How Is One Developed in the Womb?

Then the Yakkha Indaka (indigenous ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent) approached The Perfectly Enlightened One and addressed him in verse:

‘As the Buddhas say that form is not the soul, how then does one obtain this body?

From where do one’s bones and liver come? How is one developed in the womb?’

The Perfectly Enlightened One:

First there is the kalala;

From the kalala comes the abbuda;

From the abbuda the pesī is produced;

From the pesī the ghana arises;

From the ghana emerge the limbs,

The head‑hair, body‑hair, and nails.

And whatever food the mother eats —

The meals and drink that she consumes —

By this, the being there is maintained,

The person inside the mother’s womb.

(Reference: SN 10.1)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how a being develops in the womb.

During the lifetime of The Buddha, there was no modern day science or the ability to study how a womb develops inside a mother’s body. Therefore, for The Buddha to have acquired this wisdom is astounding.

The use of the words koala, abbuda, pesī, and ghana are not known to me. These would most likely have been words in use during the lifetime of The Buddha within the language he taught.

As is typical for The Buddha’s Teachings, he is showing the cause and effect of how one thing leads to another as he describes a maturing being inside a mother’s womb.