Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s2.156

v2.c4.s2.156

Bīja denotes ‘seed,’ the operation of sowing seed (vap) being several times referred to in the Rigveda¹ and later.² In a metaphorical sense the term is used in the Upaniṣads of the classes of beings according to origin, of which the Chāndogya Upaniṣad³ enumerates three, the Aitareya⁴ four. The former list includes aṇḍa-ja, ‘egg-born,’ jīva-ja, ‘born alive,’ and udbhij-ja, ‘produced from sprouts,’ ‘germinating,’ while the latter adds sveda-ja, ‘sweat-born’—that is, ‘generated by hot moisture,’ an expression which is glossed to comprise flies, worms, etc. Cf. Kṛṣi.