Bhagwan Mahaweer : the Wondrous Embryologist

 Bhagwan Mahaweer : the Wondrous Embryologist

Like every Tirthankara, Bhagwan Mahaweer had penetrating vision to see the minutest in the universe. Agam (the scripture) Sutrakritang Sutra describes: "How is a baby conceived?" It says that during the intercourse the "shonit" of a female (which contains the egg to be fertilized) partner discharged into the uterus and the "wirya" of a male (containing a huge lot of sperms, the fertilizer) partner ejaculated into the uterus. One of the sperms breaks the egg wall and the two gametes form a single unit when the Soul enters it to give it life and ensure its growth. Science also explains that sexual act between a female partner and a male partner culminates into the secretion of female gamete and male gamete which later fuse to form a zygote, the primary cell which then divides, and those new cells further divide for the growth of the baby.

According to Jain Agam the fact that a woman has conceived can be noticed by the Omniscient after a muhurt i.e., 48 minutes of conceiving. Modern Science, in its earlier days, developed a test called the Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, hCG test, which required about 8-10 weeks to determine pregnancy. Later sonography technique was used to determine pregnancy, but it confirmed pregnancy only after 5-6 weeks. Thereafter ultra-sonography reduced this time to 4-5 weeks. Still later a domestic hCG test had been developed to confirm pregnancy within 2 weeks of its occurrence. This domestic hCG test has been now developed into a sensitive hCG test which confirms pregnancy within a week.

Embryo transfer is one of the greatest surgeries mentioned and explained briefly in Bhagwati Sutra. It cites the embryo transfer of Bhagwam Mahweer after 82 days of conception, just 2 days before the end of first trimester of conception. The embryo transfer of a modern test-tube baby is performed within 3-5 days of zygote formation. Dr Felicia Ross stated that transplant of an embryo can be done between 2-8 weeks (Quora.com, 19.06.2017). The Mahaweer embryo transfer operation has both the significant scientific operations mentioned in it. 1 the patient was anesthetized. 2 The room was made aseptic. Moreover, there was a unique situation that two women were operated for mutual embryo transfer.

Sex of the baby was determined by merely in-depth observation by experienced persons. If the embryo were on the left side of the uterus, it would predict birth of a male child. (This is not for promoting any sex-determination in any manner but is only to show the capability of mid-wife in ancient days.) It is mentioned in the scripture that if the male semen was so copious that it was more than the female secretion, then it would be a conception of a male child. Science has not yet developed any such method.

There have been stories of queens getting pregnant after a saint gave them a certain fruit, probably to treat their infertility. The saints also had the capability to ensure sex of a child by administering certain herbals. This may be considered by many as nonsense and others as miracle. But many such ideas in the oriental world have been treated like this and have been proved to be true later by occidental scientists.

The roots of In-Vitro Fertilization. IVF, technique of artificial fertilization, are seen in Jain Scripture Sthanang Sutra. The five methods listed are: 1 sitting over a semen-covered cloth, 2 inserting semen-covered cloth in the vagina, 3 bathing in a pool/lake which has freshly discharged semen floating, 4 another woman inserting a semen-covered cloth and 5 insertion of semen by another woman. These can be considered as pre-cursors to surrogate mother, choice/selection of sperm from a donor as used in modern science.

Bhagwan Mahaweer specified that there are a huge number of sperms and about 9 lakhs of them are active. Modern science states that there are 40 million to 500 million sperms in an ejaculated semen. Less than 40 million sperm count is considered cause of male infertility.

It was Mahaweer, like other Tirthankara, who declared: "Every person is the supreme soul in an embryo."