Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 108: Jābāli Speaks the Philosophy of Materialism
Text 2.108.11
बीजमात्रं पिता जन्तोः शुक्रं रुधिरमेव च।
संयुक्तमृतुमन्मात्रा पुरुषस्येह जन्म तत्॥
bīja-mātraṁ pitā jantoḥ śukraṁ rudhiram eva ca
saṁyuktam ṛtuman-mātrā puruṣasyeha janma tat
bīja-mātram = merely the seed; pitā = the father is; jantoḥ = of the creature; śukram = semen; rudhiram = blood; eva ca = and; saṁyuktam = the combination of; ṛtumat-mātrā = held by a fertile mother; puruṣasya = a man’s; iha = here; janma tat = is the cause of birth.
The father is merely the seed of the creature. The combination of semen and blood held by a fertile mother is the cause of a man’s birth here.
[Jābāli’s point here is that] the father is the minor cause of a man’s birth and that the mother is the primary cause.