History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.144

v2.c23.144

There is some difference of view as to details. The Āp. gṛ., Hir. gṛ. and Bhāradvāja gṛ. place puṁsavana after sīmantonnayana and Āp. says it may be performed when pregnancy becomes apparent. Instead of two beans and a barley ⁵¹¹ grain in curds, he requires the bringing of a shoot of the branch of a *nyagrodha* tree which ( tree ) points eastward or northward and which has two ( fruits that look like ) testicles and the pounding of the shoot and fruits by a girl who has not attained puberty between two upper stones of ( two mills ) with water. He then prescribes that the wife should lie down on her back to the west of the fire herself facing the east and that the husband should insert in her right nostril the pounded substance with his thumb with the formula (puṁsavanam-asi) found in Āp. M. P. (II. 11. 14). Śāṅ. gṛ. ( I. 20, S. B. E. vol. 29. p. 46 ) says that the rite may be performed on Tiṣya or Śrāvaṇa, while the Bhāradvāja gṛ. ( I. 22 ) says that it may be performed on Tiṣya or Hasta or Anurādhā or Uttarā or Proṣṭhapadā; Pāraskara and Baijavāpa say it should be performed when the moon is in conjunction with a male nakṣatra.⁵¹² Pār. gṛ. I. 14 and Jātūkarṇya (Saṁ. Pr. p. 167) and Baijavāpa (*ibid.*) say that the rite should be performed in the 2nd or 3rd month of pregnancy, Āśv., Hir., Śāṅ., Gobhila, Khādira prescribe the third month. Yāj. I. 11, Pār. gṛ. ( I. 14 ), Viṣṇu Dh. S. 27. 2 and Bṛhaspati (quoted in the Sm. C. ) say that puṁsavana should be performed before the foetus begins to move or throb in the womb. In the Kāṭhaka gṛ. 32. 2 the proper time is said to be when the greater number of months of pregnancy are past ( i. e. after the 5th ) and the Mānava gṛ. says that it should be performed in the 8th month of pregnancy. Devapāla ( com. of Kāṭhaka gṛ. ) says the usage of śiṣṭas is to perform it in the 8th month and Brahmabala (another com.) says that the usage is to perform it in the 7th or 8th month of pregnancy. Most of the gṛhyasūtras refer to the pounding of the shoot⁵¹³ of the Nyagrodha tree (or some other plant) and inserting the pounded substance in the wife's right nostril. The mantras repeated when inserting the substance in her nostril are different according to most sūtras. Śāṅkhāyana (S. B. E. vol. 29, p. 46) prescribes the four verses Ṛg. I. 1. 3, III. 4. 9., V. 37. 2 and IX 3. 9. with svāhā at the end of each verse. Pāraskara (S. B. E. vol. 29, p. 292) prescribes Vāj. S. XIII. 4 (Ṛg. X. 121. 1) and XXXI. 17; Khādira gṛ. (S. B. E. vol. 29. p. 394) mentions Mantra-Brāhmaṇa I. 4. 8, the Kāṭhaka gṛ. quotes Kāṭhaka Saṁhitā. The several sūtras of the Black Yajurveda show the greatest divergence among themselves.