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The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c9: Chapter Four: The Data of the Vedic Saṃhitās Concerning Anatomy

The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c9

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Chapter Four: The Data of the Vedic Saṃhitās Concerning Anatomy

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THE number of anatomical terms found in the Vedic Saṃhitās is quite large. A large number of different parts of the body have each a special name and sometimes several names. Many of these names have passed from Vedic Sanskrit into classical Sanskrit and are consequently met with both in medical texts and in Vedic hymns, because they do not have a strictly technical value and their knowledge has never been limited to savants. The notions represented by them are quite rudimentary in so far as the internal organs are concerned, their anatomy, even in Europe, having been unravelled much later. Moreover, it is difficult to understand, by means of the Vedic texts, the manner in which the authors of these hymns understood the organs named by them. It goes without saying that the Vedic hymns contain no anatomical description; it is only accidentally that the different parts of the body are mentioned chiefly in magical incantations, where they are enumerated in order to chase away the disorders of each one of them or in the passages where the elements of the body are placed parallel to those of the universe. And, unfortunately, there are no precise anatomical descriptions in the medical books, lesser still the figures. In India, where oral instruction surpasses other forms, anatomy, which can be really learnt best only by direct examination, was certainly taught orally. The books contained only lists to help the memory. We cannot, therefore, always identify an organ, whose name is nevertheless employed both in the Vedic and Ayurvedic texts. Moreover, a certain number of names are found only in the Veda.

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Much work has been done by R. Hoernle on one aspect of Indian anatomy, namely, Osteology.¹ But this part of anatomy is less important for the constitution of medical doctrines and the work of Hoernle is based on ruinous foundations. However, the credit, usually given to him, does not allow us to neglect an examination of his work.

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¹ *Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology . . .*

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Several hymns enumerate the limbs of the body of man or of the cow or of the celestial bull (*RV.*, X, 90 and 163; *AV.*, II, 33 almost identical to *RV.*, X, 163; *AV.*, IX, 7 & 8; X, 2 & 9; XI, 3 & 8, etc.). Hoernle had thought to have found in the Hymn X, 2 of the Atharva, a nomenclature of bones related to the one found in the *Caraka-saṃhitā* (*Śār.*, VII). Now the observed concordance does not imply any relation of dependence between the two texts. First of all it is abusive to claim that the hymn in question contains a nomenclature of bones. This hymn enumerates the limbs of the body of the Cosmic Man, asking, regarding each of them, its respective creator. Caraka, on his side, indicates the number of bones contained in each part of the body. It is not at all necessary to suppose that in the times of the *Atharvaveda*, there already existed a list comparable to that of Caraka and which, as believed by Hoernle, inspired the hymn in question. This hymn refers only to the most commonplace notions regarding the human body, and when two texts start enumerating the parts of the human body, the concordances, established perforce between them, do not suppose any imitation of one by the other. Besides, the Vedic hymn contains several terms which are entirely unknown to Caraka or which have been employed by him in other passages only. Without paying any heed to these facts, Hoernle has prepared a table (p. 112) where the words of the hymn and those of Caraka are put in correspondence, one against another, and are accepted as synonyms. But in order to maintain these similarities, he is forced to lend to the author of the Vedic hymn the strangest ideas. This is how he establishes a

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Oxford, 1907, taking up the articles of *JRAS*, 1906, pp. 915 ff., & 1907, p. 1 & ff. This work has been very well received by the critics (cf., notably Barth, *Oeuvres*, pt. p. 296; A. B. Keith, *ZDMG*, 1908, p. 136), although his most excessive inductions have been challenged. The attention to minute detail and the erudition of the critical apparatus conceal, at first sight, the inanity of the basic hypotheses. We have already observed, pp. 8 & 9, that the conjectures of Hoernle on the History of the Ayurveda are unacceptable.

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correspondence between stana, “bosom”, and pārśvaka, “side”; now the Atharva says: káti stánau vyadadhuh (st. 4), “How many (gods) have disposed (his) two breasts” and Hoernle feels obliged to understand that this refers to “the sides of the two breasts”. He coldly supplies the word “side” in the translation.¹ One case of this type should have sufficed to warn him that the Vedic hymn did not have bones in view. He has not hesitated from changing the naturally attributable sense of certain terms of the hymn to find them a pendant in the medical list. For example, he puts skandha of the hymn (st. 4) as an equivalent of the word grīvā, “neck” of Caraka, which he translates as “neck-bones”, but skandha in classical Sanskrit signifies “shoulder”; this word appears for the first time in the Ṛgveda (I, 32-5) in the form of skandhas having the ramifications (of the trunk of a tree). In our hymn it is in plural number; one may, therefore, think that it denotes the “ramifications (of the human trunk)”, shoulders, neck etc; nothing allows us to suppose it as an equivalent of the word grīvā of Caraka, specially when grīvā is employed precisely in that first part of the stanza, where the other figures.² Hoernle also places the words lalāṭa and kakāṭikā with regard to the compound of Caraka, *nāsikā-gaṇḍa-kūṭa-lalāṭa*, denoting together the bones of the nose, the cheek-bones and the arcs of the eyebrows. He imagines that *kakāṭikā* represents the bones of the nose and the cheek-bones conceived as an unique bone. But *kakāṭikā* is most naturally explained as a doublet or *kṛkāṭikā*¹ denoting "neck" and the stanza where it occurs can be translated: "Which is the god (among the gods) who, the first, has climbed the sky after having constructed his brain, his front, his neck, his cranium, that which is constructed on the jaws of man."² We cannot, therefore, confidently make use of the identifications proposed by Hoernle although they have been accepted (Vedic Index, see word *Śarīra*, in part.; Dasgupta, *Ind. Phil.*, Vol. II, pp. 284 ff). On another side, the explanations of the Vedic commentators such as Sāyaṇa and Mahīdhara do not always deserve to be accepted. The enormous distance separating, in time, these commentators from the texts interpreted by them, creates the fear that they have not known the real meaning of

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¹ How many disposed (the ribs of) the two breasts? p. 110.

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² Hoernle places along with grīvā of the Atharva, jatru of Caraka which he gives as an equivalent of grīvā (although grīvā also appears in the list of Caraka) and which he translates as “wind-pipe”. The translation, which he has thought to justify by ten pages of discussion (Osteology, pp. 158-68) is inadmissible. He has, himself, shown clearly that jatru in singular denotes the base of the neck (p. 162) but he claims that it is also the synonym of grīvā, “neck”, which (although denoting, once again according to him, the osseous cervical column) is ranged among the cartilages by Suśruta; it can, therefore, denote the “duct”, hence the translation “duct” for jatru. But it is not exact that Suśruta “in his class-list of bones enumerating the cartilages, or tender bones (taruṇa), makes them to include “the nose, the ears, neck (grīvā) and eyeballs” (p. 160) because Suśruta says: ghrāṇakarṇa-grīvākośeṣu taruṇam, “the cartilages are in the nose, the ears, the neck and the coverings of the eyes.” (Śār., V, 17) as Hoernle had himself correctly understood at first (p. 77). Hoernle also says (p. 161) that in regard to the disease called manyāstambha, “hardening of the muscular mass of the neck” (torticollis and contraction), Caraka employs the expression grīvā antarāyamyate, “the neck becomes bent inward” (Car., Cik., XXVIII, 41) whereas Vāgbhaṭa (Aṣṭāṅga-hṛdaya, Nid., XV, 22) says jatrur āyamyate whence grīvā=jatru. āyamyate denotes “is drawn” (like a bow, the comparison in Vāgbhaṭa follows immediately) and it refers to the disease called antarāyāma, “tension inside” (that is to say here in flexion), a type of tetanus (emprosthotonos). The words of Caraka denote therefore that the neck is contracted (and therefore twisted as explained by the commentators, which Hoernle understands

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¹ By the vocalisation of *r* (cf., *vikaṭa*, RV., X, 155-1; J. Block, *Indo-Aryen*, p. 35). The equivalence proposed by Hoernle will be justified only if the correspondence of the two lists had been established as necessary and absolute, but precisely he gives this equivalence as one of the proofs of the correspondence of the two lists. He, thus, argues in a vicious circle.

