Hindu Medicine c8.211

c8.211

Generation is termed the “descent of the germ into the womb” (garbhāvakrānti). The germ (garbha) does not proceed from the substance of the father, nor from that of the mother, either; both parents provide only for the material substratum which attracts its “descent” (avakrānti), clothing its subtle essence in earthly stuff. In this view, Hindu medicine is in full agreement with traditional belief. Suśruta describes generation and gestation of the embryo as follows (III, 3):