<p><em>"If it is a scientific error of the Buddha, then how can we understand his omniscience? Couldn't he see with his supernatural eye that maggots weren't really born from the decomposition of bodies?"</em></p>

<p>Actually from this you can now understand Buddha's omniscience completely and conclude he was not omniscient.      </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-28T18:12:57.363Z
2020-04-28T18:12:57.363Z
lucasbachmann
<p>I could not find any commentaries with a detailed explanation on this.</p>

<p>I'll use the Bodhi translation of <a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn12/en/bodhi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 12</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>What is egg-born generation? There are these beings born by breaking
  out of the shell of an egg; this is called egg-born generation. What
  is womb-born generation? There are these beings born by breaking out
  from the caul; this is called womb-born generation. What is
  moisture-born generation? There are these beings born in a rotten
  fish, in a rotten corpse, in rotten porridge, in a cesspit, or in a
  sewer; this is called moisture-born generation. What is spontaneous
  generation? There are gods and denizens of hell and certain human
  beings and some beings in the lower worlds; this is called spontaneous
  generation. These are the four kinds of generation.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Maggots are egg-born.</p>

<p>For moisture-born, we could apply this to bacteria and maybe fungi.</p>

<p>Bacteria involved in decomposition of the human body <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2015/may/05/life-after-death" rel="nofollow noreferrer">after death</a>, usually come from the gut microbiome and other places in or on the body where there is bacteria. The other cases of rotten porridge, cesspit, sewer and rotten fish appear to imply the reproduction of bacteria too.</p>

<p>Bacteria are certainly not egg-born, womb-born or spontaneously generated. So, they can only fall in the category of moisture-born. Moisture-born here simply means that these beings reproduce only when the conditions are favourable for reproduction. </p>

<p><a href="https://sciencing.com/different-kinds-bread-mold-5956459.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mold in bread</a> are caused by spores of fungi. They require moisture to reproduce. I don't consider <a href="https://www.worcester.ac.uk/about/academic-schools/school-of-science-and-the-environment/science-and-the-environment-research/national-pollen-and-aerobiology-research-unit/What-are-fungal-spores.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fungal spores</a> to be a kind of egg. But I suppose it could be interpreted as moisture-born (i.e. when the conditions are favourable) or egg-born (i.e. from fungal spores).</p>

<p>Spontaneous generation seem to apply to beings like devas (gods) and those in hell.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-26T08:18:38.307Z
This passage is about rebirths.  Bacteria and fungi are not sentient beings concerned with rebirths, nor are they born of moisture...
Kalapa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-26T09:45:25.433Z
Good point Kalapa, but did Buddha know about bacteria and viruses?
SarathW
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-26T05:09:34.460Z
2020-04-26T10:11:34.000Z
2020-04-26T10:11:34.000Z
ruben2020
<p>Is it a scientific error of the Buddha?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Sāriputta, there are these four kinds of reproduction. What four? Reproduction for creatures born from an egg, from a womb, <strong>from moisture</strong>, or spontaneously.</p>
<p>And what is reproduction from an egg? There are beings who are born by breaking out of an eggshell. This is called reproduction from an egg. And what is reproduction from a womb? There are beings who are born by breaking out of the amniotic sac. This is called reproduction from a womb. <strong>And what is reproduction from moisture? There are beings who are born in a rotten fish, in a rotten corpse, in rotten dough, in a cesspool or a sump.</strong> This is called reproduction from moisture. And what is spontaneous reproduction? Gods, hell-beings, certain humans, and certain beings in the lower realms. This is called spontaneous reproduction. These are the four kinds of reproduction</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn12/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 12</a></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This idea was common in ancient times</a> and was understandable because <a href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/spontaneous-generation/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">they had no way of understanding how maggots &quot;appeared&quot; on decomposing bodies, but we now know that it is false.</a></p>
<p>If it is a scientific error of the Buddha, then how can we understand his omniscience? Couldn't he see with his supernatural eye that maggots weren't really born from the decomposition of bodies? His knowledge is supposed to encompass the whole cycle of rebirths, I find it hard to see how he could be wrong about the birth of a whole part of these animal beings.</p>

<pali-canon><the-buddha><science><life><knowledge>
A scientific error of the Buddha?
# A scientific error of the Buddha?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-26)

Is it a scientific error of the Buddha?

