उपस्थ a. Near, approximate. -स्थः 1 The lap; उपस्थं कृ to make a lap; ˚स्थे कृ to take on the lap. -2 The middle part in general. तस्मिन्निर्मनुजे$रण्ये पिप्पलोपस्थ आस्थितः Bhāg.1.6.16. -स्थः, -स्थम् 1 The organ of generation (of men and women, particularly of the latter); स्नानं मौनोपवासेज्यास्वाध्यायोपस्थनिग्रहाः Y.3.313 (male); स्थूलोपस्थस्थलीषु Bh.1.37 (female); हस्तौ पायु- रुपस्थश्च Y.3.92 (where the word is used in both senses). -2 The anus. -3 The haunch or hip. -4 A sheltered place, seat. एवमुक्त्वा$र्जनः संख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत् Bg.1.47. -5 Surface, ground; तं शयानं धरोपस्थे Bhāg.7.13.12. -Comp. -दघ्न a. reaching to the lap. -निग्रहः restraint of sensual passions, continence; स्नानं मौनोपवासेज्यास्वाध्यायोपस्थनिग्रहाः Y.3..313. -पत्रः, -दलः the Indian fig-tree (so called because its leaves resemble in shape the female organ of generation). -पदा f. A particular artery leading to the generative organs (of a male); Sāyaṇa on Ait. Br.3.37.6. -पाद a. Sitting with the legs bent down so as to form a lap; Sāṅkhyāyana Gr. Sūtra 4. -सद् a. sitting in the lap. प्रेष्ठः श्रेष्ठ उपस्थसत् Rv.1.156.5.
m. lap; driver's seat; m. n. organs of generation: -nigraha, m. control of the sexual passion; -sthâtavya, fp. n. one should appear; one should wait upon; -sthâ tri, a. putting in an appearance (leg.); -sth&asharp; na, n. presence; approach; attendance; ser vice; veneration; assembly; -sthâyika, m. attendant on the sick; -sthâyin, a. putting in an appearance (leg.); -sthita, pp. √ sthâ.
‘Body,’ is a word of frequent occurrence in Vedic literature. The interest of the Vedic Indians seems early to have been attracted to the consideration of questions connected with the anatomy of the body. Thus a hymn of the Atharvaveda enumerates many parts of the body with some approach to accuracy and orderly arrangement. It mentions the heels (pārsnf), the flesh (māmsa), the ankle-bones (gulphau), the fingers (angulīh), the apertures (kha), the two metatarsi (uchlakau), the tarsus (pratisthā), the two knee-caps (astliī- vantau), the two legs {janghe), the two knee-joints (jānunoh sandhī). Then comes above the two knees (jānū) the foursided (catuçtaya), pliant (śithira) trunk (kabandha). The two hips (śronī) and the two thighs (ūrū) are the props of the frame (ktisindha). Next come the breast-bone (uras), the cervical cartilages (grīvāh), the two breast pieces (stanau), the two shoulder-blades (/kaphodau), the neck-bones (skandhau), and the backbones (prstīh), the collar-bones (amsau), the arms (bāhu), the seven apertures in the head (sapta khāni śīrsani), the ears (karnau), the nostrils (nāsike), the eyes (caksanī), the mouth (mukha), the jaws (hanū), the tongue (jihvā), the brain (mas- tiska), the forehead (lalāta), the facial bone (kakātikā), the cranium (kapāla), and the structure of the jaws (cityā hanvoh). This system presents marked similarities with the later system of Caraka and Suśruta,4 which render certain the names ascribed to the several terms by Hoernle. Kaphodau, which is variously read in the manuscripts,5 is rendered ‘ collar-bone ’ by Whitney, but ‘ elbow ’ in the St. Petersburg Dictionary. Skandha in the plural regularly denotes 'neck-bones,’ or, more precisely, ‘cervical vertebrae,’ a part denoted also by usnihā in the plural. Prsii denotes not * rib,’ which is parśu, but a transverse process of a vertebra, and so the vertebra itself, there being in the truncal portion of the spinal column seventeen vertebrae and thirty-four transverse processes. The vertebrae are also denoted by kīkasā in the plural, which sometimes is limited to the upper portion of the vertebral column, sometimes to the thoracic portion of the spine. Anūka also denotes the vertebral column, or more specially the lumbar or thoracic portion of the spine; it is said in the śatapatha Brāhmaṇa that there are twenty transverse processes in the lumbar spine (udara) and thirty-two in the thoracic, which gives twenty-six vertebrae, the true number (but the modern division is seven cervical, twelve thoracic, five lumbar, and two false—the sacrum and the coccyx). The vertebral column is also denoted by karūkara, which, however, is usually found in the plural denoting the transverse processes of the vertebrae, a sense expressed also by kuntāpa. Grīvā, in the plural, denotes cervical vertebrae, the number seven being given by the Satapatha Brāhmana, but usually the word simply means windpipe, or, more accurately, the cartilaginous rings under the skin. Jatru, also in the plural, denotes the cervical cartilages, or possibly the costal cartilages, which are certainly so called in the śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, where