CHAPTER VII
Pre-Natal Ceremonies
Before the actual birth of a child, three important ceremonies are enjoined to be performed. They are nuptials (Nisheka), consummation (Garbhadana) and Pumsavana (change of sex).
Nisheka is used to denote the first sexual contact, while Garbhadana has reference to the subsequent defloratiohs. Almost ail the ancient works on Muhurtha start from Namakarana - the name-giving ceremony after the birth of a child-but we start from consummation as it is actually the beginning of the pre-natal existence of the child. Sexual union, pregnancy and reproduction of human species are the essentials on which the world exists. Sexual union should never be based upon simple sense gratification. There is a sacredness about sexual functions, and when moral and spiritual considerations are not respected and brought into play; the result will be most unsatisfactory and alt sorts of undesirable progeny would be the products of promiscuous cohabitation. According to Prof. B. Suryanarajn Rao men and women are bundles of electricity. When they are brought together sexually a series of electrical currents would be released which may react on them favourably or adversely depending upon the harmonious or discordant nature of the vibrations released. Therefore the first sexual act should not be treated lightly and should be done only when planetary combinations are favourably disposed. Books on ancient Sexology and Astrology reveal that to indulge in coitus during the first four days of menses will lead to serious evil effects as the whole physiological and nervous system of the woman would be in a state of tension owing to the almost continuous discharge of blood. So the first four days of menses should be avoided. Copulation on the 5th day tends to give rise to a daughter. In general, sexual union on odd days indicates birth of female children while on even days. the birth of male children is indicated. In the first instance, sexual union is highly recommended on the 6th day of the menses as it is supposed to ensure not only happiness to the couple but also the birth of a dutiful and intelligent son.
The constellations Sravana, Rohini, Anuradha, Swati, Revati, Moola, Uttara, Uttarashadha, Uttarabhadra. Satabhisha are highly favourable for nuptials. Pushyami, Dhanishta. Mrigasira, Aswini, Chitta. Punarvasu are ordinary. The rest of constellations are to be rejected.
Monday, Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are auspicious days while Saturday, Tuesday and Sunday should not be considered at all.
All lunar days-except the 4th, 8th, 9th, 14th, Full Moon and New Moon are good. The favourable signs are Taurus to Libra and Pisces. The birth star (Janma Nakshatra), the 10th star (Anu Janma) and the 19th star (Thri Janma) should be avoided.
At the time of nuptials, the 8th house should be occupied by no planet. Subject to this proviso, even Sagittarius and Aquarius may be selected as auspicious.
Pumsavana. - This means change of sex. The Hindus had long ago known the processes whereby the sex of the foetus could be changed by performing certain remedies and by administering certain medicines when sex differentiation is about to set in. The possibility of change of sex long known to the Hindus was being ridiculed by Western scientists. But during the last 3 or 4 decades, the opinion of the scientists underwent a gradual change and most of them now admit such a possibility. For the information of the reader, t may just make a few observations of modern medical men on this all-important question.
Professor Thury first started a theory about the possibility of changing the sex of the foetus in the womb. This was taken up by Professor Unterberger. Bernard Macfadden has reached certain conclusions regarding the predetermination of the sex with a success claimed in 90 per cent of cases experimented. According to the theory of Thury "the biogenetic condition, prevailing in the female organism in the beginning of the interval between two menstrual periods is favourable to girls. Towards the end of this interval, shortly before the new period, it is favourable to boys. In between, the chances are even". It is possible that the chemistry of the mother undergoes natural changes at certain times which correspond to the condition of alkalinity on acidity created artificially by Unterberger with the aid of bicarbonate or lactic acid.
There are, according to Davenport, probably four hundred theories of sex determination promulgated during the last two or three hundred years. One theory generally accepted by biologists maintains that sex is determined by the so-called X chromosomes, in the female there are two of these chromosomes. In the male there is only one. Professor BIchm suggested that the male chromosomes move more quickly in alkaline solution than the chromosomes which carry the feminine principle. A teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda or one spoonful of lactic acid may thus determine the sex of the child. Generally 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. The mortality among the boys is somewhat greater. It has been found that after great and destructive wars, where men are killed on a large scale, the number of male births increases. Nature thus restores the balance of sexes. We have known parents, some of them longing for girls while others want boys for keeping up their family traditions and for continuance of their lines. This will be so specially in cases of inheritance and succession to thrones and large landed and financial estates. Many wars and bloodshed were the results of kings and queens having no sons to succeed them. In almost all the countries the dynasties were kept up through sons. Matriarchy forms an exception.
