Biological Errors In Hindu Dharma

1. Embryology

• Embryo develops after the union of semen with menstrual blood,

📖Matsya Purana 39.10
The menstrual flow of a woman suddenly develops conception as soon as it mingles itself with the semen virile of man, through the sap of the flowers of herbs.””  (source)

📖Varaha Purana 125.14
The generative fluid is in the female and the semen is in the male. In the womb they combine to form a being. This is due to my Maya.”  (source)

1.1 Incorrect Descriptions of the Human Embryo

 📖Padma Purana 2.66.22-38
The semen with the blood (of the woman) would be (turned into) a foetus in a day. Then within five nights bubbles would be formed in the foetus. It takes the form of flesh in the five forms; neck, head, shoulder (s), spine and belly; so also hands and feet, the two sides, waist, and (the other parts of) the body; the limbs are produced one by one within two months. After three months, hundreds of sharp joints are produced (i.e. formed). Fingers etc. are produced (i.e. are formed) one by one in four months. After five months mouth, nose and ears are produced (i.e. formed). Within six months, the row of teeth, so also tongue and nails are formed, so also cavities in the ears are formed. So also are formed anus, penis, organ of generation and the male organ of generation. The joints which (are present) in the limbs, are formed within seven months. In the eighth month the head with the entire body with limbs and with each limb clearly separated is formed. He is complete and endowed with the five. Due to the power of the food of (i.e. eaten by) the mother and by the tastes of six kinds, fixed in the umbilical cord, it (i.e. the foetus) grows day by day.”  (source)

📖Shrimad Bhagavatam 3.31.2-5
On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case may be. In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months the hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hair, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and the other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus.”  (source)

📖Skanda Purana 1.2.49.45-52
Listen to the birth of a human being. When the male semen virile and the female blood come into contact, the soul that is free from all defects, transmigrates (therein) clearly. Equipped and endowed with the Gunas, the mind, the intellect, auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, the soul enters the womb and remains as an embryo. It being stupefied remains in that state of embryo for a month. In the second month it becomes solidified. Different limbs are developed in the third month. Bones are formed in the fourth month (the Fetus stage). The growth of skin is in the fifth month and hair grows in the sixth month. The fetus is endowed with the faculty of understanding in the seventh month. In the seventh month itself it takes in the food and drink of its mother. It undergoes great anguish in the eighth and ninth months with the fingers covering its face and the Jarayu (outer skin of the embryo enveloping its limbs. If the child is a eunuch, it lies in the middle; if it is a female, it lies on the on left-side; and if it is a male, it lies on the right side. It lies in the middle of the back facing the (gastric) fire.”  (source)

📖Brahmanda Purana 3.72.42-47
Blood takes its origin from Rasa (a vital fluid constituent of the body) and it is said that the flesh originates from blood. The source of fat is from the flesh. It is defined that the bone originates from the fat. From the bone the pith and marrow take their origin and the origin of Semen is from the marrow. (?) Foetus originated from semen virile through its assimilative rasa bodily fluid. It is there that water is mixed initially (?). This is called the Saumya Rasi. The foetus that is solidified [lit. born of Asman, stone solid] is called the second Rasi. One should know that semen is of the nature of Soma and Menstrual blood is of the nature of fire. These two Evolutes follow Rasa…”  (source)

📖Vayu Purana 1.14.17-22
Then, at the time of conception, Kalana, the embryo at its first stage (in the form of a drop) is formed. In due course the Kalana develops into bubbles. Just as a lump of clay pressed by the wind in the potter’s wheel and shaped by the hands (of the potter) attains multifarious shapes, so also the foetus united with bones and impelled by the wind becomes a human body with proper forms, features and mind. The wind assembles them together. From the wind water is generated. From the water the vital breath is formed and through the vital breath the semen gets developed. Thirty three parts of blood (female contribution) and fourteen parts of the semen mixing together form only half a Pala (two karsas) and is deposited in the womb. The child in the womb is covered by the five vital breaths. From the father’s body he inherits his forms and features.”  (source)

📖Matsya Purana 39.14-16
At the time of menstruation, the air draws the semen virile up, from the inside, after which it magnifies itself there; and then it develops into the embryo and assumes human or animal form (according to the kind of the womb where such development occurs)…”  (source)

