Medical and Mythical Constructions of the Body in Sanskrit Texts 1
Medical and Mythical Constructions of the Body in Sanskrit Texts 1
This chapter examines the concept of the human body in Hinduism by analyzing three Sanskrit texts: medical texts, The Laws of Manu, and the Puranas. It first considers the doctrine of the three humors, tackled in Hindu medical texts such as the Charaka Samhita, and closely related to the Hindu belief that all matter, including the human body, is composed of the three elements of lucidity (sattva), energy (rajas), and torpor (tamas). It then looks at Manu’s attitudes toward the body, in particular offering a chilling image of it. The Puranas offer several explanations of conception and birth that are different from the ones discussed in Manu and the medical texts.
Keywords: human body, Hinduism, Sanskrit texts, medical texts, The Laws of Manu, Puranas, three humors, Charaka Samhita, conception, birth
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .