A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.238.4

v1.c23.238.4

the procreational substance (ārtava) of a woman is dislodged during intercourse, like a lump of ghee, melting in contact with the heat of fire (2.36); when the vāta lodged within a bīja24 divides it into two halves, twins will be born,25 who are beings deriving from adharma26 (2.37); abnormalities of sexual behaviour:27 due to scantiness of the parental bīja an āsekya may be born, who gets an erection (dhvajocchrāya) after swallowing (another man’s) sperm; when the female genitals are foul-smelling (pūtiyoni), a saugandhika may be born, who is sexually stimulated by the smell of vagina and penis; a man who first accepts to be the passive partner in anal intercourse and then proceeds to anal penetration of a woman is known as kumbhīka; a man who is potent only after looking at the intercourse of another couple is called īrṣyaka; when a man, in a female fashion, has intercourse with his wife (during the menstrual period), a ṣaṇḍhaka may be born, who looks and behaves like a woman; when a woman, still menstruating, assumes the male position during intercourse, and a daughter is conceived, she will show male behavioural traits (2.38–43);28 the āsekya, saugandhin, kumbhīka and īrṣyaka do have semen, but the ṣaṇḍha is devoid of it (2.44); the semen-transporting vessels (sirā) in these types of persons get engorged by unnatural practices only, thus leading to an erection (2.45);