Pumsavana (पुंसवनम्)

Pumsavana (Samskrit: पुंसवनम्) is a rite which is performed during pregnancy. It is one of the pre-natal samskaras in Shodasha samskaras practiced in Sanatana dharma. The term Pumsavana refers to a process of making something masculine or generation of a masculine. It is a procedure by which the chances of male child birth are increased.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

To have a child is naturally the earnest desire of a married couple. It was specially so in ancient times given the socio-economic and dharmik requirements. The male child has specific duties and responsibilities such as

- procuring food for the family

- waging wars for protecting lands and family

- perform the ceremonies after the death of a person

- offer tarpanas and perform shraddha karmas for the pitrs (ancestors)

- support the Grhasthaashrama on whom all other sections of the society are dependent

- produce progeny for the continuation of the lineage and relieve the pitrs of the three rnas

- perform yajnas for the welfare of the society

In the Rigveda we find suktas, mantras, yajnas asking for blessings from devatas to bestow a son — a powerful and virtuous son — on the man who prays. The Atharvaveda describes mantras, medicinal herbs and social obligations for the man to cohabit with his wife and raise healthy progeny.

It is in the Upanishads, that we see prescriptions for obtaining a progeny of choice (male or female) with particular qualities. The Garbhadhana Samskara involved certain processes to bring about conjugal closeness between the newly married couple and rites for begetting children in general, while the Pumsavana Samskara is a specific sacrament for having male progeny. The Brhdaranyaka Upanishad gives a detailed description of putramantha, i. e. a yajna for getting a son. (Brhd. Upan. 5.6.4)

व्युतपत्तिः ॥ Etymology

पुमान् सूयते अनेन इति पुंसवनम्। pumān sūyate anena iti puṃsavanam।

Male child is born by this process and therefore it is called Puṃsavanam.

पुंसुवनं व्यक्ते गर्भे तिष्येण। (आपस्तम्बगृह्यसूत्रम्, १४.९) puṃsuvanaṃ vyakte garbhe tiṣyeṇa। (Āpas. Gṛhy. 14.9)

The Puṃsuvanam is to be performed when pregnancy is apparent under the star "Tiṣya" (or Puṣyamī). Puṃsavanam and Puṃsuvanam are synonyms.

Pumsavana Samskara

The wise seers of ancient times studied the a combination of procedures of Dharmashastras and Kamashastra, with a little addition of some magical operations to give rise to the Samskara. The origin of this Samskara has been expressly mentioned by Ashvalayana (I.13.1) in his Grhyasutra.

उपनिषदि गर्भलम्भनं पुंसवनमनवलोभनञ्च १ (Ashv. Grhy. 1.13.1)

Quite clearly it is stated that the Upanishads treat the topics of Garbhalambana, Pumsavana and Anavalobhana.

उपयुक्तकालः ॥ Suitable Time of Performance

The time prescribed and generally approved by all seems to be the third month of pregnancy. As an option to the third month, Paraskara suggests the second month, or rather before the garbha (foetus) begins to move, while Bharadvaja and Jaimini extend it to the fourth month. According to Gobhila, the first half of the third month is desirable, Baudhayana and Apastamba do not prescribe any particular month, but allow the rite to be performed as soon as the signs of conception are visible. Manava and Kathaka alone advise the rite to be performed in the later months of pregnancy.

The rationale given is that the time the samskara should be performed should be as early as possible, before the foetus in womb could move; and looking to the belief that the Samskara could effect the generation of a male child, the early period of pregnancy is more justifiable for the Samskara than the advanced months of pregnancy.

संस्कारविधिः ॥ Samskara Vidhi

According to one version, Pumsavana samksara is a threefold rite, namely,

1. magical
2. medical
3. religious

Ashvalayana (1.13) has given all the three aspects of this Samskara in due proportion. The wife should fast and then (on the next day?) the husband should give her to eat, with curds made from the milk of a cow which has a calf of the same colour as herself, two beans (masa) and one barley grain (yava) for each handful of curds. To his question

“What dost thou drink ?” she should thrice reply “Birth of a male child.”

This sipping of curds should be repeated three times. Here ends the magic part. Samkhyayana (1.20) and Kausitaki, omit this magical form altogether and ordain that the sap of the Nyagrodha tree should be done with recition of mantras.

This samskara is to be performed when the pregnancy becomes apparent, i.e. third or fourth month, and during the period of Puṣyamī star. A shoot from the fag-end of a branch of Nyagrodha (Banyan tree) is to be crushed and the juice has to be dropped in the right nostril of the wife by husband, while reciting some Mantras, prescribed. Ashvalayana grhyasutra states that the Prajapati and Jivaputra sukta have to be recited. The Nasta-vidhi is very ancient, and is referred to in medical treatises (Ashtangahrdaya. 2.1.37-42).

The religious part includes the ritual by prescribing the sacrifice of a cooked mess of food for Prajapati (PrAjapatya Sthalipaka) and the touching of the wife’s heart with a mantra “ What is in your heart, 0 woman, with well-parted hair, (yat te susime hrdaye),—which is unknown to the Rgveda.