It was found out by experiment that a high acid secretion was frequently responsible for sterility in the female. When douche were applied in the form of sodium bicarbonate, where there were no. pathological changes in either husband or wife the results were most gratifying. The pregnancy developed after the next period and in every case the child was a boy. Professor Unterberger observes "that the most important thing appears to be the fact that the characteristics of the female organs exercise a great influence on the determination of the sex which strange to say has been ignored heretofore". Professor Nicolai Konstantinovitch of Moscow discovered an electric treatment which separates and segregates the male and female spermatozoa. It is said that children of either sex may be obtained by using chromosomes of the opposite sex in artificial impregnation. Natural spermatozoa are deposited in the curved end of the tube filled with a physiological solution. A slight electrical current draws the male and female cells opposite ends of the tubes. The male spermatozoa are drawn to the anodes or the side wh-,re the current enters the tube, and the female sperms to the cathodes, where the current leaves. Macfadden says "conception time with reference to the menstrual cycle normally runs its course in twenty-eight days and so corresponds in length to the lunar month".
Here is a feminine physiological habit which in some ways at present clearly understood closely corresponds to the movements of the Moon. The theory is, that if fertilised when first discharged from the ovary the ovum is female in tendency while later as the ovum ages it becomes male, so that fertilisation between the 3rd and the 5th days after menstruation is liable to produce a girl, between the 5th and 8th days, a boy or a girl, and between the 8th and 12th days a boy. We have evidence that certain physiological habits curiously correspond to the lunar dai!y cycles even as the habit of the menstruation, a sex function corresponds to the lunar monthly cycle.
It has been suggested by the mighty Darwin that since life apparently originated on the beaches of primordial sea where it was alternately covered and uncovered by the lides, through countless ages, certain life rhythms and physiological habits were formed in all living creatures to correspond with those tidal rhythms, which irr-their turn were regulated by the Sun and the Moon. The primitive cell, which was the cradle of the life-force, at that time went through alternating period of activity and quiescence. The scientific name for these two physiological phases is Katabolism and Anabolism. Physiologically Anabolism and Katabolism correspond to maleness and femaleness. These facts lead to some interesting conclusions about sex as possibly determined not merely by the time of the lunar month, but by the time of the lunar day at which conception takes place. Here all the greatest scientists on matters of conception and sex formation are agreed on the physiological effects of cycles of lunar days and lunar months.
We shall now quote from our astrological literature, what they have unanimously said about the appearances of menses, how the foetus develops in the womb, in what month the sex is formed, how the sex of the unborn child in the womb can be known and by what methods the sex of the child may be changed as per desire of the parents.
Occassionally one reads in papers about the reversal or change of sex to a certain degree even in adults. This phenomenon has been actually witnessed by Prof. B. Suryanarain Rao and of late it is becoming common. In the history of science the ancient Hindus occupy a foremost place because thousands of years ago. they had anticipated and in fact achieved what to the moderns appear as marvels of biology. Of course, it is a fashion with those who have received the European system of education of laugh at things they cannot-explain with the aid of their own pet theories.
Charaka, the great Hindu physician, has dwelt at length with the question of change of sex. The ancients had not only studied the theory but they have given us practical rules whereby the sex of the unborn child in the womb may be known in advance and changed, if so desired. Ceremonies are actually laid down in theVedas for performance by the father and the mother with a view to give the child in the womb the sex that is desired. These rites are called pwnsavana. The etymology of the word is: pung (male) syate (is produced) anena (by this); in other words the male-producing rite. These rites are performed even unto this day by every orthodox Hindu. Pumsavana is performed just after the expiration of three months from date of conception.
