An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, Vol. II — trans. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (1911)

birth to a blind child ; by shedding tears (during her period) a woman gives birth to a child of defective eyesight ; by bathing or smearing her body (with sandal paste etc.) a miserable one ; by anointing her body a leper (Kushthi) ; by paring her, nails a child with bad nails ; by running a restless one ; by indulging in excessive laughter, a child with brown (S)ava) teeth or palate or tongue ; by excessive talking a garrulous child or one of incoherent speech ; by hearing loud sounds, a deaf child ; by combing her hair, a bald one ; whereas by exposure to the wind or by doing fatiguing work (during the first three days of her period) she gives birth to an insane child Cconceived immediately after it). Hence these acts (^day sleep etc) are to be avoided. 24.

Regimen to be observed in her

menses : —A woman in her menses should lie down on a matress made of Kus'a blades (during the first three days of her uncleanness), should take her food from, her own blended palms or from earthen sauces, or from tray." made of leaves. She shonld live on a course of Habishya diet and forswear during the time, even the sight of her husband. After this period, on the fourth da)- she should take a ceremonial ablution, put on a new (untorn) garment and ornaments and then visit her husband after having uttered the words of necessary benediction. 25. Metrical Text :— A child conceived after the period resembles the man whom she first sees after ablution on the fourth day of her menses ; hence she should see none but her husband* at that time (so that the child may resemble his father). After that the priest shall perform the rites (Garbhadhana ceremony),

In the case of the huâband being abscn- at the time, sh^ should look at the suD.

128. THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. II.

to help the conception of a male child and after the ceremony a wise husband should observe the following rules of conduct, 26 — 27.

Conduct of Husband :— A husbaud wishing to beget a son by his wife, should not visit her bed for a month (before the day of the next flow). Then on the fourth day of her uncleanness, he should anoint or lubricate his body with Ghrita, should partake of a food in the afternoon or evening composed of boiled S'dli rice, milk and clarified butter, and then visit the bed of his wife The wife also, in her tern, should observe a similar vow of sexual abstinence (Brahma-charini ) for a month before that day on which she should anoint or lubricate her body with oil, partake of food largely composed of oil and MasJia pulse, and then meet her husband at night. The husband then having uttered the appropriate Veda Mantras and having awakened confidence in the wife, should go unto her on the fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth or on the twelfth night of her menses for the progenation of a male child. 28.

IVIctrical Text ;— A vislc to the wife on any of these nights leads to the continual increase of the wealth, progeny, and the duration of the husband's life. On the other h?i,nd, a visit to one's wife on the fifth, seventh, ninth, or eleventh da)^ of her flow leads to the conception of a female child The thirteenth and the remaining days (till the next cour.se) are condemned as regards intercourse. 29 —30

Prohibited Period etc. :— A going unto one's wife on the first day of her monthly course tends to shorten one's life and a child born of the act dies immediately after its delivery. The same result is produced l>y a visit on the second day, or the child dies lying-in loom i.e. ten days of its biith ; A visit on the third day

Chap. II.] SARIRA STHANAM. 1 29

leads to the child's being deformed and short-lived. A child which is the fruit of a visit on the fourth day lives long, will be well developed and remain in the full vigour of health. The semen cast in the womb of a woman during the continuance of her monthly flow does not become fruitful because it is carried back and flows out in the same manneras a thing thrown into a stream does not go against but is carried away with the current. Hence a husband should foreswear the company of his wife during the first three days of her un cleanness, when she also should observe a vow of sexual abstinence ; the husband should not visit his wife within the month after the twelfth day of her menses). 31.

After the impregnation on any of these nights, three or four drops (of the expressed juice) of any of the following drugs such as Lakshand, Vata-S'iinga! , S'ahadevd or Vis'vadevd, mixed with milk should be poured into the right nostril of the enceinte for the conception of a male child and care should be taken that she does not spit it away. 32.

Metrical Text :— A co-ordination of ihe four factors of menstrual period (Ritu), healthy womb (Kshetra), nutrient liquid i.e. chyle of digested food (Ambu), healthy semen (Vija) and the proper observance of the rules is necessary for the conception and development of a healthy child just as the proper season (Ritu), good soil (Kshetra), water (containing nutrient matter) and vigorous seeds (Vija) together with proper care, help the germination of strong and undiseased sprouts. A child which is the fruit of such conception is destined to be beautiful, of vigorous health, generous, long-lived, virtuous, attached to the good of its parents and capable of discharging its parental obligations. 33.

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