“Journey Through the Miraculous Stages Before Birth: Decoding the Mystery of a Child’s Time in the Womb”
Today, I read the story of a child before birth, which gave me chills. We always heard the mother’s side of a story during her pregnancy. It’s a beautiful story. Isn’t it? We love every beat of the story about what the mother says and feels during pregnancy. Each month and each stage comes with a butterfly in the stomach. It’s a transformative period in a woman’s life. The beautiful journey of a mother through her pregnancy period is a tapestry woven with love, resilience, and the miraculous dance of life. Each flutter, kick, and contraction is a testament to the strength and beauty inherent in the journey of bringing new life into the world.
For the first time here, we see the story of the womb from the child’s side. What science and our Puranas said about a child’s journey in the womb.
First, we see what ancient Hindus said about the child in the womb.
It started with a question, “What promise does a child make to god before birth?” Let’s see the story..
It’s a conversation between Kapil Muni and Mata Devhuti(Mother of Kapil Muni). It’s believed that Kapil Muni was a reincarnation of Lorn Vishnu in satyuga. Mata Devhuti took lessons in life from the Kapil Muni.
In the third Canto(Chapter 28) of Bhagavatam Devahuti requests her son Kapila to advise her on the path to transcendental liberation from material life. In Kapila muni’s detailed discourse in reply to Devahuti’s questions, there is a reference to the development of the material body in the womb of the mother. The description of the growth of the embryo during the 10 months in the womb is stunningly vivid and corroborates modern medical science. It may be recalled here that Bhagavatham is believed to have been written by Vedavyasa five thousand years ago. A summary of the description of the embryo development is given below. ( Canto 3, Chapter 31).
Mata Devhuti asked Kapil Muni, “Is it restful and peaceful for a child in the womb? No, cold, no hot, nothing is there. it’s protected by the womb of the mother.” Kapil Muni said, no mother. It is the most painful thing for living things in the womb. As Shloka said,
गर्भवास समम दुखम न भूतो न भविष्यति
It means that the amount of pain we felt in the womb is neither repeated in the past nor future. Thousands of little worms developed in the womb to eat the skin of the child. But no one was there to help. If the mother eats spicy or sour things it burns the child in the womb. That’s why doctors said no to spicy and sour things to pregnant mothers. In the seventh month, the child becomes conscious of their past life regressions, which make them sad and they pray for instant birth to god.
तस्योपासन्नंवितुं जगदिच्छयातनत्नो भ्रूवि चल्चरणारविन्दम्।
It means the child said to god please release me from this womb for once and I will worship you totally and do all good deeds which I never did in all previous births. So, I don’t have to come again in this womb. God said, once you will go out you forget everything and never do what you just said. Child said no god I will never forget you. Nine months passed and the child was born into this world and got out of the womb. Guess what Children forget everything which happened in the womb. That child becomes a person and does everything the same as did in previous births and this infinite wheel of life continues. Maya indulges in the mind of a person and forgets the god and its gift.
What does science say about it?
On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix and by the fifth night the mixture develops into a form like a bubble by the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum and after that, it turns into a lump of flesh or egg as the case may be. In 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 3 months nails, body hair, bones, and apertures in the body like eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth, etc. take shape. At the end of six months, the fetus enclosed by amnion begins to move on the right side of the abdomen.
Owing to the mother’s intake of bitter/ pungent foodstuff the body of the fetus suffers intolerable pain. Placed within the amnion, the fetus remains lying on one side of the abdomen, head turned towards the belly and back, and neck arched like a bow. Development of consciousness is endowed from the seventh month after conception. The child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo during the weeks preceding the delivery. In this difficult condition, the living entity prays with folded hands to the God who has put him in that condition-“ I take shelter of him who can give me relief from all fear. His body scorched by mother’s gastric fire, the embodied soul, anxious to get out, counts his months and prays, “O my Lord, when shall I be released from this confinement? By your causeless mercy, I am awakened to consciousness although I am only ten months old. For this mercy, I express my gratitude with folded hands. Although I am living in abominable conditions I do not wish to depart from my mother’s womb to fall again into the well of materialistic life. Your external energy “Deva Maya” at once captures the newborn and immediately the false identification with the body (Ahamkara) begins.”
The ten-month-old living entity has the above desires while in the womb. However pushed downward all of a sudden by the wind, the child comes out with great trouble, head downwards. Immediately under the spell of Maya, it loses all its previous memory and knowledge”
Summary
Overall, such stories offer a rich tapestry of cultural and spiritual beliefs surrounding the miraculous journey of life, providing individuals with different lenses through which to view the profound experience of pregnancy and childbirth. That’s why a mother’s love in pain can’t described with words but still some words for mother,
Maa banne ki raahon mein hai kuch khaas baat,
Uske dil mein hai ek anmol saath.
Garbh se lekar har kadam mein saath chale,
Uski mamta mein hai pyaar ka silsila kabhi na toote
