Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s8.206

v2.c4.s8.206

Śarīra, ‘body,’ is a word of frequent occurrence in Vedic literature.¹ The interest of the Vedic Indians seems early to have been attracted to the consideration of questions connected with the anatomy of the body. Thus a hymn of the Atharvaveda² enumerates many parts of the body with some approach to accuracy and orderly arrangement.³ It mentions the heels (pārṣṇī), the flesh (māṃsa), the ankle-bones (gulphau), the fingers (aṅgulīḥ), the apertures (kha), the two metatarsi (uchlakau), the tarsus (pratiṣṭhā), the two knee-caps (aṣṭhīvantau), the two legs (jaṅghe), the two knee-joints (jānunoh sandhi). Then comes above the two knees (jānū) the four-sided (catuṣṭaya), pliant (śithira) trunk (kabandha). The two hips (śroṇī) and the two thighs (ūrū) are the props of the frame (kusindha). Next come the breast-bone (uras), the cervical cartilages (grīvāḥ), the two breast pieces (stanau), the two shoulder-blades (kaphoḍau), the neck-bones (skandhau), and the backbones (pṛṣṭīḥ), the collar-bones (aṃsau), the arms (bāhū), the seven apertures in the head (sapta khāni śīrṣaṇi), the ears (karṇau), the nostrils (nāsike), the eyes (cakṣaṇī), the mouth (mukha), the jaws (hanū), the tongue (jihvā), the brain (mastiṣka), the forehead (lalāṭa), the facial bone (kaṭīkā), the cranium (kapāla), and the structure of the jaws (cityā hanvoḥ).