Indakasutta

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati indakūṭe pabbate, indakassa yakkhassa bhavane. Atha kho indako yakkho yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha on Mount Indra’s Peak, the haunt of the native spirit Indaka. Then the native spirit Indaka went up to the Buddha, and addressed him in verse:

“Rūpaṁ na jīvanti vadanti buddhā, Kathaṁ nvayaṁ vindatimaṁ sarīraṁ; Kutassa aṭṭhīyakapiṇḍameti, Kathaṁ nvayaṁ sajjati gabbharasmin”ti.

“The Buddhas say that form is not the soul. Then how does this one obtain this body? From where do his bones and organs come? How does this one coalesce in the womb?”

“Paṭhamaṁ kalalaṁ hoti, kalalā hoti abbudaṁ; Abbudā jāyate pesi, pesi nibbattatī ghano; Ghanā pasākhā jāyanti, kesā lomā nakhāpi ca.

“First there’s the zygote; then there’s the blastocyst; from there arises the gastrula; which produces the embryonic mass. From that the limb buds appear, the head hair, body hair, and nails.

Yañcassa bhuñjatī mātā, annaṁ pānañca bhojanaṁ; Tena so tattha yāpeti, mātukucchigato naro”ti.

And whatever the mother eats— the food and drink that she consumes— nourishes them there, the person in the mother’s womb.”