The Human body - a marvel
( From the Archives of the Puranas )
Of all the created beings, human being is considered to be the best. It is a perfect unit of physical body, mind and intellect.
The mysterious human body, the temple of God, is a marvelous place for the immortal soul ( the Consciousness ), the indweller. The body is supposed to be a product of the parabdha karma ( actions done in the previous births ) of the individual. It is the most marvellous and delicate machine in the world. It has the in-built system of working and taking rest at times whenever needed. It is said when things are placed in their proper ,fitting place, only then they look beautiful. The appropriate placement of hair, teeth, nails, the flexibibility of the limbs, coverage of the organs by the layer of the skin add aesthetic beauty to the body. Structurewise also it is beautiful. Its mechanism is highly complex. The structure and working mechanism of the human body still fascinates the researchers throwing new light on it every now and then.
Ancient thinkers were aware of the intricate structure and functions of the human body ver well. The details of the physiology are vividly depicted in various puranas like Agni Purana, Markandeya Purana, Garuda Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana and others.
Information regarding the structure and formation of the foetus and its developments is very striking in details. The soul in the foetus is surrounded by the fluid in the womb and is in the form the male seed up to the first two months. In the third month it starts getting the various limbs. He acquires subtlety, the faculty of hearing from the sky. From the wind, he takes the faculty of touch, coarseness, activity and faculty of heat. He takes the faculty of sight from light. From water, he absorbs taste, coolness, the faculty of being drenched and that of softness. From the earth, he gets smell and weight. The basis of the body is formed mainly from the contributions of the five elements of nature only.
In the third month , the soul gets the throbbing quality. If the pregnancy-desire of the would - be - mother is not satisfied the foetus may develop faults, deformity or even death. Hence whatever the woman desires in the period of pregnancy should be given. In the fourth month the foetus gets limbs settled. In the fifth month blood is formed in it, in the sixth month, strength, color, hair and nails are generated. In the seventh month , the mind starts functioning, the hair and nails get fully developed.
In the eighth month, the skin gets developed and settled and there is development of memory also. It is said in the scriptures that a child born in the eighth month does not survive. In the ninth month, the child comes out naturally by the force of the inner winds that cause the delivery.
In the living body there are 108 vitals and 300 bones. In the head, there are 7 sherds ( kapalani ) and on the body there are three and a half crores of hairs. From the heart shoot 72 thousand arteries ( nadis ) called ' Hita '. Among them the one called Shashiprabha is the main. It is said that skin, flesh, blood and the intestines are from mother's side, while the nails, teeth, bones, penis ,speech, head and the manly seed are from the father's side. The body is generally described as being formed from the five elements. From the element of Earth come skin, bones, nadi ( artery ), hair and flesh . From that of Water come the saliva, urine, semen, blood and marrow. From Tejas ( Fire ) come hunger, sleep, thirst, lustre and sluggishness. From Wind come the faculty to run, breath, contraction and expansion, control, passion, hatred, shame and coyness, fear and swoon and from Sky come sound, serenity, hearing and all - possessiveness. There are ten nadis, namely, Ida,Pingala, Sushumna, Gandhari, Gaja-jihva, Pusha, Yasha, Alambusha, Kuhu, and Shankhini. There are ten winds in the body - Prana, Apana, Samana, Udana, Vyana,Naga, Kurma, Krkara, Devadatta and Dhananjaya. They all stand for different functions in the body. Prana residing in the heart is responsible for inhalation, exhalation, digestion of eaten food and water and separation of waste matter ( food in the form of excreta and water as sweat and urine ) and conversion of juice into semen etc.The function of the Apana vayu is to remove the waste matter from the body and is responsible for the movement of back, knees and thighs. Samana vayu operates from the navel to the heart. Its duty is to carry the digested juice to all organs and nerves. Udana operates from the neck to the head. The body gets support from this. Through this wind only the contact between the subtle and physical body takes place. Yogis only through this vayu come out of the physical body and roam in different worlds. Vyana's main place is on the top of the organ of generation. It takes blood to all the organs. Naga is the cause for sneezing. Kurma is responsible for the action of contraction in the body movements. Krkara functions in hunger and thirst. Devadatta vayu is responsible for lethargy, sleep etc. Dhananjaya vayu promotes nourishment of the body.