Before giving further details about Pumsavana Jet us bring to the attention of the readers an interesting phenomenon which recently happened in Europe. Andreas Sparre, a Danish painter, married at the age of 20, a student artist studying in a like academy as his in Paris. They had a "happy life for some time. A few years later Andreas Sparre happened to dress up in fun as a woman. The clothes suited him and he looked like a girl. One of his friends called him Lili and he liked this name. Soon afterwards Andreas began to feel that Lili was after all a real individual - a separate personality, existing within himself. Gradually, this second personality pushed to the background, his maleness. Andreas experienced bleeding from the mouth and nose and this was regarded as a form of menstruation. Of course there was a psychological change too that he was becoming moreand more feminine. With the passing of time a conviction grew in his mind that though male in his outward form, internally he possessed the female sexual organs. Physicians and surgeons whom he consulted could not offer any explanation for his dual personality. At last he consulted a German specialist who declared after a careful examination that Andreas possessed female sexual organs within himself. After this he was operated upon by Prof Gebherd and after the operation the attending nurses remarked to Andreas that his voice had completely changed and that it was a shrill woman's voice. Then cigarettes and cigars nauseated him and even his handwriting turned feminine. In this first operation the malesex glands were completely removed and Andreas Sparre was no longer a man. After the second operation Crete, the wife of Andreas, wrote as follows in her diary: -
"Not until a few hours later did I tearn what had happened inside-a human being who was born a man, who was my husband, my friend, my comrade had now become a woman, a complete woman."
"But the thought which haunts me is that though Andreas may now be extinguished, and though Liti may have risen like a phoenix from the ashes, yet m the world outside Andreas is still living in the eyes of the law, and I am his wife. Who is capable of grasping this horror, this fantastic idea, this unique happening."
What are we to think of this strange and tragic case of Andhreas Sparre - a case unique m medical history. The case of Obalamma becoming Obalachari (vide Female Horoscopy by Prof. B. Suryanarain Rao) is also equally interesting.
Though medically it is impossible to distinguish sex in the embryo, astrologically it is possible to know beforehand - based on the conception Lagna-whether the child would be male or female. Doctors also opine that even in the most normal and unambiguous individual the rudiments of the organs of the other sex are present throughout life. Pumsavana means not only rites but also administering of certain medicines. Who knows, the proper performance of Pumsavana may enable us to change sexes of even adults, because the medicines accompanied by mantras may act on the glandular secretions and change the very nature of such secretion. The cases of Andreas and Obalamma suggest that change of sex is possible and that ancient Hindus when they talked of this phenomenon were not merely guessing but were treading on solid and scientific ground*.
A persual of the various texts in Sanskrit bearing on astrology and medicine reveals that Pumsavana is closely connected with the planetary influences on embroynic development. All the phases of the union of the virile spermatozoan with the mature ovum called impregnation, the fixation of the impregnated ovum, called conception, and the development of the foetus are governed by the Moon and other planets.
No birth takes place by. chance. In most cases, impregnation follows very shortly after coitus and it is the time of coitus that is generally taken according to Hindu Astrology for the Nisheka or conception horoscope. The period of gestation is the time which elapses between the conception and partruition. during which the child first as embryo, then as foetus is developing in the womb. Beginning with the third week, the head bend in the embryo is quite marked which gradually increases as development goes on, and at the end of the third week the heart and all the organs have been laid down and limbs begin to make their appearance as small buds, not unlike those of the frog, and the embryo closely resembles any other mammalian embryo at a corresponding stage. The chief changes in the first month (governed of course by Venus) are the formation of the face and external ear, and the development of the limbs' The eyes, nasal pits, maxillary processes, ears and nose are now visible.
In the second month of pregnancy-ruled by Mars - the plasm is enveloped by the amnion. Mars brings the development of the membranes and strong expansion of them. The brain begins to develop, the head becomes considerably larger and the human characters are ell established. The embryo may now be spoken of as the foetus, which has passed its quadruped stage.
Now we come to the third month influenced largely by Jupiter - the month in which Pumsavana has to be performed if one desires to have a son born to him. ft Is In the third month the differentiation of sex is brought about, as also the development of the genitals. Jupiter a masculine planet, presides over this month. Thus it will be seen that in the selection of the time for performing Pumsavana the ancients had in view very scientific reasons. As difference of sex occurs in the third month, the medicines and mantras administered under the influence of certain constellations would certainly be capable enough to change the sex to the desire of. the individual concerned. Without caring to bestow serious thought on such questions, the moderner is apt to dismiss the whole thing as the product of superstition.
