Body is karmic fruit - mantrA 160

srigurubhyO namahA |
In the 160th mantrA, the sage details the alchemical process behind the formation of the physical body. The clever use of allegories adds to the poetic beauty of what is being discussed and highlights the truth that this physical body has its origins in perishable matter and thus is also perishable. The fig (atthi pazham) and the amaranthus (arai kIrai) are clearly organic in composition and we are instantly made aware of the perishable nature of both. This in fact is also the story with the physical body.

அத்திப் பழமும் அறைக்கீரை நல்வித்தும்
கொத்தி உலைபெய்து கூழட்டு வைத்தனர்
அத்திப் பழத்தை அறைக்கீரை வித்துண்ணக்
கத்தி எடுத்தவர் காடுபுக் காரே. I.2.18.160

 
Fruit of fig and seeds of green to pieces chopped,
In a pot they placed, mixed and ground to paste;
Seeds of green the fruit of fig consumed,
Loud they wailed, and bore the body in haste. I.2.18.160

Com - Fruit of fig and seeds of green, The fruited fig or shrOnithA and the seeds of green or shuklam to pieces chopped,In a pot they placed, mixed and ground to paste; were stewed together in the ‘pot’ known as the womb and their combined juices were cooked into the ‘gruel’ known as the embryo (karu). Seeds of green the fruit of fig consumed, then the shronithA was affected by the presence of the shuklam (i.e. fertilisation occured) and produced the foetus. Loud they wailed, and the baby whose birth was heralded by the loud screams of labour pains, and bore the body in haste. Eventually had to also be taken to the graveyard (at the end of its natural life).

*Using the twilight language or paribAshA to veil the subject of discussion, the sage brings our attention to a very important idea. To understand this better, we need to be aware of the ayurvEdic/holistic concept of shuklam and shrOnitham. The reproductive energy and also the physical egg in the woman is known by the term ‘shrOnitham’. This has been described in the texts as being red in colour and oval in shape. Thus the sage is using the metaphor of the ‘atthi pazham’ or the fruited fig which is similar in appearance and colour. The sperm of the male and the reproductive/creative energy is known as shuklam. This has been described as being white in colour and minute. So the apt metaphor of the seeds of the ‘arai kIrai’ (amaranthus tritis) a kind of spinach is used to indicate it. ‘The seeds of the green consuming the fig’ refers to the process of fertilisation or the admixture of the shuklam and the shrOnitham. This union of the two forces takes place in the womb and is responsible for the life that begins to grow from within it. With great pain the baby is born into this world. However, once the appointed time of death arrives, this body so brought into the world will have to be consigned to the flames.

The important point to note here is that the body that is the result of the admixture of the shuklam and the shrOnitham is by its very nature perishable. This is not the case with the body of light or one that is not born from the womb. More on this subject will follow in the later tantrAs.

thirucchitrambalam |