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² *mastīṣkam asya yatamó lalāṭam kakāṭikām prathamó yáh kapālam/citvā cityam hánvoḥ pūruṣasya dīvam ruroha katamáh sá deváḥ*. 8. *citya*, as has been observed by Senart (*Légende du Buddha*, Paris, 1882, p. 99, n. 3) has a double meaning, signifying "that which is to be constructed" and the "wood pyre, the pyre having the jaws of the cosmic Man as an image". V. Henry says (*Livres*, X, XI, & XII., p. 48) that the preceding verse shows the tongue as placed "on (between) the jaws" (*hánvor hí jihvām ádadhāt . . .*), and that in consequence *citya* must denote the tongue. In any case, this is in no way an anatomical term but a technical term of liturgy and at the same time a commonplace term used to denote simultaneously the organ which is between or over the jaws and the fire of the sacrifice represented by this organ. Hoernle sees therein the confirmation of his comparison with Caraka (p. 177) because he claims that the piling up on the jaws ["structure (pile) of the two jaws"] denotes the teeth, the alveolars, the osseous palate and the climbing branches of the lower maxillary. But the preoccupation of the author of the hymn is not that of the osteologist; he saw in the Cosmic Man something else than a skeleton—*lalāṭa* denotes the lower part of the front, the arcs of the eyebrows.

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as if the verb *ā-yam* denotes to wring), those of Vāgbhaṭa that the base of the neck is contracted; it does not, however, follow that "neck" and "the base of the neck" are synonymous. In the form of tetanus described, the sterno-cléido-mestoids draw violently their attachments so that the osseous sterno-clavicular arc (which is the bone of the *jatru*) is drawn although little deformable, as a bow.

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many ancient words (especially of those which evoked no interest for the traditional religion). Often enough their explanations betray a profound ignorance of anatomy, even of classical anatomy known to the medical authors of their times. Lastly the etymology, although often clear and capable of attaining, by means of rigorous methods of the comparative Indo-European linguistics, a high degree of probability, indeed the certitude, cannot suffice to give the meaning of technical words such as the names of anatomy. The primitive meaning which can be restored, does not indicate quite surely the derivative meanings in which the words have been used in the texts. This is proved by numerous examples in our languages. A name like *pancreas*, whose primitive sense is undisputably "all fleshy", does not suit the organ which it denotes. This is the gland of the spongy aspect, in which no part of flesh enters. Even in antiquity it did not correspond, in its etymological meaning, with the organs so named by the medical authors. If we had only the etymological meaning of this word to give us some information on this organ, one could only propose false identifications.

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Therefore the sense of many of the anatomical terms of the Veda must remain uncertain. It is, however, useful to compile an index of these terms, even if that were for drawing attention to them and eventually to provoke an improvement of their translation. It is also useful to include in this index those names which refer to the bodies of animals, often better known because these bodies were opened up under the knife of the butchers and the sacrificers. This review of the vocabulary will enable us to have an idea of the anatomical knowledge of the Vedic period and to see the reserve drawn upon by the authors who elaborated the Ayurvedic science.

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*Anatomical Nomenclature of the Vedic Saṃhitās*¹

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¹ The term anatomical has been taken in a wide sense, comprising in the Index even the names of the organic liquids or "organic breaths". Abbreviations used: V=Veda, all the saṃhitās; RV=Ṛgveda; AV=Atharvaveda; YV=Yajurveda=totality of *Taittirīya saṃhitā* (TS),

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*áṃśa* (m): shoulder. *amhubedī* (f): vulva ("which has a narrow slit") (*VS*). *ákṣi* (n): eye. At the end of a compound, *akṣa*. *agrajihvā* (n): tip of the tongue (*VS, MS*).

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ánga (n): limb, body, cf., ángāparumṣi (TS), “limbs and joints”, corresponding respectively to the full and New Moons, whose totality constitutes the body of the year. aṅguri (f): finger (AV) (RV: su-aṅguri). aṅgulá (m): finger (V) (at the end of a compound): (Cl.). aṅguli (f): finger (VS., Cl.). aṅgulī (f): finger (AV., Cl.). áṅhri (m): foot (VS., Cl.). atiruj (m, dual): bend of the knee (VS). atīruj (m, dual): bend of the knee (MS). adharhanu: cf., hánu. aná (m): breath in prāṇa from RV and alone from Br. cf., āna. anuvrj (dual): (KS)., anūvrj. ánūka (m., n): cf., anūkyá (AV). anūkyá (m, n, dual): spine regarded as a double bone (?) (RV, AV). anūvrj (m, f, dual): two fleshy elements near the back (Sāy.) (TS, AV). cf., anuvrj. antahpārśvyá (n): intercoastal muscles (VS); antahpārśvā (n) (TS). antarā: name of organ (?) (TS). antarodara (m): internal abdomen (interior of the abdomen) (AV). apáná (m): breath directed downwards (V. except RV, Cl.) cf., pāpavāta. apikakṣá (m): region of the armpit, shoulder (RV), cf., kakṣa. apikarná (n): region of the ear (RV). aratní (m, dual); elbow, fore-arm (cf. aratni=elbow) [RV, VS, (XX-8. Mahīdhara: aratnī-hasta-deśau, “the aratnis are the two regions of the hand”)] cf., hásta. ālgá (m, dual): groin (MS, VS). ávaka (m): flesh in the form of vallisueria (an aquatic plant with sheath-like leaves (TS, KS). avakrandá: organ of the cry (larynx?) (VS, TS, MS, KS). áśru (n): tear. aṣṭhīvánt (m): knee (“which has a stone”, the rotula) (Cl.); also aṣṭhivant, cf., ūrvaṣṭhīve (n, dual); thigh and knee (VS).

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Maitrāyaṇī-saṃhitā (MS), Kāṭhaka-saṃhitā (KS) and Vājasaneyī-saṃhitā (VS); Br = Brāhmaṇa; Cl. = Classical Sanskrit (including medical); Sāy. = Sāyaṇa; Mahī. = Mahīdhara. The absence of abbreviation at the end of the meaning of the word indicates that the meaning in question is common to the entire literature from the RV. to Classical Sanskrit.

