WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
end of a robe of a fruitful woman as an amulet; or she will "steal a new-born infant's shirt, steep one end of it in water, drink the water, and destroy the shirt. The child to whom the clothing belonged would then die and be born again from the womb of the woman performing the ceremony."
Embracing the image of the god representing fertility, a very old and common custom, is still practised by women in India. All over the country there are figures, and even unshaped stones, alleged to impart fruitfulness to women.
The yearning for male children induces Hindu women to perform several ceremonies. In the third month of pregnancy, according to the Grikya-Sûtvas, the husband who desires a son should administer to his wife curds from a cow, which has a calf of the same colour as herself, containing two beans and a barleycorn for each handful of curds. The man says to the woman: "What dost thou drink?" To this she answers: "Generation of a male child." When the potion, the questions, and the responses have been repeated three times, the husband inserts in the wife's right nostril the juice of a fresh herb."[1]
Walking round the sacred fire is another rite said to induce conception. It is practised by the Brahmans of Dharwâr, while a priest recites a hymn.
- ↑ Quoted by Hartland from the "Sacred Books."
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