Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s4.t14: § 87. The Non-medical Version in the ‘Anatomy’

Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s4.t14

Language: English

§ 87. The Non-medical Version in the ‘Anatomy’

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The recension of the Non-medical Version in the anonymous ‘Anatomy’ (§ 23), edited from the Tübingen (T) University Library MS., M. a. I. 483 (Catalogue No. 167), fol. 5 *b*, runs as follows :—

Ṣaḍ-aṅgāni śarīrāṇi | . . . . . . . . | ṣaṣṭiḥ śata-trayaṃ cāsthnām | . . . . . . . .¹ || 127 || Tad-yathā | dvau bāhū dve sakthinī, śiro madhyam=iti ṣaḍ-aṅgam || ṣaṣṭiḥ śata-trayaṃ cāsthnām=iti ² || Dantā dvātriṃśad=ākhyātāḥ s-olūkā, viṃśatir=nakhāḥ | pāṇi-pāda-śalākāś=ca, tāsāṃ sthāna-catuṣṭayam || 128 || Ṣaṣṭy=aṅgulīnām, dve pārṣṇyor=gulpheṣu ca catuṣṭayam | catvāry=aratnik-asthīni, jaṅghāyās=tāvad=eva tu || 129 || Dvāv=aṃsāv=aṃsaphalake dve, hasta-maṇikāv=ubhau | dvau bāhu-nalakāv=ūru-nalakau, dve ca tāluni ³ || 130 || Netre dve, jānunī dve ca, dve ca jānu-kapālike | dve śroṇiphalake, dve ca hanu-mūlasya bandhane ³ || 131 || Bhage tv=ekaṃ, tathā pṛṣṭhe catvāriṃśac=ca pañcakam | grīvāyāṃ ca daś=asthīni, jatrv=ekaṃ tu, tathā hanuḥ || 132 || Tadvan=mukhe mataṃ nāsā-gaṇḍakūṭa-lalāṭakam | pārśvakāḥ kaulakaiḥ sārdhaṃ arbudaiś=ca ⁴ dvisaptatiḥ || 133 || Dvau śaṅkhakau, kapālāni catvāri śirasas=tathā | uraḥ saptadaś-asth=iti ⁵ puraṣasy=asthi-saṃgrahaḥ || 134 ||

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¹ Two half-verses of the text, respecting the number of skins and muscles, are omitted. ² This clause is a commentary in prose on the preceding verse. ³ Verses 130 and 131 are a recast of verse 87 of the recension of Yājñavalkya (§ 77). ⁴ MS. arbudais=tu. ⁵ MS. asthīni.

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[Verse 127.] The bodies consist of six parts . . . . . ; the number of bones is three hundred and sixty . . . . . .

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[Commentary.] As thus : the two upper extremities, the two lower extremities, the head, and the trunk,—these are the six parts. The three hundred and sixty bones are as follows :

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[Verse 128.] The thirty-two teeth (*danta*) are enumerated along with their sockets (*ulūka*); the nails (*nakha*) number twenty; so also the long bones (*śalākā*) of the hands and feet; their bases (*sthāna*) are four.

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[Verse 129.] There are sixty bones in the digits (*aṅguli*); two in the heels (*pārṣṇi*), and four in the ankles (*gulpha*). There are four bones in the forearms (*aratnikā*), and there are as many in the legs (*jaṅghā*).

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[Verse 130.] There are two collar-bones (*aṃsa*), two shoulder-blades (*aṃsa-phalaka*), two wrist-bones (*maṇika*) in either hand, two hollow bones of the arm (*bāhu*), two hollow bones of the thigh (*ūru*), and two palates (*tālu*).

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[Verse 131.] There are two eyes (*netra*), two knee-caps (*jānu*), as well as two elbow-pans (*kapālikā*), two hip-blades (*śroṇiphalaka*), and two tie-bones at the base of the (lower) jaw (*hanu-mūla*).

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[Verse 132.] There is one bone in the pubes (*bhaga*); also there are forty and five bones in the back (*pṛṣṭha*), as well as ten in the neck (*grīvā*). The windpipe (*jatru*) consists of one bone; so also the (lower) jaw (*hanu*).

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[Verse 133.] Likewise in the face there is considered to be one bone consisting of the nose (*nāsā*), the prominences of the cheeks (*gaṇḍakūṭa*), and the brows (*lalāṭa*). The ribs (*pārśvaka*), together with their sockets (*kaulaka*¹) and tubercles (*arbuda*), number seventy-two.

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¹ Probably false reading for kolaka, diminutive of kola, flank. Kolaka would mean a small flank, or side-bone, and would be a good term for the transverse process of a vertebra.

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[Verse 134.] There are two temples (*śaṅkhaka*); also there are four pan-shaped (*kapāla*) bones of the cranium. The breast (*uras*) consists of seventeen bones. This is the aggregate of the bones of man.