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*asán* (n): blood (*AV*, Cl.). *ásu* (m): vital breath. *ásṛj* (n): blood. *asthán*, *ásthi* (n): bone. At the end of a compound—*astha*. *āṇi* (m): In *RV*, “pin of the axle”, but a prehistoric meaning of “knee” is proposed for the Indo-European by comparison (E. Benveniste, *Origines de la formation des noms en indoeuropéen*, p. 105): now *āṇi* in Suśruta (*Śār.*, VI, 28) denotes a vulnerable point (*marman*) constituted manifestly by popliteal sciatica after their division above the articulation of the knee. *āṇḍá* (n, dual): testicle. *ātmán* (m): (a) breath, soul, pneumatic entity; (b) body (in opposition to limbs) (*VS*, Cl.). *āná* (m): (a) mouth (*RV*, Sāy.: nose; cf., Cl. *ānana*); (b) breath (cf., *aná*) in *udāna*, *vyāna*, *samāna* from *AV*., rare Cl. *ānatá* (n): region of the neck (Sāy., *TS*, *KS*). *āntrá* (n, pl.): entrails, small intestine. *ās* (n?): mouth (*RV*). *āsán* (n): mouth (*V*). *āsyá* (n): mouth. *ikṣu* (m): lower eye-lashes (*VS*, *MS*, *TS*). *irmá* (n): front-foot of animal (*AV*). *uchalakhá*: dual, hapax (?) (*AV*). *utá* (n): eyebrows (*VS*, *MS*, *KS*, *Br.*). *uttarahanu*: cf., *hánu*. *utsādá* (m): protuberance (from the body of an animal) (*YV*). *udára* (n): abdomen. *udaryá* (n): flesh of the stomach (*YV*). *udāna* (m): breath directed upwards (*V*. except *RV*, Cl.). —*udhan*: cf., under *ūdhan*. *upapakṣa* (m): side (*TS*). *upás* (m): *upástha* (*RV*). *upástha* (m, n): genital organs (chiefly feminine)—“that which is held below”, “foundation” (*VS*, *MS*, *KS*, *Br.* *RV*): figurative use supposing the sense of “lap”, “bosom” (I, 146-1: *pitrór upásthe,* in the bosom of his parents”). *uras* (n): chest. *ulba* (n): embryonic membranes (later Vedic: amnios, cf., *Kumāratantra*, p. 35).

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uṣṇihā (f., dual, pl): cf. uṣṇīsa(?); cranial protuberations (parietal vertex and bosses) (RV, AV).

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ūdhan, ūdhar, ūdhas (n): Mamma; also udhan in tryudhan. RV ūdhan, no Cl.

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ūbadhya (n): contents of the entrails (undigested nourishment) cf., ūvadhyu.

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ūru (m): thigh.

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ūavdhya: RV orthography of ūbadhya.

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ṛkṣálā (f. pl.) vessels (or tendons) which are found above ankles (in the quadrupeds) [VS (Mahī. gulphādhahsthā nāḍyaḥ)].

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ṛchárā (f., pl): cf. ṛkṣálā (AV).

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ójas (n): corporeal vigour (Cl. medicine: vital sap).

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oṇi (m): arm (Neisser, Zum Worterbuch des Ṛgveda (RV)).

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óṣṭha (m): lip.

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kakāṭikā (f): neck, cf. kṛkāṭa (AV).

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kakud (f): tourniquet (culminating point), bosse of Zebu, (AV), cf. Śītikakud (TS) and below kākud.

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kákṣa (m): armpit (AV, Cl.) cf. apikakṣá.

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káṅkukha (m): cf. the following (AV. Paipp.).

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káṅkūṣa (m, pl.): part of the head (?) (AV).

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kaṇṭhá (m): throat, larynx (AV, in sahákaṇṭhikā; MS/VS, in adharakaṇṭhá & śuṣkakaṇṭha; alone: Cl.

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káṇthya (n): flesh of the neck (VS).

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kanānaka (m): apple of the eye (TS).

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kanīnaka (m): apple of the eye (VS, Cl.).

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kanīnika (m): apple of the eye (MS).

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kanīnikā (f): apple of the eye (AV, MS, TS, KS, Cl.).

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kapāla (n): cranium, flat bone (in the form of potsherd) (AV, IX, 8-22: śīrṣṇaḥ kapālāni, Cl.) cf., śīrṣakapāla.

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kapiñjala (m): pastern (YV).

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kápṛth (m): penis (“which gives the pleasure”) (RV).

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kaphaudá (m, dual, hapax): Böhtlingk-Roth “elbow”? (AV, X, 2-4). Appears in an enumeration of the parts of the body attached to the trunk. Could be brought near kapola, “cheek”, which is more recent but the disaspiration will be unusual (cf., J. Bloch, Indo-Aryen, p. 59). One can not invoke the disaspiration of Pali kapoṇi=Skt. kaphoṇi, “elbow”, given by Childers following Abhidhānappadīpikā, this reading not being found in the texts (communication of Helmer Smith). One could ask oneself if *kaphaula*, in the dual, would not designate two humid organs (*ola*) of phlegm (*kapha*) such as the lungs, but *kapha* is found only in the Cl. and *ola* in later lexicons. *kābandha* (m, n): stomach (meaning derived from the primitive “tun” (*AV*). In Cl. “trunk”, cf., Louis Renou, *JA*, July-Sept. 1939, p. 391. *kará* (m): hand. All the texts, but the *RV* uncertain. In Cl. become secondarily “ray”, cf., L. Renou, *JA*, July-Sept., 1939, p. 346. *karásna* (m): fore-arm (*RV*), cf., L. Renou, *BSL*, 1937, p. 23; enlargement of *kará*. *karūkara* (n): ? (*AV*, *Br.*). *kárṇa* (m): exterior part of the ear. *kākud* (f): palate [Cl. (Lexicons)], cf., *kakud* above. *kāśi* (m,: closed fist (*RV*). *kīkásā* (f; *YV*, Cl. m): vertebra (Cl. “bone”), cf., under *jatru*. *kukṣi* (m, dual and pl.): small pelvis, pelvic regions. *kulphá* (m): *gulphá* (cf. *kuṣṭhā* & *kuhá*). *kuṣṭha* (m, dual): big sciatic cut (*MS*, *VS*). (Mahī. *kakundara* and cf., Suśr. *Śār.*, VI, 31).

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*kuṣṭhā* (dual): a part of the horse’s body (*TS*). (Bloomfield, *Vedic Conc.* under *pratikramaṇam ku.*) cf. *guṣṭhā*. *kuṣṭhikā* (f., pl.): a part of the legs of the cow (?) (*AV*). *kusindha* (n): trunk (described as one which is held by the thighs and supported by the shoulders) (*AV*, also *Br.*). *kuhá* (m, dual): part of the horse’s body (*TS*). (*Vedic Conc.* under *vīryam kuhābhyām*) cf., *guhá*. *kṛkāṭa* (n): neck (*AV*, IX, 7-1) (opposed to *lalāṭa* as *kakāṭikā*). *keśa* (m): hair [*V.* except *RV* (but *RV*: *keśin*, *kéśavant*, etc.), Cl.]. *kośyá* (n): two chunks of flesh situated on the covering of the heart (Mahī. *VS*, *TS*,) (*Padapāṭha*, *nikośya*). *kroḍá* (m, Cl: n): breast (horse) (*AV*, Cl.). *klóman* (m, Cl. nl): probably lungs [*V.* except *RV* (*VS*, XXV-8: plural)]; sometimes right lung, more often totality of lungs (singular) or lungs (and their lobes) (pl.). *kṣip* (f, pl); finger, index? (*RV*). *kṣīrá* (n) milk. *khá* (n): openings of the body (*AV*, Cl.). *khádā* (m): molar tooth (*TS*, *KS*). *gábhasti* (m): arm, hand (becomes Cl. “rays”; cf., L. Renou, *JA*, July-Sept., 1939, p. 345.) gárbha (m): 1. womb; 2. embryo. gavīnī, ī- (f); ureter (?), two canals which collect the urine coming from the entrails (Sāy. on AV, I-3-6) TS (in the mantra corresponding to AV, I, 11-5) cf., parīṇah. gāvīnikā (f): ureter (AV, I, 11-5) (Sāy. gavīnike yoneḥ pārśvavartinyau nirgamanapratibandhike nāḍyau,” the g.

