How did gandhari give birth to 101 children? A Scientific Point of View
How did Gandhari give birth to 101 children: Kauravas birth story has always been fascinating and complicated to understand. It will always be a mystery whether the Kauravas were really the first test-tube babies in ancient times? During the time of the Mahabharata, were there any kinds of incubators available? Was there any possibility of high science that is still unknown to us?
Introduction
Mythology is only way that may help a individual to learn about their roots, culture, and values. Even we can say that mythology is also textual evidence of how ancient people used to live, and the Mahabharata is one of them. The Hindu holy book, the Mahabharata, is the most fascinating, mysterious, and unbelievable book that contains various questionable stories that seem unanswerable. The story and science behind the birth of Kauravas is one of them. In this article, we will try to unfold the possibility of science being used for the birth of Kauravas in the Mahabharata.
Story of Kauravas Birth
Introduction of Kauravas
According to the Mahabharata, the Kauravas were a hundred brothers. King Dhritrashtra of Hastinapur and his wife Gandhari gave birth to a hundred sons and one daughter. King Dhritrashtra was blind by birth, due to which he was not eligible to be king, but his younger brother Pandu died uncertainly due to which Dhritrashtra was positioned as King of Hastinapur. Dhritrashtra was always insecure about his position as king because of his blindness. To maintain his pride and position, he wanted to have a son so that his son could be the next successor to his position.
How Kauravas was Born?
Queen Gandhari (the wife of Dhritrashtra) was unable to conceive for many years. She was a great devotee of Lord Shiva, due to which she received the boon of having 100 sons in the future from Sage Vyas. But when she was pregnant with her first child, she did not give birth for around 2 years.
After 2 years, she gave birth to an undeveloped fetus, or we can call it a flesh ball. At that time, Sage Vyas took that undeveloped fetus and divided it into 101 parts, which were placed in some kind of shell or pot that was filled with ghee(Butter) and kept at a certain temperature. After a certain number of months, the Kaurava Brothers were born.
Scientific point of view
Possibility of Multiple Gestation
There are certain assumptions that Gandhari would have the ability to have multiple gestations, according to which women or females can give birth to more than one child at the same time. Even there is certain evidence presented in India that shows that ancient Indians were familiar with the process of multiple gestations. For example, in some temples, there are a number of sculptures in which women can be seen giving birth to two or more children.
Brihadeshwara Temple in Thanjavur, India, was built around the 11th century, where a certain number of carvings present in which women giving birth to more than one or multiple children. Another example is the Khajuraho Temple complex, built in the 10th or 12th centuries in Madhya Pradesh, India, which has the same kind of sculptures. But there is no textual statement where the process of multiple gestations is mentioned. Only these sculptures and the story of Gandhari conceiving around 101 children are the only things that show the possibility of the existence of multiple gestations.
Possibility of Polyembryony
Some experts also connect Gandhari’s pregnancy case to the theory of polyembryony, which is a very rare condition according to which two or more embryos start to develop with only or single fertilized eggs and the female gives birth to the identical babies or identical twins. But the existence of polyembryony in humans is an extremely rare condition and basically takes place only in vertebrates, invertebrates, and generally in plants. There is no particular specification of this kind of theory or its existence in ancient India or the Mahabharata, so this explanation or possibility of this reason is also not perfectly right.
Possibility of Test Tube Baby
There are also some experts who assume the possibility of the IVF process in ancient Hindu civilization. IVF was developed in the 1970s by Robert G. Edward and Patrick Steptoe; the first child through IVF was born in 1978. According to the IVF process, women who are infertile can conceive, but during the IVF process, the conceiving lady has to keep that tested baby in the womb like other natural babies for 9 months.
Now the question arises: If the IVF process was invented in the 1970s, then how has the same kind of process been attached to Kauravas birth? According to the modern IVF process, women have kept babies in the womb for 9 months, whereas, on the contrary, kauravas were kept in a pot with ghee/oil at a maintained temperature.
The next question is: Is it possible to divide the fetus into several parts like Sage Vyas did with the fetus of Gandhari? The IVF process needs several kinds of tests and processes. Sage Vyas did this without any tests or processes.
More importantly, through IVF, till now only 1–2 babies have occurred, but Sage Vyas created 101 babies at the same time. The IVF process or any other technology does not specify dividing the fetus into several parts, but Sage Vyas did. But there is no text available in history books or other holy books where the existence of any process like IVF is present.
Possibility Of Existence of Incubators
Even if we assume the existence of incubators like technology, let’s see. Carl Crede was the first person in 1860 in Germany to present his model of an infant incubator;
His model was modified several times. Infant incubators are machines that are being used to preserve and provide a stable environment for premature babies. These incubators work with the help of electricity. For how long do doctors keep babies in incubators? The time period depends on the condition of the baby and varies from child to child; there is no specific time period for it.
According to the Mahabharata, Kauravas was born at the same time, or, we can say, multiple brothers. If they were kept in some kind of incubator for the same time period, then what was the kind of technology used in which they were kept? If the model of incubators was developed in the 1860s, then how did Hindu mythology have an example of an incubator thousands of years ago? Even though modern incubators need electricity to work, what about ancient incubators? How did they used to work without electricity?
Modern incubators can only be used with the babies of some months, but Sage Vyas kept an undeveloped fetus or flesh ball. Is it possible to develop a baby with only some flesh? In modern incubators, babies are kept under medical care and given several medicines; on the other hand, Sage Vyas only kept babies at a maintained temperature in a warm oil/ghee pot.
Now the question arises: what kind of technology was used by Sage Vyas to maintain temperature, and how did he managed temperature of those pots in which babies were developed? What kind of pot and oils were Sage Vyas using? But this assumption also gives birth to several new questions that are hard to answer.
Conclusion
The Mahabharata has examples of the same kind as modern science, like incubators and the IVF process, which were invented in the 19th or 20th centuries. But there are certain key differences that define ancient, mysterious technology as far better and more highly developed than modern technologies. According to stories and evidence, with IVF technology, women have kept babies in the womb, but on the other hand, kauravas were kept in some kind of pot with warm oil/ghee in a shell or pot.
A modern incubator needs a lot of electricity, and on the other hand, Sage Vyas kept the fetus at a maintained temperature with warm oil in a pot. Isn’t it fascinating? and also depicts the possibility of multiple gestation and polyembryony, but if we make a detailed analysis, we can conclude that multiple gestation can be the reason for Gandhari’s 101 children, and other possibilities are rare and unreliable. But the only thing is, all these possibilities do not have any textual or 100 percent proof, so we can only say that in the future, scientists will be able to solve the mystery behind the story.
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