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Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s7.t4: § 99. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa on the Total Number of Bones

Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c7.s7.t4

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§ 99. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa on the Total Number of Bones

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1. The statement in the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, X, 5, 4, 12 (Weber’s ed., p. 801), on the total number of the bones of the human body, referred to in § 42, cl. 1, runs as follows : Ātmā ha tv=ev=aiṣo ’gniś=citaḥ । tasy=āsthīny=eva pariśritās=tāḥ ṣaṣṭiś=ca trīṇi ca śatāni bhavanti, ṣaṣṭiś=ca ha vai trīṇi ca śatāni puruṣasy=asthīni; majjāno yajuṣmatya iṣṭakās=tāḥ ṣaṣṭiś=ca=aiva trīṇi ca śatāni bhavanti, ṣaṣṭiś=ca ha vai trīṇi ca śatāni puruṣasya majjāno ’tha ॥ 12 ॥

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A similar statement occurs, *ibidem*, XII, 3, 2, 3 and 4 (Weber’s ed., p. 912), and is as follows : Trīṇi ca vai śatāni ṣaṣṭiś=ca saṃvatsarasya rātrayas,=trīṇi ca śatāni ṣaṣṭiś=ca puruṣasy=āsthīny,=atra tat-samam । trīṇi ca śatāni ṣaṣṭiś=ca saṃvatsarasy=āhāni, trīṇi ca śatāni ṣaṣṭiś=ca puruṣasya majjāno 'tra tat-samam || 3 || sapta ca vai śatāni viṃśatiś=ca saṃvatsarasy=āho-rātrāṇi, sapta ca śatāni viṃśatiś=ca puruṣasy=asthīni ca majjānaś,=cātra tat-samam || 4 ||

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For a translation of the above two passages, see § 42, cl. 2.

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Suśruta* on Marrow

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2. The statement of *Suśruta* on marrow, in *Sūtra Sthāna*, XIV, verse 6 (Jīv., p. 48), referred to in § 42, cl. 6, runs as follows:

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Rasād=raktaṃ, tato māṃsaṃ, māṃsān=medaḥ prajāyate |
medaso 'sthi, tato majjā, majjñaḥ śukrasya sambhavaḥ || 6 ||

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*Translation.*

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From chyle originates blood; from the latter, flesh (muscle); from flesh, fat; from fat, bone; from the latter, marrow: from marrow is the origin of semen.

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There is nothing like this statement in that portion of *Charaka*'s text-book, which was composed by *Charaka* himself. In the complement of that work made by *Dṛḍhabala*, however, there occurs, in the *Chikitsita Sthāna*, ch. XIX, verse 14 (Jīv. ed., 1896, p. 656), a similar statement, which is based on *Vāgbhaṭa* I's account of the subject in his *Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgraha*, *Śārīra Sthāna*, ch. VI (ed., vol. I, p. 231, l. 12), and which is quoted by *Aruṇadatta*, as *Dṛḍhabala*'s statement, in his commentary on *Vāgbhaṭa* II's *Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya*, *Śārīra Sthāna*, ch. III, verses 62 *a* and 63 *b* (1st ed., vol. I, p. 569). This statement runs as follows:

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Rasād=raktaṃ, tato māṃsaṃ, māṃsān=medas, tato 'sthi ca |
asthno majjā, tataḥ śukraṃ, śukrād=garbhaḥ prajāyate || 14 ||

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*Translation.*

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From chyle originates blood; from the latter, flesh; from flesh, fat; and from the latter, bone: from bone, marrow; from the latter, semen; from semen, the foetus.

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The further statement of *Suśruta*, in *Śārīra Sthāna*, ch. IV, cl. 9 and 10 (Jīv. p. 319), also referred to in § 42, cl. 6, and edited from Bd¹ (fol. 11 *a*), Bd² (fol. 11 *a*), IO¹ (fol. 11 *b*), IO² (fol. 14 *a*), runs as follows:

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Tritīyā medodharā nāma; medo hi sarva-bhūtānām=udara-stham, aṇv-asthiṣu ca mahatsu ca majjā bhavati || 9 || Sthūl-asthiṣu viśeṣeṇa majjā tv=abhyantar-asthitaḥ | tath=etareṣu sarveṣu sa-raktam meda ucyate || Śuddha-māṃsasya yaḥ snehaḥ sā vasā parikīrtitā | ¹ ath=etareṣu sarveṣu sneho medo vibhāvitā || 10 ||

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¹ The last line is omitted in Bd¹, Bd², IO² and Jīvānanda’s edition; but it occurs in IO¹ and has the support of Gayadāsa’s commentary, Cambridge MS., Add. 2491, fol. 36 *a*.

