Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.318

v1.c3.s21.318

Child Life.—No doubt the care of a child was left to the mother, but we learn little from the earlier literature¹³² of the life of the young. The length of the period of pregnancy is frequently placed at ten (doubtless lunar) months.¹³³ On birth the child was first fed with milk or ghee, and then given the breast.¹³⁴ On the eighth day after birth the infant was washed.¹³⁵ The cutting of the teeth was also a solemn occasion,¹³⁶ and is the subject of a hymn in the Atharvaveda. Reference is also made to children's learning to speak, which the Taittirīya Saṃhitā¹³⁷ ascribes to the end of the first year of life. The Aitareya Āraṇyaka¹³⁸ asserts that the words Tata and Tāta, onomatopoetic words like ‘dada,’¹³⁹ are the first words of a child's speech, giving therein perhaps an unfair prominence to the father. The Atharvaveda¹⁴⁰ further contains at least one hymn for the ceremony of the first shaving of the young man's beard. The giving of a name was also an occasion of importance, a second one being often added.¹⁴¹