About the function of various vital fluids in the body leading to the formation of semen, which causes the foetus,the macrocosmic life-principle is closely associated with the microcosmic life-breath. It is said that the fire is the life-breath of the day, while the life-breath of the fire is Madhusudana Vishnu himself. Further it is said that the fluids in the body controlled by the life-breath become the blood ; from the blood is produced flesh ;from the flesh comes fat, and therefrom the bones ; from the bones comes the marrow and from the marrow is produced semen, from the semen is produced the foetus(in the womb of the woman), even in the foetus, the five elements of Nature combine. Further, in semen reside the aspects of the moon and the sun-fire. The semen dwells in the phlegm, while in the bile the blood. Phlegm stays at the heart, while the bile is in the navel. The heart is said to be the place of the mind, and at the navel stays the fire. Mind is the god Prajapati. Phlegm is Soma and bile is the fire. The belief is that the whole world comprises only two main elements namely the fire and the Soma. The body is also shared by these two elements. The body, like the universe is said to be comprised of five major elements. The relationship is beautifully brought out. It is said that when the vital breath leaves the body, the latter is burnt at the pyre. From the smoke that comes from it is formed the cloud. From the cloud water is released in the form of rain, which showers on the earth. From her is produced the odor; from the odor is created the fluid; from the fluid corn, from the corn the semen, from the semen new life. Thus goes on the circle. In the body also the fluid generates the body-fire which nourishes the body. The bodily fire requires food and water. If sufficient food and water is not provided, the bodily fire subsist on blood, which condition leads to the body suffering from tuberculosis. If there be more fluid and water, the bodily fire gets weak and that too leads to ill health. The fire stays at all parts of the body, at the neck, back, joints and at all other parts. If the fire is well fed, but not controlled, there is the generation of passion, which being uncontrollable leads to destruction. The element of wind in the body helps separate the food taken in, into digested and non-digested.It is then function of this wind to shower the bodily water on the fire to quench and satisfy it with food. Being bellowed by the wind, the bodily fire causes the food to be digested heating the water, taken along with it. The non-digested food (kitam) is left in the body in then form of twelve kinds of dirt, namely from the ear, eyes,nose, tongue, teeth, lips, generative organ,the anus,phlegm,perspiration,urine and excreta . These elements of dirt, if not let out, restrict the nadis (vital veins ) in the body.In that case, the wind places the fuid at their mouth to work.The food gets changed into many-phased vital material, the best being the semen.When the semen is released in the womb of a woman, it carries with it an aspect of jiva ( life ) of a person, along with its previous actions.Then the foetus is developed into a human body.
The general physical condition is indicated by the type of dreams a person gets,and by the features of the body.It is said that a person who is very slender, has very thin hair, is unstabe, talkative and has irregular hunger, dreams that he is wafted up in the air, he has the vata-prakrti ( predominated by wind element ).
A person who has become old prematurely is given to wrath, always perspiring, fond of sweets, sees bright things in the dream, he is said to have pitta-prakrti (bile-predominating ).
A person with a firm body, steady mind, full of lustre, having glistening and emollient hair, dreams of clear water, he is said to have kapha-prakrti (phlegmatic ).
It is said that blood and bile (pitta) get heightened due to sexual intercourse and great stress of work. The same is the case when the food not properly cooked is taken, or when there is long march on the road. The bile gets heightened by fear, and the same is the resut when to much water is taken in or when one sleeps just after food.Phlegmatic humour increases in the case of idle persons , giving rise to gases. Breaking of bones ( namely breaking sound ), tawny color of the mouth, dryness of the mouth, yawning, excitement are indications of vata (gout ). Yellowness of the nails, eyes and the veins, bitter taste, thirst and heat are the indications of pitta (bile ).
The human body, like that of other such creatures has nine openings-two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, mouth, the anus and the generation organ. The tenth is the brahma-randhra at the scalp, which is very soft at birth and gets hardened. Now when a person dies, his vital breaths are believed to shoot out from any one of these openings. The navel-pit is said to be the limit for the upper eight openings and the lower two. It is said that the vital breaths of righteous persons pass away through any of the upper openings, and those of the sinful from either of the lower ones.