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*Translation.*

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The third stratum (*kalā*) is called the fat-bearing; fat exists in the abdomen of all creatures; it also occurs in the small and large bones as marrow. In the large bones particularly, in the cavity of which it is found, it is called marrow: in all other bones it is called bloody fat. The grease which attaches to clean flesh (in the abdomen) is known as suet: in all other cases the fat is denoted simply grease.

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*The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa on the Number of Bones in the Head and Trunk*

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3. The statement in the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, XII, 2, 4, 9–14 (Weber’s ed., p. 910), on the number of bones, or portions, of the head and trunk, referred to in § 42, cl. 3, and § 62, cl. 6, runs as follows:

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Śira ev=āsya trivṛt | tasmāt=tat=tri-vidhaṃ bhavati, tvag=asthi mastīskaḥ || 9 || grīvāḥ pañcadaśaḥ | caturdaśa vā etāsāṃ karūkārāṇi, vīryaṃ pañcadaśam, tasmād=etābhir=aṇvibhiḥ satibhir=guruṃ bhāraṃ harati, tasmād=grīvāḥ pañcadaśaḥ || 10 || uraḥ saptadaśaḥ | aṣṭāv=anye jatravo ’ṣṭāv=anya, uraḥ saptadaśaṃ, tasmād=uraḥ saptadaśaḥ || 11 || udaram=ekaviṃśaḥ | viṃśatir=vā antar=udare kuntapāny=udaram=ekaviṃśaṃ, tasmād=udaram=ekaviṃśaḥ || 12 || pārśve triṇavaḥ | trayodaś=ānyāḥ parśavas=trayodaś=ānyāḥ, pārśve triṇave, tasmāt=pārśve triṇavaḥ || 13 || anūkaṃ trayastriṃśaḥ | dvātriṃśad=vā etasya karūkarāṇy=anūkaṃ trayastriṃśaṃ, tasmād=anūkaṃ trayastriṃśaḥ || 14 ||

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For the translation, see § 42, cl. 3.

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The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa on Costal Cartilages

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4. The statement in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, VIII, 6, 2, 7. 10 (Weber’s ed., p. 682), on jatru, or the costal cartilages, referred to in §§ 42, cl. 4, 62, cl. 6, runs as follows:

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Uras=triṣṭubhaḥ | tā retaḥsicor=velay=opadadhāti, pṛṣṭayo vai retaḥsicā, uro vai prati pṛṣṭayaḥ || 7 || parśavo bṛhatyaḥ | kīkasāḥ kakubhaḥ, so ’ntareṇa triṣṭubhaś=ca kakubhaś=ca bṛhatīr=upadadhāti, tasmād=imā ubhayatra parśavo baddhāḥ kīkasāsu ca jatruṣu || 10 ||

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For the translation, see § 42, cl. 4.

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NOTE: The osteological terms mentioned in Nos. 3 and 4 have been much misunderstood in dictionaries and translations. Considered in the light of Indian anatomical doctrine it is not so difficult to interpret them correctly. Pṛṣṭi is a synonym of pṛṣṭha, and means back-bone or vertebra. Kīkasa denotes the transverse processes of the thoracic vertebrae. Jatru is a costal cartilage. Karūkara is another term for the transverse processes of the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. Kuntāpa does not refer to any gland in the abdomen, but to the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae. Udara does not mean the abdomen simply, but the lower or abdominal portion of the vertebral column, while anūka refers to the upper or thoracic portion of that column. The whole vertebral column is divided into three parts: grīvā, cervical, anūka, thoracic, and udara, lumbar. This is practically the same as our modern division. Vīrya, vital force, or strength, which is said to be the fifteenth neck-bone, obviously represents the median line of the cervical column, considered as forming a single bone, and imparting to the whole set of neck-bones its peculiar strength by which heavy loads are supported. The osteological principles implied in the use of these terms are explained in § 42, cl. 7 and 8, and in my article on ‘Anatomical Terms’ in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1907, pp. 1–18.

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