TISSUE CULTURE

The birth of 101 children from Gandhari at once seems highly improbable...but this story may prove otherwise.

As per the ancient text, Gandhari and Kunti were pregnant around the same time. But Gandhari's pregnancy stretched for a longer period ( for about 2 years) which again is a contradiction from normal pregnancy period. But here are is a speculation about it.

 After Kunti's parturition*, Gandhari apparently, hit her womb several times in frustration and pressure to produce an heir earlier. This could have induced an abortion or this may have led her to give birth to a mass of flesh ( immobile fetus)

This immobile fetus was taken by Ved Vyasa, who divided it into 101 pieces and kept in a jar called Ghatka* where incubation and proper nutrient medium were provided which helped the cells differentiate into early embryos and formed babies.

People usually have a misconception that IVF was performed. Let us closely see the difference between the two procedures. 

IVF : In vitro fertilisation

Here the gametes of male and female : sperm and ovum, are fused or fertilised outside the body, usually, due to the lack of motility of sperm or  hostile environment of the uterus that prevents the sperm from reaching the ovum. The zygote* is formed outside the body. But in Gandhari's case, she had a  zygote* in her womb. The fertilisation process was already over.

The mass of flesh that resulted after zygote formation was cultured in 101 Ghatkas* and differenciated  which finally resulted  in the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation or Tissue Culture.

But here comes another question, if they all were grown in a similar process, from the same lump of mass, then why do we find them different, appearance wise and age wise. Well, this is because the nature of culture medium used and the temperature is varied in different Ghatkas that changes the time of the development of the embryos.

HUMAN EVOLUTION 

Creationism vs Evolution was a topic of hot debate, but perhaps its time to see them as parallels rather than as a contradiction of each other.

According to the theory proposed by Darwin,

1. The first stage of life was seen in water. 

MATSYA : A Fish .  The first Avatar of Lord Vishnu is the fish, which is indicative that life began in water.

2. In the second stage, life moves on to the land, while still depending on water. A transition stage between land and water. (Fish evolve into reptiles)

KURMA : A Tortoise. The second Avatar of Lord Vishnu ( reptile) is also a parallel to modern science.

3. The third stage, that is life on land. Mainly on swamps, that is again a transition to land.

VARAHA : A Boar. The third Avatar of Lord Vishnu which is found usually in swamps.

4. The fourth stage, that is a transient stage from animal to Human.

NARASIMHA: Half man Half lion. The Fourth Avatar of Lord Vishnu. This is an important transition as it relates to the pre-human without well developed brain but partial ability to be a bipedal.

5. The fifth stage, where Hominidae grew closer to Homo Erectus. A bipedal but short.

VAMANA:  A dwarf. The Fifth Avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is indicative of complete transition into human form.

6. The sixth stage, the forest dweller, a hunter.

PARASHURAMA: The sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Man who used Axe and tools for survival. Homo Neanderthals and Homo Erectus transition.

7. The seventh stage, the Civilized Man.

RAMA : The seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. A perfect, civilized, gentle yet strong leader, protector of his community.

8. The eighth stage, the farmer and the settler

BALARAMA: The eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. A farmer and is mainly denoted by His plough.

 9. The ninth stage, the Ruler and an advanced human civilization.

KRISHNA: The ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Boundaries of Kingdom were drawn, wars were fought. The main feature here is complexity of life and society.

10. The tenth stage, the final Modern Man

KALKI : The tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The complexities of the society increase, misdeeds far exceed good deeds and the world is a chaos.

( It is also believed that Buddha is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu right before Kalki)

These are all speculations and not solid grounds to base something, but it is a proof that creationism and Evolution goes hand in hand. There are times when we look back and try to fit the current scenario in the past or the past to the current situation and try to relate. But as I said these are mere speculations without solid evidence. 

*Thank you for reading this! I wrote this without adding any personal views on this aspect, just presenting the idea as a whole without filters. Constructive criticism is always welcome*

Zygote* = The single cell formed after fusion of male and female gamete

Ghatka* = Pot

Parturition= Process of giving birth

Gestation = Pregnancy Period