We shall now give a few hints from the famous Charaka Samhita and it is for readers to make use of such hints to their own advantage.
Charaka says: "Instructions will be laid down about those Vedic rites by which the sex of the child (in the womb) before its manifestation may be changed. Verily of rites duly performed and characterised by propriety of time and place, the capacity to produce desirable fruits is ordained. Observing that a woman has concieved, Pumsavana should be administered to her before the manifestation of the sex of the child in the womb.
"Obtaming two unbroken buds from two twigs procured from the eastern and northern aides of a banian (Picus indica, Linn.) growing in a cowpen, as also a single grain of paddy and a single seed of Masha Phaseolus radiatus Roxb.) both well developed, or two seeds of white mustard, and throwing them into a quantity of curds, the woman (that has conceived) should be made to drink it under the constellation of Pushya." Another Pumsavanam medicine is the following: -
The kalka or paste of (a) jeevaka(*1) (b) rfshabhaka(*2) (c) Apamarga(*3) or (d) Sahachara(*4) or of each if desirable - should be boiled with milk and given to the woman to drink.
1. Jeeaka Is no longer identifiable or procurable. Hindu doctors find substitute In Guduchi or Tinospora cordifolia. Miqs.
2. This is also not Identifiable. The substitute to Vanggatochana or bamboo manoa.
3. Achyaranihes, Linn.
4. Barlenia cristala, Linn.
"Or, the likeness of a man. or very small proportions, made of gold, or silver or iron, made red-hot in fife and then dipped into a measure of curds, or milk, or water, should be swallowed without leaving any remnant, under the influence of the constellation Pushyami. Under the same nakshatra of Pushymi, the woman may be made to inhale the hot vapour of a cake {pishta or pishtaka} that is being baked (on the fire) and then dissolving that cake in a measure of water, the mixture should be cast over the threshold of the door. This water the woman should then, using a stick of cotton, apply to her Tight nostril."
If the above remedies are administered under the favourable and auspicious influences of constellation, the sex in the womb of the woman is supposed to change. The subject is vast and we shall again recur to this on a subsequent occasion. Who has studied and who has tested all these methods? Why label them as useless and unscientific when you do not know that they are.
The ceremony of Pumsavanam should be celebrated in the 3rd month when signs of pregnancy are evident. All lunar days except the 4th, 6th, 8th. 9th, 12th. 14th. Full Moon and New Moon days are good.
All signs except Gemini, Cancer and Virgo are auspicious. Virgo should be avoided as it is specially adverse.
Monday. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are beneficial. The 8th house from the ascendant should be vacant. The Moon's presence in Lagna or the 12th and the ascendant being aspected by Venus brings on prosperity. Beneficsshould be disposed in quadrants or trines.
There is another ceremony named Seemantha immediately foltowtng Pumsavansm. being performed In the 5th or 7th month of pregnancy. This is ortfatned only in regard to first conceptions. If the time-schedule cannot be kept up. it should not be abandoned, but the function must be performed at least before delivery. This is the view of sage Sankha.
For Seemantha, Rohini, Mrigasira, Punarvasu, Pushyami, Uttara, Uttarashadha, Hasta, Sravana and Revati are auspicious. Some are of the opinion that under unavoidable circumstances, even Aswini, Anuradna and Moola maybe deemed auspicious. The 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 14th (unar days and New Moon day must be avoided. When the Moon is dignified Full Moon day is hot condemned. Sunday. Tuesday and Saturday should be avoided. The rest of the weekdays are good. All signs except Leo and Scorpio are auspicious. The 8th house from the ascendant must be free. Generally speaking, the 3rd, 8th, 7th, 10th and 22nd constellations should be avoided. The Moon should not be in the 8th house. So far as this particular ceremony is concerned, the month ranks first in importance. Hence, even If Jupiter and Venus are combust, such a circumstance may be ignored.