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are the two canals situated on the sides of the uterus and hindering the expulsion” ?): IX, 8-7 (yá ūrū anusárpaty átho etí gavīnike, “the one—the disease—which creeps along the thighs and attains the g.”). gātra (n): limb. gudá (n): 1. rectum (TS, Cl.); 2 vagina (VS). gudā (f, often pl.): rectum, big intestines. gulphá (m): ankles (V. except RV, Cl.) guṣṭhá: cf., kuṣṭhá (KS). guhá (dual): cf., kuhá (KS). gṛdhrá (m): armpit [TS (Sāy. kakṣá but in pl.), KS]. grīvā (f): neck [V, generally pl., Cl., sing. and grīva, m. (cf., grīvadaghná, TS)]. glau (m, pl.): vessels of the heart (MS, VS, (Mahī. hṛdayanāḍyaḥ). cákṣan (n. dual): eye (AV). cákṣas (n): eye (RV, AV). cákṣu (m) eye (RV, but hapax cáksos=cakṣusoḥ). cákṣus (n): eye. cárman (n): skin, leather. chavī (f): glow which attains the eye [TS. (Sāy. netragatā kāntiḥ), KS]. chubuka (n): chin (RV, Cl. cibuka, cubuka). jaghána (m): posterior (in comp. also jāghana, q.v.). jáṅghā (f): leg. jaṭhára (n): abdomen. jatru (m, pl.): clavicles and sternum, or clavicular and sternal regions (specially sub-claviculars and sub-sternals. Cl. base of neck, joint of neck and of the chest). In Śat. Br., VIII, 6-2-10: imā ubhayatra parśavo baddhāḥ kikasāsu ca jatruṣu,“his sides are attached on both hands to the Kikasās and to the jatrus”. Therefore, k.=vertebra, j.=sternum, to which are joined the clavicles.

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jāghana; cf., jaghána. jānu (n): knee, cf., jñu. jāmbila (n): stomach, but Mahī. jānumadhya-bhāga, “middle part of the knee” [VS, MS, KS, TS (Sāy. āmāśaya, a more probable interpretation than that of Mahī., because the context refers to teeth and tongue which pulverize the plant which is deposited in the stomach.)]. jámbha (m): 1. jaw (RV, AV, VS, Cl.); 2. teeth (Cl.). jāmbhya (m): teeth, specially lateral teeth (Sāy. on TS, V, 7-11, YV). jarāyu (n): back-load, embryonic annexes, placenta (prop. “that which is cast off”). (Later Vedic sometimes “chorion”, cf., Kumāratantra . . . p. 37). jihvā (f): tongue, cf., agra-jihvá. juhū (f): tongue (of Agni, a metaphorical expression) (RV). jñu=jānu at the end of a compd. and in jñubādh (RV). takari, takarī (f): pelvic organ (?) indeterminate (TS. in the same formula AV t. is rephased by mehana), KS(takari), (TS). tagarī (f)=takarī (AV. Paipp.). tániman (n): liver (TS, Br.). tanū (f): body. tālu (n, rare. m): palate (VS, Cl.). tedanī (f): blood (?) [AV, VS. (Mah. tedanīm devatām)]. tvác (f): skin. °da, °dant: teeth in ubhayāda °dant, “one who has teeth on the two jaws” (RV, AV, TS). dámṣṭra (m): canine tooth (VS, MS, KS, Cl.). dánta (m, n): teeth. danta-mūlá (n): dental root, better still, base of teeth (VS, Cl.). dūṣikā (f): rheum (V. except RV, Cl.). doṣán (n, dual): 1. lower part (of the fore-feet of an animal) (AV), 2. arm (AV, TS). dós (n.m., RV once): arm. dhamáni, -ī (f): vessel (relatively voluminous according to Sāy. cf., Snāvan) (AV, Cl.) cf., p. 130. nakhá (n): nail. nandáthu (m): sexual organ (lit., “pleasure”) (TS, KS). nás (f): nose, nostrils (dual), cf., nās. násya (n): vibrissa (VS, MS KS). nāḍī (f): canal, vessel (AV, VI, 138-4, spermatic canals or cords;

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yé te nāḍyau devákṛte yáyos tiṣṭhati vṛṣṇyam, “the two canals made by the gods, in which resides virility”; KS, Cl.). cf. vṛṣṇya and p. 158. nābhi (f): Navel [V. except RV, (but nābha at the end of a compd. RV), Cl.]. nās (f): nose (RV, II, 39-6) cf., nás. nāsā (f): nose, nostrils (AV, Cl.). nāsikā (f, dual): nostrils. nikośyá: cf., kośya & śiṅgī. nipakṣati (f): second rib (cf., pakṣati) [VS, TS, (Sāy. rib adjacent to the pakṣati, second free rib?) MS, KS]. nirbādhá (m): protuberance (cranial ?) (YV). pakṣá (m): side. pakaṣatí (f); first rib [VS (13 are mentioned for each side), KS, MS, TS (Sāy. dakṣiṇa-pārśvasya mūle varttamānā yeyam vaṅkriḥ sā pakṣatiḥ, “p. is the rib situated at the base of the right side”, first free rib?)] pákṣman (n): upper (eye) lash (VS, MS, TS, Cl. (eye) lashes). pód (m) foot, cf. pād. páyas (n) milk, eventually sperm. pariṇah (a): corr. in KS, XIII-9 to gavīṇyau of TS, III, 3-10-1. párus (n): joint (joint or, often, portion included between two joints, limb or member of the body) (V., Br.). párvan (n): ibidem. párśu (m): rib. (V., Br., Cl. parśukā). pāśas (n): penis (V. except RV., Br.). pājasyá (n) ? [Sāy. on RV, chest, on TS.: heart; Mahī.=limb which is the cause of force in a quadruped; Geldner on RV=“inguen” (abdominal coating?); V., Br. (in RV, tri-pājasya) ]. pāṭurá (m): totality of transversal apophyses [VS, TS, (Sāy. etā vaṅkrayo yasmin pṛṣṭha-bhāgagate ’sthipārśvaśeṣe sambandhyante so’yam pāṭuraḥ) ]. pāṭora (m)=pāṭurá (KS). pāṇi (m)=hand. pād=pad. pāda (m): foot. pādu (m): foot (RV). pāpa-vāta (m): “bad wind” (TS, V, 7-23; Sāy.=apāna). pāyu (m): anus (V. except RV, Cl.).

