach, rañjaka turns bodily fluid into blood.

Sādhaka, located in the heart, brings about intellect, enthusiasm, and the like.

And the Ālocaka [fire], residing in the eyes, creates the power of visual perception. (26)

Residing in the skin, the Bhrājaka [fire], when rendered pure, illumines the body.

The Kledaka, Bodhaka, and Tarpaṇa phlegms, as well as (27)

the Ālambaka—thus Soma is said to be fivefold in the body.

Always situated in the digestive tract, Kledaka moistens the food. (28)

Situated on the tongue, Bodhaka brings awareness of tastes.

Residing in the head, it is called Tarpaṇa because it nourishes the eyes and other senses. (29)

Located in all the joints, the phlegm produces lubrication [there].

Located in the chest, the Ālambaka indeed supports all the limbs. (30)

In this way, this body is sustained by wind, fire, and soma.

Arising from space are the bodily channels and the hollow interior of the viscera. (31)

Know the following here to be of earthly origin: the nose, hair, and nails, (32)

bones, firmness, heaviness, skin, flesh, heart, anus, (33)

navel, fat, liver, marrow, entrails, stomach, blood-vessels, (34)

sinews, and the colon—so declare the twice-born who know the Vedas.

The white circle of the eyes arises from phlegm and is paternal [in origin]; (35)

and the black circle arises from wind and is maternal. (36)

The first circle is that of the eyelashes, while the second is the circle of the eyelid-skin; (37)

the third is declared to be the white circle, and the fourth is the dark circle; (38)

the fifth is the pupil: thus the eye has five circles. (39)

The two outer parts of the eye are the upāṅga and the apāṅga. (40)

The upāṅga is the outer corner of the eye, and the apāṅga is the inner corner near the root of the nose.

And likewise the testicles are declared to be composed of fat, blood, phlegm, and flesh. (41)

The tongue of all embodied beings consists of blood and flesh.

There are six clusters [kūrcakas]: in the hands, lips, penis, and neck. (42)

Thus, while remaining in this body composed of seven sets of seven,

the twenty-fifth principle, the individual soul, pervades the body, having its dwelling in the head. (43)

They declare the triad of skin, blood, and flesh to be derived from the mother;

fat, marrow, and bone are declared to be derived from the father; thus is the six-sheathed [body]. (44)

How this body, formed of the elements, attains growth

by means of food born of the five elements, that I will explain to you. (45)

That food, consumed by embodied beings in lumps and mouthfuls, (46)

the prāṇa wind first divides into two within the stomach.

Entering the midst of the food, [it sets] the food apart and the water apart. (47)

Placing the water above the fire, and that food upon the water, (48)

the prāṇa itself, stationed below the water, gently fans the fire.

The fire, fanned by the wind, makes the water intensely hot. (49)

That food is then thoroughly cooked on all sides by the hot water.

When digested, it becomes twofold: waste on one side, and nutrient fluid on the other. (50)

Divided into twelve wastes, the refuse passes out of the body:

the ears, eyes, nose, tongue, teeth, penis, anus, nails, (51)

and the pores of the body hair—these are the twelve receptacles of waste.

All the channels are connected entirely to the lotus of the heart. (52)

At their entrances, the vyāna [wind] deposits that subtle nutrient fluid.

The samāna [wind] then fills those channels with that nutrient fluid. (53)

Then, completely filled, they circulate all around the body.

Then, that nutrient fluid stationed in the midst of the channels, by means of the coloring heat, (54)

is transformed; and as it is transformed, it takes on the state of blood.

From that, skin, body hair, head hair, flesh, sinew, vessels, bone, (55)

nails, marrow, the clarity of the bodily cavities, and increase of semen come about in succession.

Thus the transformation of food is proclaimed to be twelvefold. (56)

In this way, this body has been produced for the sake of religious merit,

just like a fine chariot [built] to carry a burden. (57)

If it is maintained with great care by oil-massages and the like,

what purpose is achieved by it if it does not bear the load? (58)

Likewise, what purpose is served by this body, nourished with excellent meals,

if, like a beast, it does not perform merit? (59)

And on this matter there are these verses:

At whatever time, in whatever place, and at whatever stage of life

an auspicious or inauspicious action is performed, it is experienced by him in exactly that manner. (60)

Therefore, good deeds must always be performed by those desiring uninterrupted happiness;

otherwise, enjoyments are cut off, like petty streams in summer. // 56

Since intense and exceedingly numerous miseries [arise] from sin,

therefore sin must not be committed, for indeed it causes torment to oneself. // 57

Thus has this question been described to you by me to the best of my ability, O virtuous one.