Pumsavana: Historical Glimpse

Progeny is the ardent desire of every couple. The structure of the family involving the parents and children maintains a social identity. Every patent has a definite longing for the male and female children. Particularly at the moment of exploring the controls on population and binding socio economic conditions, the parents would definitely like to limit the number of their children and would expect to have choice of the sex of the child before his birth. Therefore, it may not be astonishing that the intellectual medicos of the society put some scientific efforts in this direction to fulfill the desires of the parents.  Such endeavors do not seem to  have arise only today. It definitely has a long trail of history backing it. The cultural and spiritual ideologies and performances of our society are quite evident for this notion. The ancient scriptures of the Veda also provide the historical support. Many rituals are advocated in the Veda are named as Pumsavan but is should not be considered that the efforts of intellectual and scientists are only towards the increment of the male individuals in the society. In the Veda has also been described the ritual called ‘Staishuya’ which causes the birth of a female child. However,  due to  certain social  belief it  seems  that  the  Pumsavana  procedure became  more popular than the straishaya procedure. Putresti Yajna is also described in Charaka Samhita. A methodology is also explained as  Pumsavana Vidhi or Samskara which includes administration of some drugs through the nose as well as the oral route for the pregnant lady.  Such method of transforming the sex of the foetus is still new for the present scientific world. Only a few researches were under taken for trial and no such methods are presently observed in practice.  Therefore,  the  Pumsavana  Samskara  not  only  provides  a  histological  basis  of  the medical science but also faces a challenge ahead.

Traditionally, male progeny have been preferred, as the continuity of the family is maintained through male lineage, and sons are required to perform the necessary rituals that guarantee a safe sojourn for the father and mother after they leave this world.

Pumsavana as in Vedas and Ayurveda

Early references to rituals aimed at masculinizing the foetus are found in the Atharva veda and Samaveda-Mantra-Brahmana. Masculinizing the fetus is related to life of the developing baby. Thus Ayurveda which is called as the science of life and which is an upaveda of Atharvaveda also gives definite attention to the topic of Pumsavana and deals with the technicalities involved in this samskara.

Atharvaveda And Grhyasutras

(TBE)Under Pumsavana Samskara, Atharva Veda explains a ritual in which the help of the sticks of Shami tree (Prosopis cineraria) and Ashwattha tree (Ficus religiosa or sacred fig) are to be used. It has been stated that a worship conducted by placing the sticks of Shami tree below the sticks of Ashwattha tree signifies the holy union of male and female which results the  male offspring. In a rite called Prajapatya, the husband prays for the wife, “Unto the womb, let the foetus come, a male one as an arrow to a quiver; let a hero be born unto thee here, a ten-months’ son. Give birth to a male, a son; after him let a male be born; mayest thou be mother of sons, of those born and whom thou shall bear etc. ” It appears that some sort of a medicinal herb was also given to the pregnant woman while this verse was chanted. “The plants of which heaven has been the father, earth the mother, ocean the root, let those herbs of the gods favour thee, in order to acquire a son.

Subsequent references to the ritual, which came to be known as pumsavana are found in the Gruhya sutras. These text prescribe that the pumsavana ritual be conducted in the third or fourth month of pregnancy, on a day when the moon was on a male constellation, especially Pusya, to ensure the masculinization of the foetus.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda acharyas have expounded a detailed procedure of Pumsavana. Instillation of certain herbs or herbal mixtures via oral or nasal route has ben suggested to perform pumsavana. These procedures are called as pumsavana samskara or pumsavana vidhi. Specific time during pregnancy, time and day in a month according to the constellation has also been advised to perform this vidhi. Pumsavana is to be performed once the pregnancy is confirmed and thus this samskara can be included under Garbha-samskaras or Suprajanana Samskaras. Ayurveda scholars had identified that constitutional characteristics of male and female gamets (ovum and semen), day of sexual union, diet of male and female partners have considerable impact on the sex/gender determination of the fetus but at the same time, certain procedures can also alter the sex/gender of the fetus if performed in a prescribed manner. These are described under Punmsavana.

Time to perform Pumsavana

Time to perform Pumsavana according to the constellation and month of pregnancy has been denoted.

1. Considering the woman as pregnant she should be administered pumsavana before the foetus is manifested. The embryo when formed does not have a definite gender. It is called as a mass of cells without a specific gender. The action of Pumsavana is to be done immediately after signs of pregnancy viz., nausea, abdominal pain, appetite changes are noticed. It means immediately on confirmation of pregnancy pumsavana can be performed as early as 2 or 3 months.
2. The herbs should be given to the pregnant woman on a day when there is Pushya constellation.

