Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/48

 is necessary that one should fully comprehend the meaning of such Áyuryedic terms on the subject as Ichchhá Shakti (will-force). Shukr-Váhulyain (1) (preponderance of the male reproductive element) and Shonita-Váhulyam (preponderance of the female reproductive element) etc. Sushruta, in common with the Brahmanic philosophers of Ind, believed that distinction of sex has evolved from a primordial hermaphroditism. Manu in his Institutes has emphasised the fact (2), though in a highly poetic style. He observes that "the Purusha (Logos), by a stroke of Will, divided its body (animated cosmic matter) into two, one of which was male, and the other female." The Tantra says that, "the male part was endued with an energy (force) of its own, which is called Pitriká Shaktl; and the corresponding female part, with the one, which is called Mátriká Shakti. Pitrika Shakti is a disruptive force; Mátrika Shakti is a constructive energy. Though the conception of force in Sanskrit sciences is but partially physical, the nearest approach to the connotations of the Pitriká and Mátrika Shakti is made by the terms Anabolism and Katabolism of the Western physiologists. Sanskrit physiology recognises the two opposite poles of vital force in a living organism, and has not taken inconsiderate pains to determine their exact locations in man and woman. Mátrika Shakti, it observes, predominates in the left half of a woman's organism, which is negative as regards vital magnetism. (3) Now, Sushruta says that, in cases where female offspring is desired, the enceinte should

(l) Sháriia-sthánam Ch. II.

(2) Manu .Samhili Ch. I. J2.

(3.) 1 Sáradá Tilak Tantram.