The uniqueness of the human body is that it is blessed with mind and intellect. Structurewise, they are inert. It is the consciousness pervadind in the body is the substratum for all its activities like electricity pervading in a bulb or fan for its functioning.
The various organs are designed for doing various kinds of actions. The body has an in-built capacity of recharging itself through rest and sleep. The body with its mind and brain has enormous energy to accomplish great works.The fatigue and exhaustion due to works can be overcome by the body. Even prayer, meditation and dedication to work, selfless service to humanity deposit the feeings of hope, love, openness and serenity, spreading a sensation of warmth and calmness slowly all over the body. In a short time, one can return to one's busy schedule feeling refreshed, refocussed and recharged. This indicates that our well-spring of enjoyment lies in our own inner self. The Supreme Power is within us only and not outside. In the words of Thomas Moore -
' The soul is a garden enclosed, our own perpetual paradise where we can be refreshed and restored.'
The act of meditation or trying to look within, calming the mind can take one to a brief pilgrimage to tranquil places within. It is said-
' Here in the body are sacred rivers, here are the sun and moon as well as the pigrimage places. I have not encountered another temple as blissful as my own body.'
We should realize the relationship with our body which is always with us, which is our best friend beyond the limits of our physical characteristics. At the center of our being lies the soul. This inner spiritual light represents all our beauty, strength and other psitive qualities. It is not troubled by physical shortcomings or limitations. By learning to inhabit our body more consciously and in a kinder way, we can build a base for a wiser and healthier relationship with our physical body and with inner life.
The entire Nature and the various objects created in it are for the enjoyment and benefit of human beings. The human being is a link in the chain of Nature. All are inter-connected. Destruction of one in the chain breaks the entire delicate net-work. The organs of action of human body are meant for various activities of the body. The sense organs are provided for its enjoyment of objects in the world, but within limits. Eyes are meant to see and enjoy good things, ears to hear good , likewise all organs are designed to absorb only the good things and feel the presence of divine glory everywhere. Scriptures state that the tendency of sense-organs is going outward. That should be controlled by the mind and intellect.Mind is the base for emotional health and intellect for discrimination and wisdom. Man is provided with body, mind and intellect so that they can work in equilibrium for leading a well-balanced , enjoyable life. Any disturbance in this will lead to miseries only.The scriptures describe this in a beautiful manner. The senses are the horses, the mind is the reins for holding the horses, intellect is the charioteer, the body is the chariot and the owner of this chariot is the soul. If the charioteer controls the horses with reins from straying away from here and there (from the alluring sense objects), he can reach his destination safely with his chariot. The goal of human life is meant for a higher purpose namely realizing the divinity in one's own self and the same in others also. This is called the highest state of peace and bliss.
For achieving this state the chariot (body ) has also to be in a good condition. The body requires food to live and thrive. For that the cherished treasures of Nature are available to him. A wise man should avail himself of that like the sun-shine, pure water, air, seasonal vegetables and fruits and utilizing body for exercise and good actions. He should observe the laws of eating,drinking and sleeping. It is the sound health of the body that is important. When the body is healthy, the mind will also entertain good and positive thoughts. The mind and intellect are provided with ,so that man can think and conduct himself and so lead a pure life as laid down in the scriptures.He who lives in tune with Nature and regular in prayer, meditation, who develops purity of mind freeing himself from negative thoughts like jealousy, pride, hatred, he leads a healthy, long and useful life. We should keep our unique body-machinery in perfect working order. Maintaining our vigorous health and strength will help us to discharge our duties in a satisfactory manner and secure a speedy spiritual evolution to developing divine qualities efficiently for the attainment of the final beatitude or Moksha.
It is clear that our body and its structure equips us to live up to our highest potential. In fact, eachone is created with a specific purpose to serve the society in his own capacity and attain the goal of life. The body is the vehicle to carry out the mission. It is sacred. we should realize that not only our body but that of every other one's is a rare and cherished gift of creation.We have to honor and protect it. The same divine spark is in all.
By harming us and others, we are proving that we are unworthy of this body, a precious gift of the Supreme who has been kind enough to bestow this on us for our own benefit. We are no less than a donkey who does not know the worth of the sandolwood it carries on its back. Still worse like a monkey who when offered a beautiful garland of flowers, not only does not know its worth but alsoknows only to crush it.
