The Teaching to Venerable Nanda on Entry into the Womb

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The Teaching to Venerable Nanda on Entry into the Womb (Skt. Āyuṣmannandagarbhāvakrāntinirdeśa; Tib. ཚེ་དང་ལྡན་པ་དགའ་བོ་ལ་མངལ་དུ་འཇུག་པ་བསྟན་པ་, Wyl. tshe dang ldan pa dga’ bo la mngal du ‘jug pa bstan pa) — a sutra in which the Buddha gives a detailed account to his half-brother Nanda of the thirty-eight weeks of human gestation. The sutra discusses conception, the composition of the embryo, the gestation period, the newborn being, the course of life and its sufferings, and the need to practise for one’s own good and the good of others.

Including as it does the most comprehensive ancient Indian account of gestation, it was an important source for embryology in Tibetan medicine.[1]

Text

The Tibetan translation of this sutra can be found in the Heap of Jewels section of the Tibetan Dergé Kangyur, Toh 58

References

  1. 84000 Translating the Words of the Buddha.