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*pārśvá* (n., m): side. *pārṣṇi*, ī (f.): heel. *pittá* (n.): bile [*V.* except *RV.*, cl.] *pības* = *pīvas*. *pīvas* (n): fat (*RV*, *AV*). *pucha* (m, n): tail [*AV* (other expressions, X, 9-22 for tail of serpent, bird, etc.) Cl.]. *puritát*: cf. the following (*TS*). *puritát* (n): pericardium [*AV*, *VS* (XXV-8, Mahī.: *puritad hṛdayācchādakam antram*, “*p.*=entrails which cover the heart”)] . *pulitat*: pericardium (*KS*). *pulitat*: pericardium (*MS*). *pṛṣṭi* (f, pl.): vertebrae (*V*; *Br.*). *pṛṣṭha* (n.): back. *pṛṣṭhā* (f. (comp.), dual); flesh near the anus. ? (Sāy.), (*TS*, *KS*) *pratiṣṭhā* (f): leg (“supporting point”) (*AV*). *pratyāsā* (m or n ?, dual): excrescence near the sexual organ (Sāy.) (*TS*, *KS*). *prāpad* (f): fore-foot (*AV*). *prāpada* (n, dual or pl.): fore-foot (animals). (*AV*). *praśādá* (m): hymen ? [*TS* (Sāy. “sort of particle of flesh which falls at the time of defloration?”, *viśasana-kāla-patito māṃsa-leśa-viśeṣaḥ*, *KS*]. cf., *viśasana*. *prāṇá* (m): 1. vital breath; 2. breath of the anterior part of the body. *plāśí* (m, sing.): urethra, penis? (Mahī. *śiśna*); pl. spermatic canals and urethra (excretory canals) (Mahī.: *śiśna-mūla-nāḍyaḥ*, “canals at the base of the penis”) (*V*, *Br.*): *plīhán* (n): spleen. *bársva* (m): gum (Sāy.: *danta-mūla-māṃsa*, “flesh at the base of teeth”) (*YV*). *balāsa*: cf. supra, pp. 117-19. *bāhu* (m, dual): arm. *bila* (n) 1. orifice of sectioned vessels (*AV*); 2. excretory orifice (*AV*, I, 3-8, *vastibila*, “orifice of the bladder, urinary meatus”). *bīja* (n): sperm (lit., “seed”, “grain”). *bhámsas* (n): anus ?, anterior part of the hip-bone (Macdonell-Keith, *Vedic Index*) (*RV*, *AV*).

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*bhasád* (f): behind, vulva (V, Br, Sūtra). *bhāsad* (m): behind, buttock (Mahī., *RV*, *AV*, *VS*) (Mahī. nitambau) (MS). *bhásman* (n): part of the body ? (*YV*). *bhrū* (f): eye-brow. *majján* (m): marrow. *mátasna* (m, n, dual): unindentified viscus [*RV*, (Sāy. *pārśvayor vartamānav āmraphalakṛtī vṛkkau*, "kidneys looking like mangoes, situated in the sides), *VS*. (Mahī.: *grīvādhastād-bhāgasthitahṛdayobhaya-pārśve asthinī*," bones—or "stones" or "mass" found on each side of the heart, below the neck), (*MS*, *KS*). *mányā* (f, dual & pl.): muscular tendinous mass of the neck (V. except *RV*, Cl.). *mārman* (n): vital point (essentially vulnerable) (V., Cl.). *malhá*: which has excrescences at the neck (goat) [*TS* (Sāy. *galastana*, which, according to the *Vaidyakanighaṇṭu* quoted by Umesa Chandra Gupta, *Vaidyaka-śabda-śindhu* denotes *chagagalasthastana* "(appendix in the form of) udder found on the throat of the she-goat")]. *mastiṣka* (m, n): brain. *māmsá* (n, sing. & pl.) flesh. *mukha* (n): mouth. *muská* (m, dual): 1. testicles; 2. big lips (*AV*). *muṣṭi* (m): fist. *mūtra* (n): urine. *mūrdhán* (m): head. *meḍhra* (n) Penis, cf., *mehana*. *médas* (n): fat. *méhana* (n): 1. penis (as an urinary organ) (*RV*, Cl.); 2. urethra (*AV*, Cl.). *yakán* (n): liver. *yákṛt* (n): liver (V. except *RV*, Cl.). *yóni* (f): womb, vagina. *rarāṭa* (n): forehead (*VS*) cf. *lalāṭa*. *rása* (m): fluid of life, organic sap, sexual secretion, cf., pp. 27, 165. *rétas* (n): sperm. *róman* (n):=loman. *romaśa* (n): vulva (lit, "which has hair") (*RV*).

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róra (m, dual): articulation of shoulders (VS, MS). lalāṭa (n): forehead (especially lower part of the forehead, arcade of the eyebrows). (AV) cf., rarāṭa. lóman (n): hair. lóhita (n): blood (V. except RV, Cl.). vakṣáṇā (f, pl.): breast, flanks (RV, AV). breast (womb) (RV, X, 27-16). But cf. Cl. vaṅkṣaṇa, groin. vákṣas (n, sing and pl.): breast, chest. vankri (f): rib. vanamkáraṇa (n): organ of defecation (RV). vaniṣṭú (m): cf. the following (MS, KS). vaniṣṭhu (m): colon (V, Cl., VS, XIX-87: kumbhó vaniṣṭhur janitā śácībhir yásminn ágre yónyām gárbho'ntaḥ,” “the vase vaniṣṭhu is generator by assistance; in it, in the beginning, in the womb is the foetus”, Mahī.: sthūlāntra, “big intestine”. But, in a popular type of anatomy, confusion can arise between a big viscus shallow like the colon and the uterus, which being gravid, fills up the stomach.) vapā (f): epiploon (specially the fatty epiploon of the bullock, the thin epiploon of the horse is not well-known, cf., P.E. Dumont, L'Aśvamedha, p. 185) [V. (RV in vapāvant, vapodara), Cl.]. vártas (m): eye-lash (VS, MS). vártman (n): eye-lid (AV, Cl.). vaśā: vasā. vásā, vasā (f): fat of the muscles. vasti (m, f): bladder (V. except RV, Cl.). váha (m): shoulder (of the bullock, “the one which carries”) (AV, VS, TS). vājina (m): sperm (MS). vāyu (m): breath (of the mythical bull=wind) (AV, IX, 7-4; Cl.: wind and wind of the organism=organic breath). vāla (m): horsehair, mane, horse-tail (V. except RV, Cl.). vāladhāna (n): tail (TS). vijāman (n): genital organs (Sāy.), inguinal regions ? (cf. p. 110) (AV). viśásana (n): vulva (“cut”, “defloration” ? cf. praśādā). (TS, KS). viṣāṇa (n): horn (crumbling. “which detaches itself”) (AV). vṛkká (m, dual): kidney (AV, VS, MS, Br., Sūtra).

