The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c10.s1.10

c10.s1.10

Later Smṛiti writers allow only one son to be raised by Niyoga, but the earlier practice was quite different. At her husband’s pressing entreaties, Kuntī raised three sons by Niyoga. Pāṇḍu, however, was not satisfied with that number and pressed his wife to have some more. Kuntī protested against the suggestion, pointing out that the custom permitted only three sons by Niyoga and no more². In Kshatriya circles it was regarded as vitally necessary to have a large number of sons, and in prehistoric times there seems to have existed practically no limit to the number of sons that could be raised by Niyoga. King Vyushitāśva had seven such sons and King Bali had only 17, six from his crowned queen and eleven from a Śūdra wife (*Mbh*, I, 127, 113). Three was, however, the normal number of sons usually permitted. Kuntī's sister, Śrutasenā, had, for instance, got this number of sons by Niyoga (*Ibid*, I, 126). But a woman will not always have three successive sons; some girls are likely to intervene. Permission to have three sons by Niyoga therefore practically amounted to a remarriage.