Description of Anatomy and Physiology of Heart in “Mantrapushpam”

Mantrapushpam is recited at the end of every properly performed pooja. This mantra is a part of Taittareeya Aranyakam of Vedam. It incorporates ruks from Purusha, Narayana, Sree and Kanakadurga suuktams. It is very poetic and describes various aspects of ‘tattva’ of Narayana and the ways and means to realize the Viratpurusha.

Prof.B.M.Hegde had already written about the anatomical description of the heart in Narayana Suuktam. Inspired by his lectures, I made an attempt to analyze the poetic descriptions of Paramaatma in Mantrpushpam. (Some how I had a great interest in learning Mantrapushpam from childhood. It may be because of the fact that the ruks in this particular mantra are very rhythmic and when recited in a proper way, one can feel the tranquility generated by those sound waves) May this small attempt of mine to explore the scientific facts quoted in this mantra be blessed by the Veda Purusha.

To make the understanding easier, first I quoted each ruk which has the information relevant to current discussion and I explained the literal meaning. Then I showed the excerpts from the standard text books of anatomy and physiology. At last I described how to relate above two. Before proceeding I want the reader to note that these ruks are to be visualized from the point of view of a poet who had the scientific knowledge.

1. padmakosa prateekasagum hrudayam chaapyathomukham
athonishtya vitastyante naabhya muparitishtati

Above the navel, below the neck, in a length of twelve diameters of the thumb, the heart is situated like a sac in the shape of a lotus bud which is facing down.

The following imge illustrates the above translation-.

Modern anatomy describes the heart as a conical hollow muscular organ situated in the middle mediastinum. (Mediastinum is the median septum of the thorax between the two lungs) The heart is placed obliquely behind the body of the sternum and adjoining parts of the costal cartilages so that one third of it lies to the right and two thirds to the left of the median plane. The heart measures about 12 x 9 cms. The following image illustrates the gross anatomy according to modern texts-

2. jwaala maala kulam bhaati vishwasyaayatanma mahat
santatagum silabhistu lambatya kosa sannibham

It is covered by numerous arteries which glow like creepers of fire and this lotus sac of heart is the seat of Narayana.
Anatomy says that the muscular tissue of the heart is supplied by two coronary arteries which extensively branch to cover most of the surface. The picture shown here illustrates this-

Here we should remember that the person who compiled the above ruk was describing the heart poetically and the description of creepers of fire best suits the coronary arteries. They have a tortuous path like creepers. The flow of blood which is red in color within them and their pulsations with the beating of the heart qualifies them to be described as flame.

3. tasyante sushiragum sookshmam tasmitsarvam pratishtitam
tasya madhye mahanagnirwishwarchirwishwatomukhaha

In the upper portion of that lotus bud, a small lotus which is open is situated. That is the seat of the life. Everything is incorporated in to it. In the middle of it, a luminous fire by name vyshwanara which generates energy is present.

Physiology describes that the parts of the heart normally beat in orderly sequence. The heart beat originates in a specialized cardiac conduction system and spreads via this system to all the parts of the myocardium. The SA node discharges more rapidly and it is the normal Cardiac Pace maker, its rate determining the rate at which the heart beats. In the human heart the SA node is situated at the junction of the superior vena cava with the right atrium. The picture below illustrates the location of the SA node-

4. soograbhugwibhajannishtannaharamajarahakavihi
tiryagoordhwamathassayee rasmaya stasya santata

Vyshwanara generates energy from the food that is consumed and that energy spreads in the heart downwards, upwards and across. The luminous rays of the energy are spreading whole through.

The structures that make up the conduction system are the SA node, the inter-nodal atrial pathways, the AV node, the bundle of His and its branches and the Purkinje system. The following pictures illustrate the conducting system of the heart.

From the above pictures, one can make out that the author of the author this ruk is actually referring to the conduction system of the heart.

The food that is digested undergoes a series of chemical reactions in the intracellular particles by name mitochondria. The mitochondria are the power houses of the cells which produce energy needed for the functions of the human body. The mitochondria has specialized structures called cristae on which the glucose from the digested food undergoes oxidation. One can say that the glucose gets burned to liberate energy the only difference from the actual fire being this process occurs at a microscopic level.

In Sanskrit fire God is named Vyshwanara. When we look at all the previous observations together, it is clear that the ancient Aryans were well aware of the existence of mitochondria.

References:

1. “Mahanaraynopanishad” by Swami Vimalananda.
2. Grey’s Text Book of Anatomy.
3. The pictures in this article were scanned from Netters Atlas of Anatomy.

Note:
The aim of this article is not only to prove that the ancient Aryans possessed significant scientific knowledge but also to motivate scientific community to dig in to the ancient scriptures to unearth the invaluable wisdom which married scientific principles harmoniously with nature. And that may be a remedy for the evils arising out of knowledge blast of the current era.