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Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c6.s1.t5: § 8. Gangādhar's Recension

Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c6.s1.t5

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§ 8. Gangādhar's Recension

c6.s1.t5.1

Gangādhar's recension of the statement of Charaka on the bones of the human body runs as follows (Original Text in § 74):

c6.s1.t5.2

‘The body consists of the following parts: two arms (*bāhu*), two legs (*sakthi*), the head and neck (*śiro-grīva*), and the trunk (*antarādhi*). These make up the sexipartite body (*ṣaḍaṅga*). Inclusive of the teeth, their sockets, and the nails, it has three hundred and sixty bones. These are 27 c. 24 sockets of them (*sthālaka*) resembling tubercles (*ar-buda*), the whole (27 *a-c*) amounting to 72.
28. 2 temporal bones (*śaṅkhaka*).
29. 4 cranial pan-shaped bones (*śiraḥ-kapāla*).
30. 17 bones of the breast (*vakṣas*). These are the three hundred and sixty bones.’

c6.s1.t5.3

¹ 32 sockets (*ulūkhala*) of the teeth.
2. 32 teeth (*danta*).
3. 20 nails (*nakha*).
4. 20 long bones (*śalākā*). 5 *a*. 4 bases (*adhiṣṭhāna*) of the long bones. 5 *b*. 4 backs (*pṛṣṭha*) of the hands and feet.
6. 60 phalanges (*aṅguli*). 7 *a*. 2 heels (*pārṣṇi*). 7 *b*. 2 clusters (*kūrca*) of bones below (the long bones).
8. 4 wrist-bones (*maṇika*).
9. 4 ankle-bones (*gulpha*).
10. 4 bones of the forearms (*aratni*).
11. 4 bones of the legs (*jaṅgha*).
12. 2 knee-caps (*jānu*).
13. 2 elbow-pans (*kūrpara*).
14. 2 thighs (*ūru*).
15. 2 arms (*bāhu*) together with (16) the shoulders (*aṃsa*).
17. 2 collar-bones (*akṣaka*).
18. 2 palates (*tālu*).
19. 2 hip-blades (*śroṇi-phalaka*). 20 *a*. 1 vulval bone (*bhag-āsthi*) in women, or penis-bone (*meḍhr-āsthi*) in men. 20 *b*. 1 sacral bone (*trika*). 20 *c*. 1 anal bone (*gud-āsthi*).
21. 35 back-bones (*pṛṣṭha-gata*).
22. 15 bones of the neck (*grīvā*).
23. 2 collar-bones (*jatru*).
24. 1 (lower) jaw-bone (*hanv-asthi*), or chin.
25. 2 basal tie-bones of the jaw (*hanu-mūla-bandhana*). 26 *a*. 2 brows (*lalāṭa*). 26 *b*. 2 eyes (*akṣi*). 26 *c*. 2 cheeks (*gaṇḍa*). 26 *d*. 3 nasal bones (*nāsikā*) called *ghoṇa*. 27 *a*. 24 bones of the two sides (*pārśva*). 27 *b*. 24 ribs (*pārśvaka*) forming a cage (*pañjara*).