The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus c9.s4.11

c9.s4.11

I may also add that the continued identity of the germ-plasm (बीज) from generation to generation, though it follows as a corollary from this doctrine of a distinct reproductive tissue, even when conceived to be affected by somatic processes, as Âtreya and Charaka conceive it to be, is nowhere expressly deduced. On the other hand, Âtreya and Charaka emphasise the influence of abundant or defective nutrition, and of the constituents of the food, etc., on the characters of the Vîja in the reproductive tissue, especially as regards the sexual character, the stature, and the colour-pigment (यक्षे) of the offspring. But though the influence of nutrition on the Vîja is thus freely admitted in a general way, it is expressly stated that the peculiar characters or idiosyncracies of the elements that combine to form the Vîja must be regarded as a matter of chance (दैव), in other words, the truly congenital variations are accidental.