Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v2.c13.45

v2.c13.45

Erzählungen, No. xlvi; Bull. de l’Acad. Imp. des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, vol. xxiv, col. 483 ff. In the last-named is told the well-known test of skill for the young physician Jivaka, taken from the journey of the sons of King Serendip. However, the matter seems exactly the opposite in Chavannes, Actes du XIV. Congr. intern. des oriental., Cinqu. sect., p. 136 ff. (here the foot-marks on the left are deeper, and therefore a male offspring is inferred). But cp. Chavannes, Cinq cents contes, i, 379-381. See also Agnipur., 369.21b-22a, and especially Windisch, Buddhas Geburt, p. 19. All kinds of cabbalistic means for finding out a child’s sex in the mother’s womb are given e.g. in Agnipur., cxli, 3-5.