History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.148

v2.c23.148

It would be clear that the puṁsavana rite has several elements, religious (homa and son's importance from ancient times), symbolical or suggestive (the drinking of curds with beans and grain of barley) and medical (inserting some substance in the woman's nostrils). For what purpose the placing of the bile of a tortoise on the woman's lap was prescribed by Pāraskara alone (I. 14) it is difficult to say.