> Sāriputta, there are these four kinds of reproduction. What four? Reproduction for creatures born from an egg, from a womb, **from moisture**, or spontaneously.
>
> And what is reproduction from an egg? There are beings who are born by breaking out of an eggshell. This is called reproduction from an egg. And what is reproduction from a womb? There are beings who are born by breaking out of the amniotic sac. This is called reproduction from a womb. **And what is reproduction from moisture? There are beings who are born in a rotten fish, in a rotten corpse, in rotten dough, in a cesspool or a sump.** This is called reproduction from moisture. And what is spontaneous reproduction? Gods, hell-beings, certain humans, and certain beings in the lower realms. This is called spontaneous reproduction. These are the four kinds of reproduction
>
> * [MN 12](https://suttacentral.net/mn12/en/sujato)

[This idea was common in ancient times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation) and was understandable because [they had no way of understanding how maggots "appeared" on decomposing bodies, but we now know that it is false.](https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/spontaneous-generation/)

If it is a scientific error of the Buddha, then how can we understand his omniscience? Couldn't he see with his supernatural eye that maggots weren't really born from the decomposition of bodies? His knowledge is supposed to encompass the whole cycle of rebirths, I find it hard to see how he could be wrong about the birth of a whole part of these animal beings.

**Tags:** pali-canon, the-buddha, science, life, knowledge


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-04-26. Score: 5

I could not find any commentaries with a detailed explanation on this.

I'll use the Bodhi translation of [MN 12](https://suttacentral.net/mn12/en/bodhi):

> What is egg-born generation? There are these beings born by breaking
> out of the shell of an egg; this is called egg-born generation. What
> is womb-born generation? There are these beings born by breaking out
> from the caul; this is called womb-born generation. What is
> moisture-born generation? There are these beings born in a rotten
> fish, in a rotten corpse, in rotten porridge, in a cesspit, or in a
> sewer; this is called moisture-born generation. What is spontaneous
> generation? There are gods and denizens of hell and certain human
> beings and some beings in the lower worlds; this is called spontaneous
> generation. These are the four kinds of generation.

Maggots are egg-born.

For moisture-born, we could apply this to bacteria and maybe fungi.

Bacteria involved in decomposition of the human body [after death](https://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2015/may/05/life-after-death), usually come from the gut microbiome and other places in or on the body where there is bacteria. The other cases of rotten porridge, cesspit, sewer and rotten fish appear to imply the reproduction of bacteria too.

Bacteria are certainly not egg-born, womb-born or spontaneously generated. So, they can only fall in the category of moisture-born. Moisture-born here simply means that these beings reproduce only when the conditions are favourable for reproduction.

[Mold in bread](https://sciencing.com/different-kinds-bread-mold-5956459.html) are caused by spores of fungi. They require moisture to reproduce. I don't consider [fungal spores](https://www.worcester.ac.uk/about/academic-schools/school-of-science-and-the-environment/science-and-the-environment-research/national-pollen-and-aerobiology-research-unit/What-are-fungal-spores.aspx) to be a kind of egg. But I suppose it could be interpreted as moisture-born (i.e. when the conditions are favourable) or egg-born (i.e. from fungal spores).

Spontaneous generation seem to apply to beings like devas (gods) and those in hell.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This passage is about rebirths.  Bacteria and fungi are not sentient beings concerned with rebirths, nor are they born of moisture...  
> **username_3**: Good point username_0, but did Buddha know about bacteria and viruses?  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2020-04-28. Score: 0

*"If it is a scientific error of the Buddha, then how can we understand his omniscience? Couldn't he see with his supernatural eye that maggots weren't really born from the decomposition of bodies?"*

Actually from this you can now understand Buddha's omniscience completely and conclude he was not omniscient.


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