📖Brahma Vaivarta Purana Prakriti Khanda 36.121-141
As soon as the semen is cast into the womb it is mixed up with blood. If there is excess of blood, the issue takes the form of his mother, and if there is excess of semen, the issue takes his father’s form. The combination of the semen with the blood on even days, i.e. Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, results in a male issue, otherwise, in a female issue…Semen and blood get united in one night. This union, followed by development from day to day. On the seventh day, the fetus takes the form of a jujube and it takes the form of a pillow in a month, the shape of a lump of flesh without hands and feet in three months and is vested with hands, legs and other members of the body in the fifth month. In the sixth month the body gets animation and consciousness, the animate body then knows the past, but like a bird in a cage, it suffers endless torments. The child in the womb occupies the most unholy place for residence, partakes of the remains of the food eaten by its mother and contemplates Hari in endless tortures. After four months of trouble the child impelled by the wind of the womb is born. But by the illusion of Hari, it forgets the past and oblivious of the quarters, time, space and the necessities…”  (source)

📖Skanda Purana 5.3.159.33-53
when semen and blood become mixed due to the intercourse of a man and a woman, a creature is born undoubtedly…In the first month it is a phlegmatic mass with the full complement of the body ingredients. In the second month it is a lump of flesh; in the third it gets equipped with sense organs. From the element of ether it derives lightness, subtlety, sound, power of hearing, strength etc. From air the Atman obtains sense of touch, movement, digestive power and roughness. From fiery element the sense of vision, warmth, digestive capacity, colour, and illumination are obtained. It takes from watery elements chillness, fluidity, dampness and softness. From earth element it takes odour, sense of smell, weight and physical form. These are unborn Atman takes up in the third month and beings to throb. If the longing of a pregnant woman is not fulfilled, the foetus becomes defective. It may get ugliness or even death. Hence the woman should be kept pleased. In the fourth month the limbs get firmness. Blood begins to flow in the fifth month. Physical strength is obtained in the sixth month. Complexion is fixed and the nails and hairs grow at that time. In the seventh month, the foetus becomes endowed with consciousness and mind and the body has all the nails and hundreds of hairs. In the eighth month, the outer skin is fixed and the foetus becomes endowed with the power of memory. It is at this time that his sin pursues the foetus and the mother as well. Hence if the birth is premature and the child is born in the eighth month it dies invariably. Either in the ninth or the tenth month the child comes out naturally forced by the powerful winds at the time of delivery…Now it has its full complement of the limbs of the body. There are one hundred vulnerable joints with three hundred Asthas (bones?). There are seven skull pieces in the head created by the Self born Lord himself. O descendant of Bharata, there are three and half crores of hairs on the limbs. There are seventy two thousand Nadis (nerve vessels) fanning out.”  (source)

• In this article by babycenter.com, you can find illustrations of fetal development week by week. The article also mentions that the baby “partakes of the remains of the food eaten by its mother,” though it’s important to note that while the baby doesn’t consume food in the womb, it receives all its nutrients through the umbilical cord. Now, let’s turn our attention to the Skanda Purana. It asserts that the baby acquires the power of hearing in the third month, which contrasts with modern understanding as babies begin to hear around the 18th week (4 ½ months), as stated in Mayo Clinic’s article. Furthermore, it states that the baby gains a sense of movement and digestive power in the third month, whereas these developments occur after the fourth month, as per Mayo Clinic. Blood circulation begins around the 6th week, and the heart pumps approximately 100 pints of blood daily by the 17th week (4 months and 1 week). However, the Skanda Purana claims that blood circulation commences in the fifth month, which is contradicted by references like Mayo Clinic and Parents.com. According to the Skanda Purana, the baby develops hair and nails by the sixth month, and by the seventh month, it possesses all its hair and nails. In reality, the formation of fingernails begins at 10 weeks (2 months and 2 weeks), while toenails emerge at 14-15 weeks (3 ½ months) and fully develop by the 17th week (4 months and 1 week), as referenced by Mayo Clinic, UNSW.edu.au, and other sources. The growth of hair starts around the 22nd week (5 months and 2 weeks), and a full head of hair is typically present by the 30th week (7 months and 2 weeks), as cited in Mayo Clinic, Stanford Children’s Health, and other sources. While the Skanda Purana is somewhat accurate about baby bones, it doesn’t provide precise details. A newborn baby usually has 270-350 bones. The Purana mentions that a baby’s skull consists of 7 pieces, yet in reality, a baby’s skull comprises five main bones: two frontal bones, two parietal bones, and one occipital bone. These bones are interconnected by fibrous sutures that facilitate both childbirth and brain growth, according to Stanford Children’s Health and Wikipedia.