Hear how a living being is born and how it dissolves: // 58

When life-span and karma are exhausted, and death arrives for men,

the embodied soul, subject to its own karma, is dragged away by the servants of Yama. // 59

Accompanied by the five subtle elements, together with mind, intellect, and ego,

bound by nooses made of merit and sin, the living soul abandons the body. // 60

For those of meritorious deeds, it goes out through the seven apertures of the head;

for sinners, [the life-breaths] go downwards; and for yogins, through the aperture of Brahmā. // 61

Instantly then it assumes a transit body,

measuring merely the thumb's joint, formed indeed by its own vital breaths. // 62

Then the soldiers of Yama, having bound that living being

situated in that body, lead it along the southern path forcefully, according to their strength: // 63

[along a path] resembling a heated frying pan, like a ball of iron,

having scorching hot sand, and resembling a vessel of copper. // 64

Eighty-six thousand yojanas from the surface of the earth,

the evil-doer is dragged and led to the city of Yama by the soldiers. // 65

In some places it is cold and extremely perilous, in some places great darkness;

it is devoured by crows, ravens, and jackals whose mouths feel like fire, // 66

by flies, gadflies, and mosquitoes, and by serpents and scorpions.

Even while being devoured by them, the creature cries out, but does not die. // 67

In some places it is eaten by dreadful rākṣasas, dragged, and cast down;

it is led along burning upon exceedingly terrible sands. // 68

It traverses that exceedingly impassable path in ten muhūrtas,

[yet] the man perceives that time to be immensely long, equal to a year. // 69

And he is made to cross the dreadful river flowing with pus and blood,

the river named Vaitaraṇī, having hair as its moss and grassy turf. // 70

Then he is placed before Yama by the servants of Yama.

The sinner beholds a terrifying form surrounded by the faces of Death the Destroyer; // 71

the performer of meritorious deeds, however, sees the King of Dharma of gentle appearance.

Only human beings travel by the realm of Yama, and not others; // 72

for other creatures there is immediate entry into an embryonic womb after death.

For it is heard that men become ghosts (pretas), not other creatures. // 73

The righteous person is honored there; the sinner has a noose around his neck.

And hear how the righteous person travels; I shall tell you of that path: // 74

Givers of pleasure gardens and trees travel comfortably along a path possessing fruit and flowers

and shade, as do those men who give umbrellas. // 75

Givers of sandals travel in conveyances, free of thirst, performing acts of public piety;

givers of vehicles travel in aerial chariots, as do givers of beds and seats. // 76

Givers of food travel satiated with edible goods and wholesome meals;

givers of lamps travel with light, and givers of cows cross that river with ease. // 77

Those who have been devotees of holy Sūrya, holy Mahādeva, and the Supreme Person

from birth onwards, travel being honored by the attendants of Yama. // 78

Having given land, a cow, gold, iron, sesame seeds, and cotton,

salt, and the seven grains, a man travels happily. // 79

When those sinners and doers of meritorious deeds have arrived there,

Citragupta then points them out to the lord of ghosts. // 80

A man then dwells in the world of ghosts for a year,

and through that year a body is produced for him. // 81

Whatever water-pot and food is offered by kinsmen,

he consumes that day by day, and through that he attains growth. // 82

And whatever food he had formerly given, he receives by himself;

for one who did not give himself, and for whom no giver exists, // 83

and who also has no giver of water, he is exceedingly afflicted by hunger and thirst.

Water given by kinsmen, however, turns into a river and appears before him. // 84

For whom the monthly funeral rites preceded by the sixteen rites

are not performed here, he is not liberated from the ghost-state. // 85

A human day is remembered as a day in the world of ghosts.

Therefore, day by day, food should be offered to the ghost for a year.

And the terrifying attendants of Yama, dwelling in cremation grounds,

guard the sinner there, exposed to cold, wind, and heat,

just as here someone in prison is guarded by harsh men.

For whom the ghost-balls of food are not given preceded by the sixteen śrāddhas,

for him there is no release from the state of a ghost, even for eons.

Then, when the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa rite is performed properly by kinsmen,

at the completion of a full year, the man obtains a complete body:

the sinful soul [obtains] a terrifying form, but the righteous one a divine, supreme [form].

Then he goes to hell or to heaven according to his own karma.

The hells, beginning with Raurava, are located in the region of Pātāla;

[the worlds] beginning with that of the gods and ending with Satya dwell above the heavenly world.

What is heard in the epics, the Purāṇas, the Vedas, and the Smṛtis,

by merit arising from that, heaven is gained; by its opposite, hell.

There too, the duration of residence is in accordance with one's deeds.

Even for one whose sapiṇḍīkaraṇa is performed prior to a year,

the state of a ghost is declared to last surely for a year.

Those by whom three horse-sacrifices have been offered, or the three gods worshipped,

do not go to the world of ghosts, nor do those who are slain in battle.

By pure merit one goes to the pure heaven, and by pure sin to blinding darkness;

by a mixture [of both] one goes to heaven and to hell, and one's body becomes accordingly.

Thus this triad of questions has been answered for you: origin, death, and residence in the other world,

just as my guru related it. What more do you desire, that I may speak?

Thus ends the fiftieth chapter, named 'The Description of the Transmundane Course of the Living Being', in the dialogue between Āditya and Kamaṭha, in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa of the first section, the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].