DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0367
Male-production Ceremony. 355
approaching his wife he was careful to secure the solemn im-
primatur of religion on an act which might lead to the intro-
duction of another human being into the world. He therefore
repeated two Mantras or texts of Rig-veda X. 186, the first of
which may be thus translated:—' Let (all-pervading) Vishnu
prepare her womb ; let the Creator shape its forms; let Praja-
pati be the Impregnator; let the Creator give the embryo.'
The Impregnation-rite was followed after an interval of
three months by that called 'Male-production' (Pumsavana).
This is not unusual even in the present day. We Euro-
peans can scarcely understand the craving of Asiatic parents
for the birth of a male child. The very word for a son
(put-tra) is fancifully said to mean one who delivers a parent
from a hell called Put. Whether all Hindu married men in
the present day seriously look forward to punishment in a
place of torment hereafter as the penalty for not having sons
or for having only daughters admits of question. We have
seen, however, that the well-being of the parent's soul after
death is believed to depend on the proper performance of the
Sraddha ceremonies by a son, and that the partition of the
family inheritance is by law made dependent on the due
celebration of such rites. Hence the craving for sons rather
than daughters.
In short, a son is to every pious Hindu the first and last of
all necessary things. Through a son he pays his own father
the debt he owes him for his own life, and secures similar
payment for the gift of life bestowed by himself.
What says the Aitareya-Brahmana of the Rig-veda (VII.
3. 13) ? ' When a father sees the face of a living son he pays
a debt in him, and gains immortality. The pleasure which a
father has in his son exceeds all other enjoyments. His
wife is a friend, his daughter an object of compassion, his
son shines as his light in the highest world.' What says
Manu ? ' A man is perfect when he consists of three—himself,
his wife, and his son' (VII. 3). What says Yajfiavalkya?
A a a
approaching his wife he was careful to secure the solemn im-
primatur of religion on an act which might lead to the intro-
duction of another human being into the world. He therefore
repeated two Mantras or texts of Rig-veda X. 186, the first of
which may be thus translated:—' Let (all-pervading) Vishnu
prepare her womb ; let the Creator shape its forms; let Praja-
pati be the Impregnator; let the Creator give the embryo.'
The Impregnation-rite was followed after an interval of
three months by that called 'Male-production' (Pumsavana).
This is not unusual even in the present day. We Euro-
peans can scarcely understand the craving of Asiatic parents
for the birth of a male child. The very word for a son
(put-tra) is fancifully said to mean one who delivers a parent
from a hell called Put. Whether all Hindu married men in
the present day seriously look forward to punishment in a
place of torment hereafter as the penalty for not having sons
or for having only daughters admits of question. We have
seen, however, that the well-being of the parent's soul after
death is believed to depend on the proper performance of the
Sraddha ceremonies by a son, and that the partition of the
family inheritance is by law made dependent on the due
celebration of such rites. Hence the craving for sons rather
than daughters.
In short, a son is to every pious Hindu the first and last of
all necessary things. Through a son he pays his own father
the debt he owes him for his own life, and secures similar
payment for the gift of life bestowed by himself.
What says the Aitareya-Brahmana of the Rig-veda (VII.
3. 13) ? ' When a father sees the face of a living son he pays
a debt in him, and gains immortality. The pleasure which a
father has in his son exceeds all other enjoyments. His
wife is a friend, his daughter an object of compassion, his
son shines as his light in the highest world.' What says
Manu ? ' A man is perfect when he consists of three—himself,
his wife, and his son' (VII. 3). What says Yajfiavalkya?
A a a