ABSTRACT

Intrauterine month wise foetal development is described from time ancient to time modern. Puranas are the sacred Indian books containing the ancient history of gods, kings of different era. It not only contains the history but the information about various rituals, noble code of conduct, philosophy of life, concept of hell and heaven, worships and pilgrimage. There are some puranas like Agni and Garuda Purana which have detail information about medical science also. But one thing which is surprisingly common among all Puranas is the description of intrauterine month wise foetal development. Although the credit of authoring all the Puranas goes to the Mahrshi Krishnadwaipayan vyasa, but there is little variation in description of month wise foetal development in different puranas. In the present study mainly the references from Shreemad Bhagwat Purana, Agni Puran, Padma Puran, Narad Puran and Markandeya Puran are taken. Ayurveda is the ancient Indian system of medicine which also describes the month wise foetal development. The description of intrauterine month wise foetal development matches with the description given in the Ayurveda. But it also has astonishing similarity with the intrauterine month wise foetal development given in modern medical science. How the ancient scientists came to know about the intrauterine month wise foetal development in that era when there was no any technology to see inside the abdomen is still remains unanswered. One possible answer could be the dissection of dead pregnant women. But this does not solve the answer for intrauterine foetal development given in first month wherein changes are very minute. Modern medical science has achieved a detailed and experimentally verified understanding of embryogenesis and foetal development using ultrasonography, histology, and molecular biology. However, the month wise descriptions given in Pauranik literature, when interpreted scientifically and cautiously, show a structured understanding of intrauterine development. These observations demonstrate that ancient scholars possessed systematic observational knowledge of foetal growth, even without modern technological tools. Therefore, a comparative study of Pauranik month wise foetal development with modern embryology is valuable. It enhances interdisciplinary understanding and encourages respectful scientific evaluation of classical medical literature without exaggeration or dismissal. Keywords – Embryo, foetus, organogenesis