Garbhadhana is the
ceremonial in connection with the attainment of puberty by the wife.
Simantonnayana is performed by the husband in the fourth, sixth or eighth
month of gestation, the principal rite being the putting of the minimum
mark on the head of the wife. The mark is put on the line of partition of
her locks.
1205. In India in every house two sticks were kept for producing fire by
rubbing. These were replaced by the flint-stone and a piece of steel. Of
course, Bryant and May's matches have now replaced those primitive
arrangements almost everywhere, and in the hands of children have become
a source of great danger to both life and property.
1206. Prana is the organ of generation. Samslesha is union. The desires
cherished are indicated in the Griha Sutras. 'Let our child be fair of
complexion.' 'Let him be long-lived! Though both parents cherish such
wishes, yet their fruition depends more on the mother than the father.
This is a scientific truth.
1207. The sense seems to be this. The mother only has correct knowledge
of who the father is. The commands of the father, therefore, may be set
aside on the ground of the suspicion that attaches to his very status as
father. Then, again, if the father be adulterous, he should not be
regarded on account of his sinfulness. Chirakarin asks, 'How shall I know
that Gautama is my father? How again shall I know that he is not sinful?'
1208. The object of this verse is to indicate that when Gautama had
ceased to protect his wife he had ceased to be her husband.
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