Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s7.t2: § 96. Suśruta on Homology

Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s7.t2

Language: English

§ 96. Suśruta on Homology

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1. The statement of Suśruta on homology in Śārīra Sthāna, ch. VI, cl. 29, referred to in § 28, and edited from Bd¹ (fol. 26 a), Bd² (fol. 25 a), IO¹ (fol. 22 b), IO² (fol. 30 a), and EJ (p. 341), runs as follows:

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¹ IO¹ (fl. 19 b) om. verses 43b, 44a, b.

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² IO² (fl. 25 b) jñān-oddhrte.

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Viśeṣatas=tu yāni sakthni gulpha-jānu-viṭapāni, tāni bāhau maṇibandha-kūrpara-kakṣadharāṇi | yathā vaṅkṣaṇa-vṛṣaṇayor¹=antare viṭapam=evaṃ vakṣaḥ-kakṣayor=madhye kakṣadharam ||

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¹ IO² vṛṣaṇa-vaṅkṣaṇayor.

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In particular, just as there are in the leg (the three vital spots) ankle-bone, knee-cap, and ischio-pubic arch, so there are in the arm (the three) wrist-bone, elbow-pan, and collar-bone. Just as between the hip-bone and scrotum there is the ischio-pubic arch, so between the breast-bone and the arm-pit there is the clavicular arch.

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Suśruta and Vāgbhaṭa on the Eyeball

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2. The statement of Suśruta on the eyeball, in the *Uttara Tantra*, ch. I, verses 16 *b*, 17 *a*, referred to in § 30, and edited from IO² (fol. 3 *a*, v. 19 *b*, 20 *a*) and EJ (p. 659), runs as follows:

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Tejojal-āśritam bāhyaṃ teṣv=anyat=piśit-āśritam | Medas=tṛtīyam paṭalam=aśritam tv=asthi c=āparam ||

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*Translation.*

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The outer-one of the protective covers of the pupil consists of a luminous fluid, and the next-one, of flesh. The third is made of fat, and the farther-one, of bone.

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In the Summary of Vāgbhaṭa I (*Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgraha*, *Śārīra Sthāna*, ch. V, vol. I, p. 223, l. 10) the statement is as follows:

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Bāhyaṃ c=āśritam=agny-ambhasī, dvitīyaṃ māṃsam, tṛtīyaṃ medas=caturtham=asthi ||

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*Translation.*

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The outer-one consists of fire and water; the second, of flesh; the third, of fat; the fourth, of bone.

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Bhoja on the Nalaka bones

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3. The doctrine of Bhoja on the *nalaka*, or reed-like bones, as reported by Ḍallaṇa (Jīv., p. 576) and Gayadāsa (Cambridge MS., Add. 2491, fol. 49 a, l. 3), and referred to on p. 80, runs as follows:

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Tad-uktaṃ Bhoje । Hasta-pād-āṅguli-tale kūrceṣu maṇi-gulphayoḥ । bāhu-jaṅghā-dvaye cāpi jānīyān=nalakāni tu ॥

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*Translation.*

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In Bhoja’s (treatise) this is said: ‘The bones which are in the digits and flats of the hands and feet, in the clusters, in the wrists and ankles, and also in both the upper and lower limbs,—these one should know to be reed-like.’

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The manuscripts read *maṇibandhayoḥ*; the reading *maṇi-gulphayoḥ* is a conjectural emendation, which is suggested by the fact that otherwise the statement of Bhoja would entirely ignore the ankle-bones (*gulpha*), which, as homologues of the wrist-bones (*maṇi* or *maṇibandha*), should by parity of reasoning be included in it. The dual of the MS. reading would have to be made to refer, not to the two wrists of the hands, but to the couple of organs consisting of the wrists and their homologues, the ankles, respectively—a very forced interpretation. In the term *bāhu-jaṅghā-dvaya*, *bāhu* denotes the whole upper limb, and *jaṅghā*, the whole lower limb, either of which consists of a couple (*dvaya*) of organs: arm, forearm, and thigh, leg.

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Daḷḷana on the Aggregate Ten

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4. The statement of Daḷḷana on the aggregate ten, referred to in § 31, and edited from D⁴ (= Deccan College MS., No. 949, fol. 54 a), and Jīvānanda’s edition, p. 576, runs as follows:

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Tala-kūrca¹-gulph-etyādi । kara-pāda-tale² pañca śalākāḥ । tat-prabandhanam=ekam=asthi । dve dve kūrca-gulphayor=iti daśa ॥

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¹ D⁴ om. kūrca.

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² So D⁴; Jīv. tale pāda-tale.

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*Translation.*

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As to the phrase ‘sole-cluster-ankle’, &c., there are five long bones in the sole of the hand and of the foot, and there is a single bone which interlocks them. In each of the clusters and ankles there are two bones. This makes altogether ten bones.

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*Suśruta and Vāgbhaṭa on the Number of Kūrca*

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5. The statement of Suśruta on the number of kūrca, cluster, in the *Śārīra Sthāna*, ch. V, cl. 10, referred to in § 31, and edited from Bd¹ (fol. 18 *b*), Bd² (fol. 18 *a*), IO¹ (fol. 17 *a*), IO² (fol. 21 *a*), and EJ (p. 330), runs as follows:

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Ṣaṭ-kūrcāḥ । te hasta-pāda-grīvā-meḍhreṣu । ¹hastayor-dvau, pādayor dvau, grīvā²-meḍhrayor-ekaikah ॥

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*Translation.*

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There are six clusters. They occur in the hands, feet, neck, and penis. In the two hands there are two; in the two feet there are two; there is one each in the neck and penis.

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In the Summary of Vāgbhaṭa I (*Śārīra Sthāna*, ch. V, vol. I, p. 223, l. 21) the statement is as follows:

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Ṣaṭ-kūrcā, hasta-pāda-grīvā-meḍhreṣu ॥

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*Suśruta and Vāgbhaṭa on the Number of Ankles, &c.*

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6. The statement of Suśruta on the number of ankle-bones, wrist-bones, and cluster-heads, in the *Śārīra Sthāna*, ch. VI, verse 19, referred to in § 31, and edited from Bd¹ (fol. 24 *a*), Bd² (fol. 23 *b*), IO¹ (fol. 21 *a*), IO² (fol. 28 *a*), and EJ (p. 338), runs as follows:

Linked texts (2)

Suśrutasaṃhitā — Suśruta & Nāgārjuna (siddha/alchemist), Sanskrit
Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit