GarbhoUpanishad

GarbhoUpanishad

            This is a slightly different Upanishad which deals with the conception and growth of a child. The sages might have thought about the importance of the entry of the soul while discussing this issue. It deals with all the stages of development of the jeeva atma. These ideas may lack full scientific verasity but at the same time we cannot under estimate its deep insights.

            The first stanza starts with the sloka

 “ Ohm panchatmakam

panchasuvarthamaanam

Shadaasrayam shad guna yoga yuktham….”

            [Our body is called panchatmakam as it is framed of the five elements such as earth, water, fire, air and sky. The following lines of the first sloka gives a detailed description of the correlation of these elements and the body parts. The land portion is representative of the earth; the liquid portion contains water. The hot part is of fire and the airy part comes out of air while the space is representation of the sky. Then comes the description about the functions of each of the body part.]

                        Our body is said to have six shelters also which can be the six forms taste. This is followed by the discussion of sounds and colours. Ten basic sounds and seven colours are discussed. The latter part of this Upanishad deals with the conception of the embryo and its stages of development. It is after one night after the union of male and female chromosomes that the embryo is formed which is still in a fluid state. After seven nights it becomes a bubble of water. After two weeks it becomes a solid form. The head is formed in two months and legs and feets are formed towards the end of the third month. Stomach and allied organs are formed by the fourth month. In the fifth month the spines and other bones get their shape. Mouth, eyes, ears and nose all originate during the 6^th month.

                        This Upanishad teaches us that life or aatman gains an entry into the body in the 7^th month and it is endowed with all other parts during the 8^th month. If the male part is stronger the child becomes a boy and if the female entity is stronger the child turns out to be a girl. If the potency of both finds to be equal the child can neither be a male or a female. It is also suggested that the child is met with deformity because of mental turbulence during pregnancy. In the 9^th month the child becomes complete in itself and it gains a divination about its previous births.

The next section gives us a beautiful description about the thoughts of the child while in the womb of its mother. This makes it very clear that the child is capable of remembering all its previous birth and a series of his thoughts are recorded there. The child visualizes his past as follows:

            I understand all my previous births and how I was born in different wombs, how I ate different food and how many times I was born and I died. I am very lonely now thinking about all the auspicious events in my life. I don’t know where all my family members are now? Now I am fallen in the sea of sorrows. If I come out of this womb. I will take refuge in Maheswara for my deliverance when I am freed from this womb. I will follow Sri Narayana or I will attain the Siddhi of sankhya yoga and I will spend all my years only contemplating on Brahma.

           

            The child comes out to the world with great difficulty but it falls into the web of maya immediately after it touches this world. It forgets all its previous births and deaths. It forgets even about its condition in its mother’s womb. All the previous auspicious and inauspecious elements are also together.

                        The last part asks this question: “why do we call this lump as body?” It is because the three fires as njanagni, darshanaagni, and jaraagni abide in this body. Jaraagni helps digesting the food where as darshanaagni makes images visible. Njanaagni shows all the auspicious and inauspicious matters. There are specific abodes for these in a human body.

            The soul is the master and budhi is its companion whereas mind is Brahma. This part speaks about the 107 marmas (Point of subtle significance or secret spots), 180 nerves, 700 subtle nerves, 500 muscles, 360 bones, 4.5 crore hairs etc in the human body.

            This detailed description of the body is given so as to understand its significance as the career of the human    soul. This should lead one ultimately to the paths to moksha or salvation. It is believed that this scripture of liberation is prescribed by none other than pippalada muni. 

Dr. Karickam