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vṛkya=vṛkká (TS). vṛṣaṇa (m, dual): testicles (VS, Cl.). vṛṣnya (n): virility, but *AV*, VI, 138, 4, concrete sense, (virility residing in several canals, cf., *nāḍī*), therefore “sperm”, cf., vṛṣṇiya “sperm” in *Vādhūlasūtra*, Caland, *Acta Or.*, IV, 1927, p. 184. vaitasá (m): penis (metaphorically “which is related to the reed”, cp. rod) (*RV*, *AV*, in lit. sense, Cl.). vyātta (n): open mouth (*AV*, *VS*, *TS*, Br., cf., Cl. *vyattānana*, *vyātāsya*). vyānā (m): breath diffused in the body. vríś (f): finger (*RV*). śakunisádá (m): part of the horse’s body? (*YV*). śaptra (n): labial commissure ? (*KS*) cf., *snáptra*. śaphá (m): hoof (of quadruped). śárīra (n): 1. body; 2. parts of the body (pl.) (*RV*). śárkara (m): granular bone, rugose (small bone of the face and of the cranium) [*TS*, V, 7-11 (Sāy. *śarkarāḥ tatsadṛśāni kaṭhināsthīni*)]. śākhā (f): finger (metaphorically, *RV*. denotes in Cl. the limbs by special use of the sense of “branch”) cf., *skandhá*. śikhaṇḍá (m or n, dual): flesh above the hips (Sāy.) (*TS*, *KS*). śiṅgī (f): part of the entrails (*TS*, I, 4-3-1; but *VS*, XXXIX, 8: . . . *śiṅgīni kośyābhyām . . ., Mahī.: śiṅgīni śingisaṃjñāni daivatāni*, “ś=the goddesses called ś.”). śitāman (n): according to Nirukta “arm”, “womb”, “liver”, “fat” (*VS*), cf., *śitīman*. śitīman (n, dual): excrescence near the sexual organ (Sāy.) [*TS*, *KS*, (°mant)] cf., *śitāman*. śipí (m): in *śipiviṣṭa* (=*śepa*, Nirukta). Probably, skin, prepuce (*RV*, *TS*, *KS*). śipra (n): lip ?, tooth ? (*RV*, *MS*). śiprā (f, pl.): denture (*RV*). śiras (n): head. śiśná (n): 1. penis ? (*RV*, *AV*); 2. tail. śīrṣá (n): head. śīrṣán (n): head (*V*). śīrṣakapālā (n): cranium, brainpan (head-bone in the form of potsherd) (*AV*, *TS*, Cl.). śukrá (n): sperm.

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*sūpti* (f): shoulder (according to the Avestan *supti*) but Sāy.: mouth (*RV*). *śṛṅga* (n): horn. *śépa* (n): penis. *śepha* (m): penis (*TS*). *śnáptra* (n): labial commissure (Mahī. *VS*). cf., the following. *śnyáptra* (n): labial commissure (*TS*). cf., *śaptra* and *śnáptra*. *śmáśru* (n): beard. *śróṇi* (f): hip (*V*, Cl. pelvi-perineal regions). *śrótra* (n): ear (organ of hearing, not the external ear)., cf. *karṇa*. *samsīdá* (n): cf. the following (*KS*). *samsūdá* (n): nostril [*TS*, (Sāy.: *samtatakṣaraṇo nāsikādiḥ*, “continually flowing nostrils”, etc.)]. *sákthi* (n, dual, pl.): thigh (*V*, Cl.) by euphemism “vulva” (*V*). *samtāná* (m): tendon ? (*TS*). *saudhí* (m): joint, articulation. *samāná* (m): concentrated breath (*V*. except *RV*., Cl.). *sātu* (m): womb (but an improbable conjecture) (*RV*). *sānu* (m, n): back, rump (of *Vṛtra*, of *Vala*, of a horse, literally, “summit” “plateau”, cf., Benveniste-Renou, *Vṛtra et Vṛthragna*, p. 135) (*RV*). cf. *snu*. *sīmán* (m): vertex, line of the parting of hair and of the body (*AV*, Cl.). *sūtrī* (f): womb (of the cow ?) [*AV*, IX, 7-4 (But the hymn refers to the mythical bull.)]. *sṛkvan* (m, n): labial commissure [*RV*, Cl. (Suśruta, *sṛkvanī*, f)]. *séhu* (m): indeterminate viscus (*AV*, *KS*). *skandhá* (m, generally pl.): ramification of the trunk (cf. *skandhas*, *RV*, I, 32-5, referring to a tree) (*V*, Cl.), cf. *śākhā*. *stána* (m, n): breast, udder, dug. *stukā* (f): tuft of hair (on the head of a horse) (*RV*, *AV*), cf. the following. *stupá* (m): tuft of hair (*VS*) cf. the preceding and the following. *stūpá* (m): tuft of hair (*MS*) cf. the preceding. *straiṇa* (n): vulva but exactly “that which is feminine”, a sense which generally suffices (*AV*, VIII, 6-4 ?). All the texts: “that which is feminine”. *sthūra* (m, dual): fetlock-joint of a quadruped (*VS*, *TS*, *KS*, Cl.).

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*sthūragudā* (f): big intestine (*TS, MS, KS*). *sthūlagudā* (f): big intestine (*VS*). *snāvan, snāván* (n): tendon (cf. Cl. *snāyu*) but Sāy. (on *AV, II, 33-6*) fine vessel (cf. *dhamani*) (*AV, VS, TS*). *snāvanyá* (m or n, dual): base of five tendons (Sāy.) (*TS, KS*). *srákva* (m or n): mouth of carnivorous animals ? (*RV*). *svéda* (m): sweat. *hánu* (f, dual): jaw (*V, Cl.*) cf. *uttarahanu*, “upper jaw” and *adharahanu*, “lower jaw” (*AV*). *hálikṣṇa* (m or n): (*AV, II, 33-3*; in *TS, V, 7-23*, name of animal). *hásta* (m): hand, also fore-arm (cf., *aratni*); trunk of elephant. *hārdi* (n. m): heart (*RV, AV*). *hirā* (f): blood-vessel (*AV, VS, MS*, later Vedic *hitā*, Cl. *sirā*), (cf., p. 160.) *hṛd* (n): heart. *hṛdaya* (n): heart cf., *sthūlahṛdayá*, (*TS*). “big heart?” *hṛdayāgrá* (n): point of the heart (*VS, Cl*). *hṛdayaupaśá* (m): organic mass located near the heart (*YV*). The interpretations “aorta” (*VS, XXV-8*) or “heart and pericardium” (dual, *TS, V, 7-16*) proposed by Böhtlingk & Roth are not justified by the Commentaries. Mahī.: *hṛdaye upaśete hṛdaya-upaśam hṛdayastham māṃsam*, “flesh which lies on the heart, which is situated on the heart” and the aorta is not a “piece of flesh”. One should rather take it as referring to the left auricle or to the fatty and conjunctive mass which cover the heart. On *TS*, Sāy.: *hṛdayamadhyam aṣṭadalam māṃsapadmam aupaśam tadveṣṭaṇam māṃsam*, “the centre of the heart is a lotus with eight petals, the *aupaśá* is the flesh which surrounds it”. The heart is usually compared, in the classical period, to a lotus and in the *Chānd-up.*, VIII, 1, 1-2, but the description of the pericardium as flesh is not satisfactory.