Methods

The procedure include following different methods,

• Curd along with two good quality black gram or white mustard seeds and two undamaged tender leaf-buds/root caps of a banyan tree should be mixed and made into uniform paste like mixture. The banayan tree selected to take its root caps should have grown in a common place. The paste/fluid mixture is to be put in pregnant woman's right nostril on the day having pushya constellation. For female baby the mixture can be put into the other nostril.
• Other herbal mixtures:
  • The paste of herbs namely jivaka(Icrostylis wallichi Lindl.), Rishabhaka (Icros - tylis muscifera Lindl.), Apamarga (Chyran-thes aspera Ridl.), Saireyaka (Arleria prionitis L.)– collectively or individually as required, added with milk should be used for pumsavana.
  • A type of fish with handful of water to be given to drink to the woman for, pumsavana has also been mentioned.
  • Four herbs viz. Lakshmana (Pomoea sepiaria Roxb.) Vatangura (Cicus bengalensis Linn.) Sahadeva or Vishvadeva (Vernonia cinerea Less.) are crushed together with milk and the resultant mixture is given for nasal instillation.
• Acharyas also describe one method wherein small and fire-colored man-shaped pieces of various metals like gold, silver or iron are heated and put in various liquids like curd, milk or handful of water. And then such liquid should be taken wholly on pushya constellation day by a pregnant woman.
• In the pusya star itself, she can inhale the steam coming from the preparation of sali rice while being cooked.
• After having said that Acharyas also advice to follow any other measures known to experienced elderly women or other experts for pumsavana. Definitely the measures should be followed when those are coming from the authentic and trustworthy source and in today's world as advised by a vaidya treating the woman. Otherwise any fake measure might endanger the life and health of a baby and mother both.

Mantra to be chanted during Pumsavana Samskara

During the process, the following mantra from the Atharva Veda is chanted:

आ ते योनिं गर्भ एतु पुमान् बाण इवेषुधिम् ।

आ वीरोऽत्र जायतां पुत्रस्ते दशमास्यः ॥२॥

पुमांसं पुत्रं जनय तं पुमान् अनु जायताम् ।

भवासि पुत्राणां माता जातानां जनयाश्च यान् ॥३॥

यानि भद्राणि बीजान्यृषभा जनयन्ति च ।

तैस्त्वं पुत्रं विन्दस्व सा प्रसूर्धेनुका भव ॥४॥

Meaning: “may a male embryo enter your womb, as an arrow into aquiver. May a son be born after ten months.” (3.23.2-4)

In case of the Pumsavana Samskara procedure, various measures have been advised as described above, but the action of these drugs and the procedures has not been mentioned anywhere. Mode of action or rationale behind the procedures and drugs is not known to anybody clearly. Possibly it is beyond the reach of science and scentific brains of today's time. It can be considered that these drugs may act in changing the sex by their Achintya Shakti or the Prabhava.

Necessity of Pumsavana Karma and its scientific explanation:

(TBE) Sayanacharya, the greatest commentator on the Vedas,remarks that the above verse signifies that as an arrow is placed comfortably in a quiver, so would the child live peacefully in the womb. Additionally, it is also a prayer for the child to complete his full term of ten months in the womb, thus precluding the possibility of premature birth. This Samskara strengthens the bond between husband and wife, bound together by a common desire for male offspring. At this crucial and difficult juncture of her life, this sharing and support is psychologically highly comforting to the wife.

The  methodology  of  Pumsavana Karma  does  not  limit  to  more  scientific  explanation  or ritualistic performance. At the hour of population explosion, there is definitely a need to have the control over the population in a planned manner by which the ration between the populations be maintained. This is very much necessary to guard the social status and behaviors. Though many of the parents desire to limit their number of children but, however it becomes difficult for them due to the lack of facilities which either determined the sex in  before hand or  due to lack of known scientific  basis to  obtain a child of  desired  sex. However,  the  recent  development  in medical science has discovered a procedure by which the sex of the child in the womb can be determined which is well known as amniocenteses. This is resulted, however, in as bad practice of killing in numerical female foetus. Therefore, the safest measurement still remains negatively at large. On other hand, the science has absolutely no record of any of the in vitro method which can change the sex of the foetus as desired. Therefore, a methodology like Pumsavana Samskara is a needed entity for the present society. By proper understanding of the scientific background and  its  known  implications  will  definitely  receive  rousing  welcome  from  the  educated individuals.

The psycho-spiritual effects of punsavan sanskara on pregnant mother and foetus

(TBE)All conscious parents wish that the child in the womb - whether son or daughter should be full of strength and vigor; should be healthy, diseasefree, long-lived, intelligent and good looking. The second ritual - the Punsavan sanskara is performed with this objective, two to three months after the foetus is placed in the mother's womb. (Sharma, 2016)

The experiments on the Punsavan sanskara have revealed startling results: the mothers, who were prone to abortion or whose earlier issues were subjected to metabolic system's deficiencies or to some genetic disorders since birth, have delivered healthy babies after this sanskara. It has now been accepted by the researchers that the herbal preparation processed under the vitally charged vapors of yagya affects the cellular and molecular (including genetic) systems. (Sharma, 2016)