1.2 Bones Originate From Fat

📖Brahma Purana 70.49
Fat is produced from flesh; bone is produced from fat; marrow is generated from bone and semen is produced from marrow.”  (source)

📖Brahmanda Purana 3.72.44
The source of fat is from the flesh. It is defined that the bone originates from the fat. From the bone the pith and marrow take their origin and the origin of Semen is from the marrow.”  (source)

📖Harivamsa Purana 1.40.49
From flesh originates fat and from fat originate the bones and from the bones originate the veins and from veins originates the seminal fluid.”  (source)

📖Vayu Purana 2.35.45-46
From flesh fat is produced and bone is developed from fat. Pith and marrow are developed from bone and semen virile is generated from marrow; foetus is developed from semen through assimilative activity of Rasa bodily fluid (or through the activity rooted in sexual pleasure).”  (source)

📖Vayu Purana 2.35.45.-46
From flesh fat is produced and bone is developed from fat. Pith and marrow are developed from bone and semen virile is generated from marrow; foetus is developed from semen through assimilative activity of Rasa bodily fluid (or through the activity rooted in sexual pleasure).”  (source)

2. Conceiving Pregnancy Without Intercourse

Hinduism asserts that sexual intercourse wasn’t necessary for conception; instead, offspring were brought into being through the power of will. In subsequent Yugas, women could conceive simply through touch.

📖Mahabharata 12.207.38-40
Sexual congress, O chief of the Bharatas, was then not necessary for perpetuating the species. In those days offspring were begotten by flat of the will. In the age that followed, viz., Treta, children were begotten by touch alone. The people of that age even, O monarch, were above the necessity of sexual congress. It was in the next age, viz., Dwapara, that the practice of sexual congress originated, O king, to prevail among men. In the Kali age, O monarch, men have come to marry and live in pairs…”  (source)

📖Vayu Purana 2.2.45
The creation of the earlier ones was due to thought, sight, and touch. Thenceforth, the subjects in this world were born of sexual intercourse.”  (source)

📖Matsya Purana 175.43-44
If one has the seed of asceticism within him, he can create a son from his mind…The ascetics ought to beget progeny out of the embryo created by their mind, and your address to me is bereft of dharma, and is like the speech of those who are not good. By the power of my innerself, I shall create a son, without the help of a woman, after illumining my mind with the glory of asceticism. I shall create such a son out of my soul, who would be ready to consume the creation. Afterwards the sage Urva, absorbed in his asceticism, throwing his thighs into the fire rubbed them with a kusu grass. Then the son in the form of Fire, desirous of consuming the universe, was produced from his thigh, by its own force without the help of any firewood. In such a way the fearful Aurva was begotten from the thigh of the seer Urva.”  (source)

3. Conceiving Pregnancy by Drinking Semen

Deer gets pregnant after drinking the semen of a Sage,

📖Skanda Purana 3.3.19.65
After drinking the semen of Sage Vibhandaka together with water, a female deer became pregnant and gave birth to Ryasriga.”  (source)

• And numerous other tales recount instances of women getting pregnant through drinking semen👇

📖Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Brahma Kanda 20.33-46
At that time, Menaka was passing by that way, At the sight of her thigh and breast the semen of the saint was discharged. Thereupon the woman Kalavati drank it cheerfully, went to her husband, bowed to him and told him everything about her pregnancy…”  (source)

📖Varaha Purana 95.20-21
Finding the water fragrant (with it), Mahismati told her friends that she would drink it. She then drank the water containing the emission of the sage. As a result she conceived and in due time brought forth, a son named Mahisa, intelligent and valiant.”  (source)

📖Skanda Purana 3.3.19.64
The semen virile of the royal sage Yupaketu fell into water. It is said that a harlot drank that water together with the semen and became pregnant.”  (source)

