ABSTRACT
Santati-sastra’s theory of hereditary transmission was based on the idea that parents could substantially influence the bodily and intellectual features of their future offspring if they committed their “mental force” towards this end during two key moments, namely the days of the mother’s last menstruation before conception. “Mental force” was conceived of as a force that could be consciously employed if the parents were aware of it but had repercussions even if they were not. The variation in skin color between parents and offspring was the most often used example to illustrate the effectiveness—conscious or unconscious—of mental force as an agent of hereditary transmission. The author contrasted the slow influence of climate with the immediate effectiveness of mental force, which bore its effects already in the first generation. While recognizing that mental force could influence the skin tone of the offspring, he sustained that the food eaten by the parents before conception and during pregnancy had an even stronger effect.
