History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.150

v2.c23.150

*Anavalobhana* or *Garbharakṣaṇa* :—This rite was apparently part of Puṁsavana. Āśv. gṛ., as already said, separately mentions puṁsavana and anavalobhana as referred to in the Upaniṣad. The Baijavāpa gṛ. (quoted in the Saṁskāraprakāśa p.171) says 'He performs the puṁsavana and anavalobhana in the fortnight of the waxing moon on an auspicious day when the moon is in conjunction with a nakṣatra (deemed to be) a male'. This shows that both were performed on the same day. Another sūtra of Baijavāpa quoted in the Saṁskāramayūkha⁵¹⁴ says that the two are to be performed in the 2nd or 3rd month of pregnancy. This rite is so called because by virtue of its performance the foetus does not fall out or is not destroyed (i. e. it is really *anavalopana* from the root *lup* with *ava*). Āśv. gṛ. (I. 13. 5-7) describes it as follows: He then inserts in her right nostril in the shade of a round apartment the (sap) of an herb which is not faded;⁵¹⁵ according to some (teachers), with the Prajāvat and Jīvaputra mantras. Having offered a sacrifice of cooked food to Prajāpati he should touch the region of her heart with the verse 'Oh thou whose hair is well parted, what is hidden in thy heart, in Prajāpati, that I understand, (mayst thou understand) me who know that; may not injury to the son be my lot'.