their number is given as eight. Bhamsas, which occurs thrice in the Atharvaveda, seems to denote the pubic bone or arch rather than the ‘buttocks’ or ‘fundament,’ as Whitney takes it. In the śatapatha Brāhmaṇa the number of bones in the the human body is given as 360. The number of the bones of the head and trunk are given in another passage as follows: The head is threefold, consisting of skin (tvac), bone (1asthi), brain (matiska); the neck has 15 bones : 14 transverse processes (karūkara) and the strength (vīrya)—i.e., the bone of the centre regarded as one—as the 15th ; the breast has 17: 16 cervical cartilages (Jatru), and the sternum (uras) as the 17th ; the abdominal portion of the spine has 21 : 20 transverse processes (kimtāpa), and the abdominal portion (udara) as the 21st; the two sides have 27: 26 ribs (parśu), and the two sides as the 27th; the thoracic portion of the spine (anūka) has 33: 32 transverse processes, and the thoracic portion as 33rd. There are several enumerations of the parts of the body, not merely of the skeleton, in the Yajurveda Samhitās. They include the hair (lomāni), skin (tvac), flesh (māinsá), bone (1asthi), marrow (majjan), liver (yakrt), lungs (kloman), kidneys (matasne), gall (pitta), entrails (āntrāni), bowels (gudāh), spleen (ptīhan), navel (nābht), belly (udara), rectum (vanisthu), womb (yoni), penis (plāśi and śepa), face (mukha), head (śiras), tongue (jihvā), mouth (āsan), rump (pāyu), leech (vāla), eye (caksus), eyelashes (paksmāni), eyebrows (utāni), nose (was), breath (iiyāna), nose-hairs (nasyāni), ears (karnau), brows (bhrū), body or trunk (ātman), waist (upastha), hair on the face (śmaśrūni), and on the head (keśāh). Another enumeration gives śiras, mukha, keśāh, śmaśrūni, prāna (breath), caksus, śrotra (ear), jihvā, vāc (speech), manas (mind), arigulik, añgāni (limbs), bāhū, hastau (hands), karnau, ātmā, uras (sternum), prstllj, (vertebrae), udara, amsau, grīvāh, śronī, ūrū, aratnī (elbows), jānūni, nūbhi, pāyu, bhasat (fundament), āndau (testicles), pasas (membrum virile), jañghā, pad (foot), lomāni, tvac, māmsa, asthi, majjan. Another set of names includes vanisthu, purītat (pericardium), lomāni, tvac, lohita (blood), medas (fat), māmsāni, snāvāni (sinews), asthīni, majjānah, ret as (semen), pāyu, kośya (flesh near the heart), pārśvya (intercostal flesh), etc. The bones of the skeleton of the horse are enumerated in the Yajurveda Samhitās. In the Aitareya Araṇyaka the human body is regarded as made up of one hundred and one items ; there are four parts, each of twenty-five members, with the trunk as one hundred and first. In the two upper parts there are five four-jointed fingers, two kakçasī (of uncertain meaning), the arm (dos), the collar-bone (akça), and the shoulder-blade (artisa-phalaka). In the two lower portions there are five four-jointed toes, the thigh, the leg, and three articulations, according to Sāyaṇa’s commentary. The śānkhāyana Araṇyaka enumerates three bones in the head, three joints (parvāni) in the neck, the collar-bone {akṣa), three joints in the fingers, and twenty-one transverse processes in the spine (anūka).sg The Maitrāyaṇī Samhitā enumerates four constituents in the head {prāna, caksns, śrotra, vāc), but there are many variations, the number going up to twelve on one calculation. In the Taittirīya Upaniṣad an enumeration is given consisting of carma (skin), māinsa, snāvan, asthi, and majjan; the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa has lomāni, mānμa, tvac, asthi, majjan, and the Aitareya Araṇyaka couples majjānah, snāvāni, and asthīni. Other terms relating to the body are kañkūsa, perhaps a part of the ear, yoni (female organ), kaksa (armpit), Danta (tooth), nakha (nail), prapada (forepart of the foot), hallks'tia (gall).
noun (masculine) a well-surrounded or sheltered place (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
lap (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
middle or inner part of anything (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
secure place (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
adjective being near at hand (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
near (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
standing by the side of (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
standing upon (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
noun (masculine neuter) the anus (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the generative organs (esp. of a woman) (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
the haunch or hip (Monier-Williams, Sir M. (1988))
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