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The examination of numerous terms contained in the above list shows that many of these are metaphorical or periphrastic designations. They are not veritable terms, consecrated by the usage of the language. They are much less technical terms. Occasionally employed in the *mantras* of the ancient *Saṃhitās*, these designations have often remained in the vocabulary of the later Vedic texts, *Brāhmaṇas*, *Āraṇyakas* and *Sūtras*. This is how they are so frequently encountered, but it does not follow that they were never really in usage. It is quite natural that belonging as they did, to the fundamental *mantras*, they have often been taken up again in the literature devoted to the interpretation and the ritual application of these *mantras*. But they have not come out of the sacerdotal jargon and have not come into classical Sanskrit. Not possessing the value of the anatomical terms, they are not found in the medical texts. Moreover, a certain number of words used in the Vedic period have gone out of use during the centuries that passed between this epoch and that of the scientific manuals. On the other hand, in these manuals are to be found many other anatomical terms found from the Veda onwards. It is here that one finds terms which are quite often authentic and which have been preserved not because of the sacred character of the *mantras* containing them but following the preservation of the Vedic language itself in classical Sanskrit.

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Leaving aside banal terms such as the ones which denote organs like the heart, feet or hands, there are certain others which deserve to be studied, because in medicine they have become technical terms, while retaining a great part of their old Vedic value. They correspond to Vedic notions which have remained as formative elements in the classical doctrines of the doctors. They can be divided in two groups: names of organs or of the regions of the body and names of the substances which compose the body. From the first group we will retain only those which denote the organs or regions playing a specially important and characteristic rôle in the physiological conceptions of Āyurveda: the canals and the vulnerable points.

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The canals are denoted in the Vedic *saṃhitās* by the names of *nāḍī*, *dhamáni* and *hirā*. The first two have been preserved without any change in the Ayurvedic texts, the last one having been replaced there by the term, *sirā*.

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The sense of *nāḍī* (written as *nāḷī*) in the oldest passage where it appears (*RV.*, X, 135-7) is "flute" or "straw": ". . . here is the seat of Yama which is called the residence of the gods; this flute of his is blown; it is prepared by the chants”.¹ The root dham, used here for “blowing”, is the one from which is derived dhamáni practically becoming a synonym of nāḍī, but which, in the Ṛgveda (II, 11-8), is a “breath”² (“sent by Indra,” indreṣitām dhamánim . . .) and not a tube which conducts the breath. The term nāḍī, on the contrary, was definitely a conduit of air and it has remained the same in the anatomical exercises of the Yoga. But it has also been a “tube”, capable of being filled up with any material. The Atharvaveda (VI, 138-4), regards as nāḍī, the two conduits of the human body, which are the spermatic ducts or the cordons (cf., p. 124). Moreover, the word nāḍī is to be met with as a derivative of naḍa, “reed”.³ Similarly, in the Ayurvedic texts, nāḍī does not exclusively denote “channel for air”, but is commonly used to denote “channel” in general. This is how nāḍī has come to denote the nourishment-providing vessel of the umbilical cord: “the umbilical vessel of the embryo is connected with the maternal vessel carrying the organic sap”.⁴ It also denotes the tubulure of an inhalatory apparatus, an apparatus causing “vaporisation by tube”, nāḍīsveda.⁵ Therefore, the general notion of nāḍī in the classical medical texts is the same as it had been in the Vedic epoch.

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¹ idám yamásya sādanám devamānám yád ycyáte| iyám asya dhamyate nāḷīr ayám gírbhiḥ pāriṣkṛtaḥ|| This sense of “flute” or “reed” is found elsewhere, for example, Kaṭh., XXIII, 4, beside other names of musical instruments.

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² Sāyaṇa writes that it is the “voice” put forth by Indra. Actually it refers to the effect of thunder, voice, (and in consequence, breath) of the cloud.

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³ dhamáni is, its side, derived from dhamana given as a synonym of naḍa, “reed”, in the Amarakosa, but dhamana is found quite late. Actually speaking it denotes “one who breathes in” (on the formation of the word, see Renou, Grammaire Sanskrite, p. 168).

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⁴ mātus tu khalu rasavahāyām nāḍyām garbhanābhināḍī pratibaddhā. (Suśr., Śār., III-27).

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⁵ Suśr., Utt., XXI-3, cf., “nāḍī in the form of the elephant’s trunk” (hasti-śuṇḍākārā n.). Cik., XXXII, 2; Car., Sūtr., XIV-43; cf., J.L. Doreau, Les bains dans l’ Inde antique, p. 84.

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In the epoch of the Atharvaveda, the mystical speculations on the similarity of the nāḍī of the human body with the cosmic regions had already commenced. But in this respect Ayurvedic medicine has not preserved the heritage, which has been passed on, in its entirety, first to the later Vedic texts and then to the texts of Yoga and Tantra. The hymn X, 7 on skambha, the “support” of the world poses, among other enigmas, the following: “The one, in whom, in the Man are closely reunited immortality and death, the one whose ocean and the canals are closely re-united in the Man, that support, utter its name, which one is it? The one of whom the four quarters are the main canals, the one on whom the sacrifice has advanced, that support, utter its name, which one is that?”¹ The Man referred to here is the Cosmic Man as also the man, both of whom have their basis in the same entity. From the macrocosmic view-point, the expression “canals” can be said to refer firstly to rivers and specially to celestial rivers and from the microcosmic point of view “ocean” can be said to refer to the totality of the organic liquids. The second mention of the “canals” implies that the canals of the body are understood as the currents of energy radiating from all sides in the world, such as the solar rays emitted in all directions, mentioned in the *Chāndogya-upaniṣad*, III-1, etc.

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¹ *yatrāmṛtam ca mṛtyúśca puruṣé’dhi samāhite|* *samudró yásva nāḍváḥ puruṣé’dhi samāhitā|* *skambhám tám brūhi katamáh svit eva saḥ||15||* *yásva cátasraḥ pradíśo nāḍyás tiṣṭanti prathamāḥ|* *yajñó yátra párākrānta skambhám . . ||16|| AV., X, 7-15-16.*

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*Dhamáni* is met with in the *Atharvaveda* and has the precise meaning of “blood vessel”, where the hymn, I,17 is an exorcism against haemorrhages. There it is an antonym of *hirā*, which, at first, seems to denote also blood vessels though of smaller calibre: “. . . if the smallest stops, let her stop, the big *dhamáni*. The middle ones of hundred *dhamánis*, of thousand *hirās* have stopped . . .”² The biggest vessels are the least numerous and Sāyaṇa commenting upon *AV.*, II, 33-6 considers the *dhamánis* as the relatively voluminous vessels. However, another passage of the same Veda directly contradicts the one translated above: VII, 35-2 mentions a thousand *dhamánis* and of a hundred *hirās*. But Sāyaṇa agrees with the later Vedic literature which replaces *hirā* by *hitā* and recognises 72,000 vessels of this type,³ defining them as *nāḍis*, “like a hair split thousandfold”.⁴ The *dhamánis* are, therefore, to be understood as the big vessels. Moreover, in another passage, the *Atharvaveda* refers once again to the hundred *dhamánis* (VI, 90-2). It is, therefore, the relatively smaller number which is preferably attributed to *dhamánis*.

