[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Science, technology and education](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science) › [The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.seal-1915) › c8.t1.2 # The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus c8.t1.2 The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus c8.t1.2 - **Language:** English ### [c8.t1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.seal-1915.c8.t1.2) Evidently the idea is, that though vegetable organisms may pass off into animal, there cannot be generation without \*vîja\* (seed or ovum), and inorganic matter without \*vîja\* (seed or ovum) cannot give rise to animal life. Pâtanjali, in the \*Mahâbhâṣya\* (\*circa\* 150 B.C.), mentions the opposed view, which holds that not only animal organisms but also vegetable organisms, \*e.g.\* grasses, grow from inorganic matter. The Dûrvâ grass, for example, can grow from deposits of the hair of goats and cows, just as scorpions are seen to develop out of cow-dung. Pâtanjali notes the orthodox Sânkhya-Vedânta explanation that these are not cases of growth (or transformation) but merely of coming out (अपक्रामन्ति), कथं गोमयाद् वृश्चिको जायते गोलोमाविलोमेभ्यः दूर्वा जायन्ते इति अपक्रामन्ति ता वस्तुभ्यः—\*Mahâbhâṣya\*, 1–4–3. - [Previous: c8.t1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.seal-1915.c8.t1.1) - [Next: c8.t2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.seal-1915.c8.t2.1) - [Up: c8.t1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.seal-1915.c8.t1) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.seal-1915.c8.t1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.seal-1915.c8.t1.2) · Pramāṇa