Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/411

Rh with wealth. Thou art desirous of a son. Thus shalt thou reproduce thyself." Looking at the bride, the bridegroom then says: — "I see thee radiant and eager to be filled with child by me. Thou art in thy youth now. Enjoy me, therefore, while I am over you, and so reproduce thyself, being desirous of a son." Touching the bride's breasts with his ring-finger, and then touching his heart, he repeats the following: — " May the Viswe gods unite our hearts; may the water unite our hearts; may Vāyu and Brahma unite our hearts; and may Sarasvati teach us both conversation appropriate to this occasion of our intercourse." More Vēdic riks are then recited, as follows: — " Thou Prajāpathi, enter my body that I may have vigour during this act; so thou Thvastri, who fashionest forms with Vishnu and other gods; so thou Indra, who grantest boons with thy friends the Viswedēvas, by thy blessing may we have many sons. May Vishnu make thy womb ready; may Thvashtri frame the shape (of the child); may Prajāpathi pour forth (the sperm); may Dhatri give thee conception. Give conception, Sinivāli; give conception, Sarasvati. May the two Asvins, wreathed with lotus, give conception to thee. The embryo which the two Asvins produce with their golden kindling sticks, that embryo we call into thy womb, that thou mayst give birth to it after ten months. As the earth is pregnant with Agni, as the heaven is pregnant with Indra, as Vāyu dwells in the womb of the regions (of the earth), thus I place an embryo in thy womb. Open thy womb; take in the sperm. May a male child, an embryo, be begotten in the womb. The mother bears him ten months, may he be born, the most valiant of his kin. May a male embryo enter the womb, as an arrow the quiver; may a man be born here, thy son, after ten