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² *. . . kaniṣṭhikā ca tiṣṭhati tiṣṭhād id dhamánir mahī|2|* *śatásya dhamánīnām sahásrasya hirāṇām|* *asthurin madhyamā . . . (AV., I, 17, 2-3).*

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³ *Brhad-up*, II, 1, 19.

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⁴ ibid, IV, 2-3 & 3, 20 (*yathā keśaḥ sahasradhā bhinnaḥ*).

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Macdonell and Keith have thought that, in the *Atharvaveda*, *dhamáni* probably denoted “artery” or “vein”, or more generally “intestinal canal”.¹ Not one of these three translations can be accepted. There is nothing to prove that in Vedic times distinctions were observed between arteries and veins and, on the contrary, there is every reason to believe that these distinctions were not known because they are found missing in the Ayurvedic medicine itself, which is, however, much more advanced. Moreover, while employing the word “artery”, an ambiguous term, it should be clearly explained whether it is to be understood in the old sense of “aerial canal” or in the modern sense of blood canal coming from the heart. As regards its translation as “intestinal canal”, it contradicts both the contexts and the commentator² and agrees only imperfectly with the general sense of the word in Sanskrit.

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¹ Vedic Index, Vol. I, p. 390.

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² On *AV*, I, 17-3 Sāyaṇa explains that the *dhamánis* are the main *nāḍīs* which go to the heart (*hṛdayagatānām pradhāna-nāḍīnām*) and that the *hirās* are the *sirās* (classical form), the *nāḍīs* of the branches (*śākhā-nāḍīnām*), that is to say of the limbs; this implies that they, themselves, are the vascular ramifications. On II, 33-6, he explains *dha.* as denoting the thick *sirās* (*sthūlāḥ*). [The passage, II, 33-6 is found as a variant of XX, 96-22. Shankar Pandurang, Vol. IV, p. 794, *dhamáni* is found here after *snāva* which is rendered by Sāyaṇa as fine (*sūkṣmāḥ*) *sirās*]. On VI, 90-2, (Ed. Shankar, Hymn, 263-2), he simply replaces *dhamáni* by *nāḍyāḥ*. On VII, 35-2, an incantation for making a woman sterile, he interprets *hirās* as being the small vessels found inside for supporting the embryo *garbha-dhāraṇārtham antar avasthitāḥ sūkṣmāḥ* and the *dh.* as the big vessels which are the external support for the womb (*avaṣṭambhikā bāhyaḥ sthūlāḥ*); it is however, in this passage that the *hirās* are 100 in number and the *dh.* 1000.

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The *Suśruta-saṃhitā* challenges an opinion current in its time, which took the *sirās*, the *dhamánis* (sic) and the *srotas* (conduits) to denote the one and the same thing. It, however, admits that their functions, even though distinct, are analogous.³ The main *dhamánis* are 24 in number and are born at the navel from where they spread, ten upwards, ten downwards and four horizontally.⁴ “Those which go upwards maintain the organism by carrying particular things: sound, touch, form, taste, smell, inhalation, exhalation, yawning, hunger, laughter, talking, crying, etc. They reach the heart and become three-fold, they are (then) thirty in number. Among them, ten carry two by two, the wind, the bile, the phlegm, the blood and the organic juice. By eight are seized the sounds, forms, tastes and smells. By two one talks, by two is uttered the loud cry, two are employed for sleep and two for awakening. And two carry tears, two which are located in the bosom carry the mother’s milk. It is these two which carry the sperm coming from its two “udders”.¹

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³ *vibhakta-karmaṇām apy avibhāga iva karmasu bhavati*, “even for those whose functions are distinct, there is something like an analogy as regards functions”.—Suśr., *Śar.*, IX-1.

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⁴ *tāsām tu nābhiprabhavānām dhamanīnām ūrdhvagā daśa cādhogāminyās catasras tiryaggāḥ*—Suśr., *Śar.*, IX-2; also Sūtra., XIX, Susr., *Sar.*, IX-2; also Sūtr., XIV-1.

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¹ *ūrdhvagāḥ śabdaśparśarūparūsagandhapraśvāsocchvāsa-jṛmbhita-kṣuddha-sitakathitaruditādīn viśeṣān abhivahantyaḥ śarīram dhārayanti | tās tu hṛdayam abhiprapannās tridhā jāyante, tās trimśat | tāsām tu vātapittakaphāśonitarasān dve dve vahataḥ, tā daśa śabdarūparasagandhān aṣṭabhir gṛhṇīte | dvābhyām bhāṣate ca dvābhyām ghoṣam karoti dvābhyām svapiti dvābhyām pratibudhyate | dve cāśruvāhinyau dve stanyam striyā vahataḥ stanasaṃśrite | te eva śukram narasya stanābhyām abhivahataḥ . . . (Suśr., Śār., IX-3).*

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The following portion of the text similarly details the functions of the inferior and horizontal *dhamánis*, which carry in the body the entire matter of flow and circulation. The intestines, therefore, figure in the list of *dhamánis*, but the *dhamánis* are not, in general, the intestines; they are simply the canals of the organism. In the *Atharvaveda*, they are more particularly the vessels but the word must have had, from the beginning, the general sense of “canal” which it has in *Āyurveda*.

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As regards *sirās* or *śirās*, they are sometimes, in classical medicine, understood as veins. A chapter of the *Suśruta-samhitā* (*Śār*., VIII), devoted to blood-letting, is entitled *sirāvyādhavidhi*, “the technique of the cutting of the *sirās*”. It follows, therefore, that those vessels, which we call “veins” are the *sirās*, but not that the latter always represent the veins. In fact, the word is, most of the time, a synonym of *dhamáni* and of *nādī*. Like the *dhamánis*, the *sirās* “have the navel for their root and they spread from there upwards, downwards and horizontally”.² Like them, they carry the circulating organic fluids, specially the wind, the bile, the phlegm and the blood.¹ Like them, they can carry everything: "There is no *sirā*, which carries only the wind, the bile or the phlegm. It is, therefore, said that they carry all. Since they are the fixed derivatives of the corrupted elements of trouble which develop and overflow and that is why it is said that they carry everything".² This, however, does not assimilate them completely to the *dhamánis* as it is only on the occasion of the corruption of the elements of trouble that they can transport something else than the four principal liquids.

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² *tāsām nābhir mūlam tataś ca prasaranty ūrdhvam adhas tiryak ca—Suśr., Śār., VII-1.*

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¹ Suśr., Śār., VII-4. Here the text does not add the word *rasa*, the organic juice, but Mahīdhara, who is also a very late author, while commenting on the word *hirā* in the *VS*, XXV-8, says that they are the *nāḍīs* which carry nourishment (*annavāhinyo nāḍyaḥ*). Now nourishment circulates in the body in the form of the *rasa*, a form which it assumes by digestion . . . cf., infra, p. 165.

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² *na hi vātam sirāḥ kaścin na pittam kevalam tathā|* *śleṣmāṇam vā vahanty etā ataḥ sarvavāhāḥ smṛtāḥ|14|* *praduṣṭānām hi doṣāṇām, ucchṛtānām pradhāvatām|* *dhruvam unmārgagamanam ataḥ sarvavāhāḥ smṛtāḥ|15|*—Suśr., Śār., VII, 14-15.

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