📖Skanda Purana 5.3.5.27-37
O excellent king, Paramesthin Rudra sported about with Uma in the vast expanse of sea-like water. A splendid girl was born out of the sweat of Uma due to her delight. When Sarva’s chest pressed against the breasts of Uma, a great girl of lotus-like eyes issued forth from the sweat…”  (source)

📖Devi Bhagavatam Purana 5.2.27-50
Vyasa said :– O king! Hearing thus the sweet words of Fire, Rambha quitted the hold of his hairs and said :– O Lord of the Devas! If thou art pleased, grant my desired boon that a son be born unto me, who will destroy the forces of my enemy and who will conquer the three worlds. And that son be invincible in every way by the Devas, Danavas and men, very powerful, assuming forms at will, and respected by all. The Fire [Agni] said :– O highly Fortunate! You will get your son, as you desire; therefore desist now from your attempting suicide. O highly fortunate Rambha! With any female of whichever species, you will co-habit, you will get a son, more powerful than you; there is no doubt in this. Vyasa said :– O king! Hearing thus the sweet words of the Fire as desired, Rambha, the chief of the Danavas, went, surrounded by Yaksas, to a beautiful place, adorned with picturesque sceneries; when one lovely she-buffalo, who was very maddened with passion, fell to the sight of Rambha. And he desired to have sexual intercourse with her, in preference to other women. The she-buffallo, too, gladly yielded to his purpose and Rambha had sexual intercourse with her, impelled as it were by the destiny. The she-buffalo became pregnant with his semen virile…”  (source)

📖Vishnu Purana 4.2.13-17
Yuvanaswa had no son, at which he was deeply grieved. Whilst residing in the vicinage of the holy Munis, he inspired them with pity for his childless condition, and they instituted a religious rite to procure him progeny. One night during its performance the sages having placed a vessel of consecrated water upon the altar had retired to repose. It was past midnight, when the king awoke, exceedingly thirsty; and unwilling to disturb any of the holy inmates of the dwelling, he looked about for something to drink. In his search he came to the water in the jar, which had been sanctified and endowed with prolific efficacy by sacred texts, and he drank it. When the Munis rose, and found that the water had been drunk, they inquired who had taken it, and said, “The queen that has drunk this water shall give birth to a mighty and valiant son.” “It was exclaimed the Raja, who unwittingly drank the water!” and accordingly in the belly of Yuvanaswa was conceived a child, and it grew, and in due time it ripped open the right side of the Raja, and was born, and the Raja, did not die.”  (source)

📖Mahabharata 1.3.17
The Rishi thus addressed, answered Janamejaya, O Janamejaya, this my son, deep in ascetic devotions, accomplished in the study of the Vedas, and endued with the full force of my asceticism, is born of (the womb of) a she- snake that had drunk my vital fluid..”  (source)

4. There are 7 Layers of Skin

According to the Hinduism, there are seven layers of the skin, as opposed to the commonly known three layers (Epidermis, Dermis, and Hypodermis),

📖Agni Purana 369.43-45
There are seven sheaths that which supports flesh….”  (source)

• Another translation👇

📖Agni Purana 369.43-45
The external layers of the skin, together with the one that contains blood, are seven in number.”  [Manmatha Nath Dutt]

5. Remedies for Venomous Bites

📖Agni Purana 279.56-60b
Chewing the leaves of neem is the remedy for one bitten by a snake. The (shoots of ) palmyrah, ke{ya , old oil, old barley and old ghee (are also good for the same). A fumigation with the plumes of peocock with ghee (is good) for one bitten by a scorpion. A plaster of the seeds of palate ground with the juice of arka (plant) (is also beneficial). Black pepper or yellow myrobalan with the three kiqds of myrobalans (is beneficial) for one bitten by a scorpion. If the juice of arka (plant), gingelly oil, flesh and molasses in equal proportion is drunk, it would at once destroy the poison due to (the biting of) a dog that is difficult to cure. The root of rice (if ground) with equal part of trivrt (three kinds of myrobalans) and clarified butter and drunk, it would destroy quickly the poisons due to snakes, and other insects even if they are very powerful. (A mixture of) sandal, padmaka , kustha , latambu (?), Usira , patala, nirgundi, sariva and selu (?) would destroy the poison due to spiders.”  (source)