Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/298

246 'I see the polar star; may I obtain offspring.' Through a period of three nights let them refrain from conjugal intercourse."

Pregnancy.—Various were the rites performed during the pregnancy of a wife. In the first place, there was the Garbhadhana rite, which was supposed to secure conception. The Pumsavana rite was supposed to determine the male sex of the child, and the Garbharakshana secured the unborn child from danger, while the Simantonnayana, performed, according to Asvalayana, in the fourth month, and according to Sankhayana, in the seventh month of pregnancy, or even, according to Gobhila, in the fourth, sixth, or eighth month, was a more interesting ceremony, and consisted in the husband's affectionately parting his wife's hair, with certain rites.

Birth of a child.—The rites performed on this occasion were called Jatakarman, or birth ceremony, Medhajananam, or the production of intelligence, and Ayushya, or rite for prolonging life. On this occasion the father gave the child a secret name of an even number of syllables if the child was a male, and an uneven number if it was a female and only the father and mother knew that name. On the tenth day, when the mother was convalescent, an appellative for common use was given to the child. "The name of a Brahman should end in Sarman (e.g. Vishnu Sarman), that of a Kshatriya in Varman (e.g. Lakshmi Varman), and that of a Vaisya in Gupta (e.g. Chandra Gupta)."

First feeding of the child with solid food.—This is